Electronic business transaction system with notarization database and means for conducting a notarization procedure

• US 6,049,787 A
• Filed: 03/30/1998
• Issued: 04/11/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Miyake, Tsuyoshi, Okamura, Akira, Takahashi, Naoki, Yamada, Shinichi, Shiina, Hiromitsu, Kamada, Yoshiharu, Matsunawa, Masahito, Tominaga, Masasuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Voeltz, Emanuel Todd
• Assistant Examiner(s): Morgan, George D.
• Application Number:
  US09/050,064
• Time in Patent Office: 743 Days
• Field of Search: 705/44, 705/26, 705/28, 705/37, 705/1, 705/35, 705/39, 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/389 Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0615 Anonymizing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines

Abstract

A center site is disposed to intervene in a business transaction achieved through a network. The center site includes an open business information database in which open business information received from member sites connected to the network is accumulated to be opened to the sites and a notarization database to keep therein contents of contracts of transactions between the sites. The center site receives a transaction request from a transaction partner site in accordance with the open business information and notifies the request to an information supply site associated therewith. The center site intervenes in a transaction resultantly accomplished between the information supply site and the transaction partner site and conducts a notarization process for the contents of contract for the transaction to accumulate the contract in a notarization database.

Claims

1. An electronic business transaction system, comprising:

a center site;

a plurality of member sites; and

a network connecting the center site and the member sites to each other, wherein the center site includes;

an open business information database for storing therein information of open businesses;

a notarization database for storing therein contracts undergone a notarization procedure;

means for registering open business information which is issued to find business partners by the member site to the open business information database;

means for transmitting contents of the open business information database to the member site;

means for transmitting an order specification received from the member site to an order destination member site;

means for transmitting an order reception specification received from the member site to an ordering member site; and

means for conducting, when a contract document of a contract received from an ordering member site is substantially equal to a contract document of the contract received from an order receiving member site, a notarization procedure for the contract and registering the contracts to the notarization database.

2. An electronic business transaction system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the center site further includes authentication means for identifying and authenticating a connected partner.

3. An electronic business transaction system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the center site further includes means for transmitting, in response to a request from the member site, contents of the open business information database to the member site.

4. An electronic business transaction system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the center site further includes means for transmitting information of a transaction amount of a contract between member sites to a member site having a function of settlement.

5. An electronic business transaction system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the center site further includes means for storing therein the information of a transaction amount of a contract between member sites, conducting a calculation for a netting operation of transaction amounts between the member sites and between groups to which member sites belong, and transmitting a result of the netting operation to a member site having a function of settlement.

6. An electronic business transaction system in accordance with claim 4, wherein the center site further includes:

means for receiving from a member site a report of delivery for a contract and recording the report in the notarization database;

means for receiving a report of a settlement operation of a contract from a member site having a function of settlement and recording the report in the notarization database; and

means for periodically checking the notarization database, detecting a case of which delivery or settlement is retarded for a contract thereof, and transmitting a warning message to member sites associated therewith.

7. An electronic business transaction system in accordance with claim 2, wherein the center site further includes:

means for setting an authentication level indicating a limitation of transaction for each member site; and

means for comparing a transaction request from a member site with the authentication level set to the member site and thereby determining whether or not the transaction request is accepted.

8. An electronic business transaction system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the network includes a dedicated line.

9. A center site connected via a network to a plurality of member sites to configure an electronic business transaction system, comprising:

an open business information database for storing therein information of open business;

a notarization database for storing therein contracts undergone a notarization procedure;

means for registering open business information which is issued to find business partners by the member site to the open business information database;

means for transmitting contents of the open business information database to the member site;

means for transmitting an order specification received from the member site to an order destination member site;

means for transmitting an order reception specification received from the member site to an ordering member site; and

means for conducting, when a contract document of a contract received from an ordering member site is substantially equal to a contract document of the contract received from an order receiving member site, a notarization procedure for the contract and registering the contracts to the notarization database.

10. A method of achieving electronic business transactions in an electronic business transaction system including a plurality of member sites, a center site, and a network to connect the member sites and the center site to each other, comprising the steps of:

storing open business information which is issued to find business partners by a member site in an open business information database in the center site;

transmitting contents of the open business information database from the center site to the member site;

transmitting an order specification received from a member site from the center site to an order destination member site;

transmitting an order reception specification received from a member site from the center site to an ordering member site; and

conducting, when a contract document of a contract received from an ordering member site is substantially equal to a contract document of the contract received from an order receiving member site, a notarization procedure for the contract and registering the contracts to the notarization database in the center site.

11. A system in which an information transmission source firm registers a case of business specifying an information receiving partner firm to a business database, and statuses of cases of businesses inputted to the system are managed in business transactions between firms which refer to the cases of businesses registered by the information receiving partner firms comprising a first server and a second server,

the first server including:

first storage means for storing therein for each information transmission source a status of inputted cases of each information receiving partner; and

processing means for processing, in response to registration of a new case of an information transmission source, the status of inputted cases for a receiving partner associated therewith;

the second server including;

second storage means for storing therein for each information receiving partner a status of inputted cases of each information transmission source;

processing means for processing, in response to update of the status of inputted cases of the receiving partner, the status of inputted cases for an information transmission source related to the pertinent receiving partner; and

processing means for referring, in response to an inquiry from an information receiving partner, to the second storage means and transmitting the status of input cases of each information transmission source related to the pertinent receiving partner to the information receiving partner having issued the enquiry.

12. A method, for use in a system in which an information transmission source firm registers a case of business specifying an information receiving partner firm to a business database, for managing statuses of inputted cases of businesses in business transactions between firms which refer to the cases of businesses registered by other firms comprising the steps of:

storing in first storage means the status of inputted cases for each information transmission source and updating the status in response to registration of a new case by an information transmission source;

summarizing and storing in second storage means a status of inputted cases for each information transmission source and updating, in response to update of the status of inputted cases, the status of inputted cases for an information transmission source related thereto; and

referring, in response to an inquiry from an information receiving partner, to the second storage means and transmitting the statuses of input cases to the information receiving partner having issued the enquiry.