Web commerce tool kit for distributed payment processing

• US 6,330,575 B1
• Filed: 03/31/1998
• Issued: 12/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Moore, Victor S., Walters, Glen R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Hosain T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kindred, Alford W.
• Application Number:
  US09/052,326
• Publication Number:
  US 20010049672A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,351 Days
• Field of Search: 707/513, 707/500, 707/505, 707/506-507, 707/517, 707/515, 707/526, 705/1, 705/22, 705/26, 705/27, 705/35, 705/44, 345/115, 345/326, 345/352, 345/146, 709/200, 709/223-224, 709/201, 709/203, 709/101
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering

Abstract

Methods and systems for designing a Web page, to be hosted on a Web page server. The development applications provide an object-oriented, template-driven interface for a customer or merchant to utilize in the design of a Web page or a complete Web site. The Web site produced allows the merchant to become a part of a distributed electronic commerce system or Internet commerce system for doing business on the World Wide Web. The design tool can be implemented in a Java application or applet.

Claims

1. A method for designing an e-commerce Web page for the purchase of one or more items therefrom, the e-commerce Web page to be hosted on a Web page server with distributed payment processing system hosted on a payment server, the method comprising:

a. providing an object-oriented, template-driven interface for a customer to utilize in the design of the Web page;

b. allowing the customer, through the use of the interface, to design the Web page;

c. gathering from the customer, a price URL containing pricing information for at least one item offered for purchase on the Web page designed by the customer;

d. placing the price URL on the Web page so that when the price URL is selected by a consumer using a browser, the price URL preforms the steps of;

establishing a direct secure link between an application running on a payment server and the customer using the browser, so that the direct secured link is established without the use of any intermediate database lookups and database calls prior to the direct secure link being established between the application and the browser;

building a Web page from the price URL that is presented to the consumer using the browser including the item offered for purchase and a purchase price and an authorization icon; and

receiving consumer payment information after the consumer authorizes the purchase by selection of the authorization icon; and

e. publishing the Web page at a destination of the customer'"'"'s choosing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

a) the step of providing an interface comprises the steps of;

i) providing a menu of page styles and backgrounds for the customer to select from for use in the Web page; and

ii) providing a menu of industries for the customer to select from, which will be used to tailor the above selection of page styles and backgrounds, and

b) the step of allowing the customer to design a Web page comprises the steps of;

i) allowing the customer to select an industry; and

ii) allowing the customer to select a page style and a background.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing an interface comprises the step of providing a plurality of modes in which the interface can be used, wherein each mode offers a different level of functionality.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

a) the step of providing an interface comprises the step of providing a look-and-feel Java class which provides the look-and-feel for the Web page; and

b) the step of allowing the customer to design the Web page comprises the step of allowing the customer to modify the look-and-feel Java class in order to provide a different look-and-feel for the Web page.

5. A method for designing an e-commerce Web page for the purchase of one or more items therefrom, the e-commerce, the Web page for use in a distributed electronic commerce system comprising a Web page server and a second server, wherein the Web page server is electrically coupled to the second server, and wherein the Web page is to be hosted on the Web page server, the method comprising:

a. providing an object-oriented, template-driven interface for a user to utilize in the design of a Web page hosted on the Web page server, including the sub-steps of;

i. receiving user'"'"'s selection of a plurality of predefined template options for the layout of the web page;

ii. receiving user'"'"'s input for the description of at least one item for purchase from the Web page including the purchase price of the item; and

iii. generating a price URL associated with the at least one item for purchase, wherein the price URL contains information for the at least one item of purchase and the purchase price;

b. receiving the user'"'"'s designation of the Web page such that the price URL can be embedded into the Web page during the purchase of the item by a user viewing the Web page using a browser;

c. providing a secure link between a consumer using a browser and a second web server for payment processing when the price URL is selected by the consumer using the browser viewing the Web page so that the secured link is established without the use of any intermediate database lookups and database calls prior to the secure link being established between the second web server and the browser;

d. sending to the browser a confirmation web page built on the second web server when the consumer selects a price URL wherein the confirmation web page includes the information in the price URL selected by the consumer including the information for the at least one item of purchase and the purchase price and an authorization icon; and

e. waiting for the consumer'"'"'s authorization of the confirmation web page by the consumer'"'"'s selection of the authorization icon and if the authorization is received then prompting the consumer for payment information to be sent over the secure link to the second web server.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of incorporating multimedia content into the Web page.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of generating a price URL includes generating a price URL for providing a hyperlink to the second server and comprising all the data necessary to describe a product and to identify a Web merchant who operates the Web page on the Web page server.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of publishing the Web page at a destination of the customer'"'"'s choosing.

9. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for designing an e-commerce Web page for the purchase of one or more items therefrom, the e-commerce Web page to be hosted on a Web page server with distributed payment processing system hosted on a payment server, the program instructions comprising:

a. providing an object-oriented, template-driven interface for a customer to utilize in the design of the Web page;

b. allowing the customer, through the use of the interface, to design the Web page; and

c. gathering from the customer, a price URL containing pricing information for at least one item offered for purchase on the Web page designed by the customer;

d. placing the price URL on the Web page so that when the price URL is selected by a consumer using a browser, the price URL performs the steps of;

establishing a direct secure link between an application running on a payment server and the customer using the browser, so that the direct secured link is established without the use of any intermediate database lookups and database calls prior to the direct secure link being established between the application and the browser;

building a Web page from the price URL that is presented to the consumer using the browser including the item offered for purchase and a purchase price and an authorization icon; and

receiving consumer payment information after the consumer authorizes the purchase by selection of the authorization icon; and

e. publishing the Web page at a destination of the customer'"'"'s choosing.

10. The medium of claim 9, wherein:

a) the instructions for providing an interface comprise;

i) providing a menu of page styles and backgrounds for the customer to select from for use in the Web page; and

ii) providing a menu of industries for the customer to select from, which will be used to tailor the above selection of page styles and backgrounds, and

b) the instructions for allowing the customer to design a Web page comprise;

i) allowing the customer to select an industry; and

ii) allowing the customer to select a page style and a background.

11. The medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for providing an interface comprise providing a plurality of modes in which the interface can be used, wherein each mode offers a different level of functionality.

12. The medium of claim 9, wherein:

a) the instructions for providing an interface comprise providing a look-and-feel Java class which provides the look-and-feel for the Web page; and

b) the instructions for allowing the customer to design the Web page comprise allowing the customer to modify the look-and-feel Java class in order to provide a different look-and-feel for the Web page.

13. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for designing an e-commerce Web page for the purchase of one or more items therefrom, the e-commerce, the Web page for use in a distributed electronic commerce system comprising a Web page server and a second server for payment processing, wherein the Web page server is electrically coupled to the second server, and wherein the Web page is to be hosted on the Web page server, the program instructions comprising:

a. providing an object-oriented, template driven interface for a user to utilize in the design of a Web page hosted on the Web page server, including the sub-steps of;

i. receiving user'"'"'s selection of a plurality of predefined template options for the layout of the web page;

ii. receiving user'"'"'s input for the description of at least one item for purchase from the Web page including the purchase price of the item; and

iii. generating a price URL associated with the at least one item for purchase, wherein the price URL contains information for the at least one item of purchase and the purchase price;

b. receiving the user'"'"'s designation of the Web page such that the price URL can be embedded into the Web page during the purchase of the item by a user viewing the Web page using a browser;

c. providing a secure link between a consumer using a browser and a second web server for payment processing when the price URL is selected by the consumer using the browser viewing the Web page so that the secured link is established without the use of any intermediate database lookups and database calls prior to the secure link being established between the second web server and the browser;

d. sending to the browser a confirmation web page built on the second web server when the consumer selects a price URL wherein the confirmation web page includes the information in the price URL selected by the consumer including the information for the at least one item of purchase and the purchase price and an authorization icon; and

e. waiting for the consumer authorization of the confirmation web page by the consumer'"'"'s selection of the authorization icon and if the authorization is received then prompting the consumer for payment information to be sent over the secure link to the second web server.

14. The medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions for incorporating multimedia content into the Web page.

