SOCIAL NETWORK INFORMATION SYSTEM AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A method of obtaining information about a category of interest from a computer network, the computer network including a plurality of user networks, each user network including a plurality of users, the network further including an electronic database of information associated with the plurality of users, the method comprising:
- receiving an information request from a user, the information request specifying a category;
identifying a first set of one or more users within a user network of the user, each user in the first set associated with the category and established as a trusted information resource contact of the user for the category;
identifying a second set of one or more users within a user network of one or more users of the first set, each user in the second set associated with the category and established as a trusted information resource contact of the one or more trusted information resource contacts of the first set for the category;
retrieving information associated with the one or more trusted information resource contacts of the identified second set from the electronic database corresponding to the information request; and
providing the retrieved information to the user.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and system for obtaining information from a computer network are disclosed. The computer network includes user networks and a database of user information. The method includes receiving a user information request specifying a category, identifying a first set of users established as trusted information resource contacts (TIRC) of the user for the category, identifying a second set of users established as TIRCs of the first set of users, retrieving information associated with the second set from the electronic database, and providing the retrieved information to the user. The system includes a database and a server for performing the steps of the method. The steps of the method may be embodied in computer executable instructions stored on a non-transient machine readable medium that cause a server to perform the method when executed by the server.
7 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method of obtaining information about a category of interest from a computer network, the computer network including a plurality of user networks, each user network including a plurality of users, the network further including an electronic database of information associated with the plurality of users, the method comprising:
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receiving an information request from a user, the information request specifying a category; identifying a first set of one or more users within a user network of the user, each user in the first set associated with the category and established as a trusted information resource contact of the user for the category; identifying a second set of one or more users within a user network of one or more users of the first set, each user in the second set associated with the category and established as a trusted information resource contact of the one or more trusted information resource contacts of the first set for the category; retrieving information associated with the one or more trusted information resource contacts of the identified second set from the electronic database corresponding to the information request; and providing the retrieved information to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for obtaining information about a category of interest from a computer network, the computer network including a plurality of user networks, each user network including a plurality of users, the system comprising:
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an electronic database of information associated with the plurality of users; and a server configured to; receive an information request from a user, the information request specifying a category; identify a first set of one or more users within a user network of the user, each user in the first set associated with the category and established as a trusted information resource contact of the user for the category; identify a second set of one or more users within a user network of one or more users of the first set, each user in the second set associated with the category and established as a trusted information resource contact of the one or more trusted information resource contacts of the first set for the category; retrieve information associated with the one or more trusted information resource contacts of the identified second set from the electronic database corresponding to the information request; and providing the retrieved information to the user. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A non-transient machine readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a server, cause the server to execute a method for obtaining information about a category of interest from a computer network, the computer network including a plurality of user networks, each user network including a plurality of users, the method comprising:
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receiving an information request from a user, the information request specifying a category; identifying a first set of one or more users within a user network of the user, each user in the first set associated with the category and established as a trusted information resource contact of the user for the category; identifying a second set of one or more users within a user network of one or more users of the first set, each user in the second set associated with the category and established as a trusted information resource contact of the one or more trusted information resource contacts of the first set for the category; retrieving information associated with the one or more trusted information resource contacts of the identified second set from the electronic database corresponding to the information request; and providing the retrieved information to the user. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification