SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING INDUSTRY BASED CHANNELS IN AN IP MARKETPLACE

• US 20120011032A1
• Filed: 09/12/2011
• Published: 01/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Thomas, Tracey R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,661,148 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/27.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0627 using item specifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers

Abstract

A comprehensive platform for merchandising intellectual property (IP) and conducting IP transactions is disclosed. A standardized data collection method enables IP assets to be characterized, rated and valuated in a consistent manner. Project management, workflow and data security functionality enable consistent, efficient and secure interactions between the IP Marketplace participants throughout the IP transaction process. Business rules, workflows, valuation models and rating methods may be user defined or based upon marketplace, industry or technology standards.

Claims

1. An intellectual property (IP) commercialization system comprising:

a network interface communicating with a memory;

the memory communicating with a processor for IP commercialization, wherein the memory stores a computer program; and

the processor, when executing the computer program, performs operations comprising;

receiving, by the processor and from a requestor, a new channel registration request, wherein the new channel registration request comprises new channel parameters;

determining, by the processor and based on at least one of the requestor and the new channel parameters, that the new channel registration request is associated with an industry;

determining, by the processor and based on the industry, a first category to associate with the new channel;

saving, by the processor and to the memory, a new channel comprising the new channel parameters and the first category, and

displaying, by the processor, a plurality of channels in a channel guide interface, wherein the plurality of channels comprises the new channel.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the industry comprises at least one of healthcare, eCommerce, transportation, biotech, media, banking, finance, technology, semiconductor, consumer electronics, telecommunications, computers, electronics, education and manufacturing.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the processor and based on at least one of the industry and the requestor, a first approver of the channel registration request and notifying the first approver of the channel registration request.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising receiving, by the processor and from the first approver, an approval of the channel registration request.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the new channel parameters comprise at least one of an identification of members of the industry, a category, a favorite list, a link, a uniform resource locator (URL), a customized web page, a social networking web site, a priority order, a channel sponsor, a color, a logo, a graphic, a description, and an extensible markup language (XML) file.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising configuring the channel guide interface based on a profile associated with the industry.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the new channel parameters comprise at least one of user profile data, industry trend data, industry service provider data, IP asset data, IP portfolio data, company data, technology data and transaction data.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the channel guide interface groups a plurality of channels based on a category of a plurality of categories, wherein the plurality of categories comprises at least one of the first category and a second category.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the processor, a plurality of users associated with the industry; and

determining, by the processor, an IP portfolio associated with the plurality of users.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

determining, by the processor and based on the IP portfolio, a plurality of channels associated with the IP portfolio;

generating, by the processor, a custom channel guide interface based on the IP portfolio and the plurality of channels; and

presenting, by the processor, the custom channel guide interface to a first user in the plurality of users.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the determining the plurality of channels comprises determining based on the IP portfolio and at least one of the industry and the requestor.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the processor and based on a first user, a channel relevancy for at least one of the new channel and the industry.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

including, based on the channel relevancy, the channel in the channel guide interface associated with the first user.

14. The system of claim 12, further comprising retrieving user profile data associated with the first user from a user database, wherein the user profile data comprises at least one of company information, a company hierarchy, affiliate information, partner information, transaction data, associated buyers, associated sellers, associated inventors, an industry, a technology, a marketplace strategy, business rules, and a marketplace workflow, wherein the determining the plurality of channels comprises determining the plurality of channels based on the user profile data.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a user a selection of the new channel;

determining based on a referral algorithm a member of the industry; and

referring the user to the member, wherein the member comprises at least one of a company, an association, a service provider and an individual.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the referral algorithm is based on at least one of an industry profile, a user profile, a member rating, a member priority, a member location and a random selection.

17. The system of claim 1, further comprising configuring the channel guide interface to include at least one of a custom color or a custom logo associated with the industry.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the new channel parameters comprise a channel identifier, wherein the channel identifier is numeric and the channel identifier is not associated with any existing channel.

19. A computer-based method comprising:

receiving, by a computer for IP commercialization and from a requestor, a new channel registration request, wherein the new channel registration request comprises new channel parameters;

determining, by the computer and based on at least one of the requestor and the new channel parameters, that the new channel registration request is associated with an industry;

determining, by the computer and based on the group, a first category to associate with the new channel;

saving, by the computer and to the memory, a new channel comprising the new channel parameters and the first category, and

displaying, by the computer, a plurality of channels in a channel guide interface, wherein the plurality of channels comprises the new channel.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer for IP commercialization, causes the computer perform a operations comprising:

receiving, by the computer and from a requestor, a new channel registration request, wherein the new channel registration request comprises new channel parameters;

determining, by the computer and based on at least one of the requestor and the new channel parameters, that the new channel registration request is associated with an industry;

determining, by the computer and based on the group, a first category to associate with the new channel;

saving, by the computer and to the memory, a new channel comprising the new channel parameters and the first category, and

displaying, by the computer, a plurality of channels in a channel guide interface, wherein the plurality of channels comprises the new channel.