15. The medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions of generating a price URL includes generating a price URL for providing a hyperlink to the second server and comprising all the data necessary to describe a product and to identify a Web merchant who operates the Web page on the Web page server.

16. The medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions for publishing the Web page at a destination of the customer'"'"'s choosing.

17. A Web page design system, for designing an e-commerce a Web page for the purchase of one or more items therefrom, the e-commerce Web page to be hosted on a Web page server with distributed payment processing system hosted on a payment server, the Web page design system, comprising:

a. means for providing an object-oriented, template-driven interface for a customer to utilize in the design of the Web page;

b. means for allowing the customer, through the use of the interface, to design the Web page; and

c. means for gathering from the customer, a price URL containing pricing information for at least one item offered for purchase on the Web page designed by the customer;

d. means for placing the price URL on the Web page so that when the price UTRL is selected by a consumer using a browser, the price URL performs the steps of;

establishing a direct secure link between an application running on a payment server and the customer using the browser, so that the direct secured link is established without the use of any intermediate database lookups and database calls prior to the direct secure link being established between the application and the browser;

building a Web page from the price URL that is presented to the consumer using the browser including the item offered for purchase and a purchase price and an authorization icon; and

receiving consumer payment information after the consumer authorizes the purchase by selection of the authorization icon; and

e. means for publishing the Web page at a destination of the customer'"'"'s choosing.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein:

a) the means for providing an interface comprises;

i) means for providing a menu of page styles and backgrounds for the customer to select from for use in the Web page; and

ii) means for providing a menu of industries for the customer to select from, which will be used to tailor the above selection of page styles and backgrounds, and

b) the means for allowing the customer to design a Web page comprises;

i) means for allowing the customer to select an industry; and

ii) means for allowing the customer to select a page style and a background.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for providing an interface comprises means for providing a plurality of modes in which the interface can be used, wherein each mode offers a different level of functionality.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein:

a) the means for providing an interface comprises means for providing a look-and-feel Java class which provides the look-and-feel for the Web page; and

b) the means for allowing the customer to design the Web page comprises means for allowing the customer to modify the lookand-feel Java class in order to provide a different look-and-feel for the Web page.

21. A Web page design system for designing an e-commerce Web page for the purchase of one or more items therefrom, the e-commerce, the Web page for use in a distributed electronic commerce system, the distributed commerce system comprising a Web page server and a second server for payment processing, wherein the Web page server is electrically coupled to the second server, and wherein the Web page is to be hosted on the Web page server, the system comprising:

a. means for providing an object-oriented, template-driven interface for a user to utilize in the design of a Web page hosted on the Web page server, including;

i. means for receiving user'"'"'s selection of a plurality of predefined template options for the layout of the web page;

ii. means for receiving user'"'"'s input for the description of at least one item for purchase from the Web page including the purchase price of the item; and

iii. means for generating a price URL associated with the at least one item for purchase, wherein the price URL contains information for the at least one item of purchase and the purchase price;

b. means for receiving the user'"'"'s designation of the Web page such that the price URL can be embedded into the Web page during the purchase of the item by a user viewing the Web page using a browser;

c. means for providing a secure link between a consumer using a browser and a second web server for payment processing when the price URL is selected by the consumer using the browser viewing the Web page so that the secured link is established without the use of any intermediate database lookups and database calls prior to the secure link being established between the second web server and the browser;

d. means for sending to the browser a confirmation web page built on the second web server when the consumer selects a price URL wherein the confirmation web page includes the information in the price URL selected by the consumer including the information for the at least one item of purchase and the purchase price and an authorization icon; and

e. means for waiting for the consumer'"'"'s authorization of the confirmation web page by the consumer'"'"'s selection of the authorization icon and if the authorization is received then prompting the consumer for payment information to be sent over the secure link to the second web server.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for incorporating multimedia content into the Web page.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the means for generating a price URL includes generating a price URL for providing a hyperlink to the second server and comprising all the data necessary to describe a product and to identify a Web merchant who operates the Web page on the Web page server.

24. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for publishing the Web page at a destination of the customer'"'"'s choosing.