System and method for distributed content electronic commerce

• US 6,490,567 B1
• Filed: 01/15/1997
• Issued: 12/03/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gregory, James McKanna
• Primary Examiner(s): Millin, Vincent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kanof, Pedro
• Application Number:
  US08/783,181
• Time in Patent Office: 2,148 Days
• Field of Search: 395/226, 395/200.49, 364/408, 380/21, 380/23, 380/24, 705/39, 705/27, 705/26, 705/21
• US Class Current: 705/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

Distributed electronic commerce is conducted over a network by substantially separating transaction functionality from merchant content. Electronic commerce transaction functionality is provided by a commerce server having a commerce database. The commerce server stores merchant and purchaser profile data and merchant content summaries on the commerce database. The purchaser browses and searches for product and merchant information using the commerce server, and is provided with more detailed information stored at a separate merchant content server system. The purchaser selects products to purchase, and a purchase order is sent to the commerce server. The commerce server initiates the settlement of accounts between the merchant and purchaser, and initiates order fulfillment for the selected product. The separation of transaction functionality and merchant content onto separate servers under the control of a commerce service provider and a merchant, respectively, provides a more efficient and effective way of carrying out electronic commerce over a network.

Claims

1. An apparatus for performing an electronic commerce transaction over a network to which a purchaser is coupled, comprising:

at least one merchant content server that is coupled to the network and that stores content information about products for sale by one or more merchants; and

a common electronic commerce server that is coupled to the network and that provides commerce server data for the products to the purchaser, receives a request from the purchaser for information about a desired product, determines the location of the merchant content server that stores information about the desired product, refers the purchaser to the merchant content server at the determined location, receives order information from the merchant content server for products selected by the purchaser and processes the order information to complete the electronic commerce transaction for products offered for sale by the one or more merchants.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one merchant content server is controlled by the one or more merchants.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the common commerce server is controlled by a transaction service provider.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the commerce server data comprises summary data related to the one or more products for sale by the one or more merchants.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the commerce server data comprises abstracts of the content information about the one or more products stored in the at least one merchant content server.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the common electronic commerce server provides transaction functionality for a plurality of merchant content servers.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the common electronic commerce server is separate from the at least one merchant content server.

8. A system for use in an electronic commerce transaction conducted over a network, the system comprising:

a common electronic commerce server coupled to the network, the electronic commerce server for providing electronic commerce transaction functionality for a plurality of merchants subscribing to the system, the transactional functionality including completing the transaction; and

at least one merchant content server coupled to the network, the merchant content server for storing detailed merchant content related to at least one product for sale by the subscribing merchants, wherein the detailed merchant content is separate from the transaction functionality provided by the electronic commerce server.

9. The system as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

an electronic commerce database residing in the electronic commerce server, wherein the electronic commerce database comprises a merchant content abstract for each product for sale by the subscribing merchants, and an address for the at least one merchant content server, and wherein responsive to a request made by a purchaser desiring detailed merchant content related to the at least one product for sale by the subscribing merchants, the electronic commerce server refers the purchaser to the at least one merchant content server based on the address.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one merchant content server for further presenting detailed merchant content to the purchaser based on the purchaser request and upon an indication to purchase a selected product, forwarding transactional information related to the selected product to the electronic commerce server to provide the electronic commerce transaction functionality to complete the electronic commerce transaction.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the merchant content abstract comprises a summary of associated merchant content related to the at least one product stored on the merchant content server.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the merchant content abstract comprises:

merchant identification data;

product identification data; and

product price data.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the merchant content abstract comprises an attribute/value pair.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the merchant content abstract comprises:

a time stamp indicating the time said merchant content abstract was stored on said database; and

a product keyword.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the merchant content abstract further comprises product weight data useful in determining the cost of shipping a selected product.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the electronic commerce database further comprises merchant profile data.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the electronic commerce database further comprises purchaser profile data.

18. The system of claim 9, wherein the electronic commerce database further comprises historical transaction data.

19. A method for conducting an electronic commerce transaction between parties including one or more merchants offering products for sale and a purchaser using a network, the method comprising the steps of:

providing content functionality by content servers coupled to the network, wherein content functionality provides detailed merchant content information about products being offered for sale by the one or more merchants to the purchaser; and

providing transaction functionality by a commerce server coupled to the network, wherein includes completing the transaction is provided separate from the content functionality.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of providing content functionality comprising the step of:

storing detailed merchant content information related to the products being offered for sale comprising one or more of product names, product manufacturers, product colors, product sizes, product prices and multimedia product information.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of providing content functionality further comprising the step of:

presenting the detailed merchant content information about a product to the purchaser upon request.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the step of providing transaction functionality comprising the steps of:

storing a merchant content abstract in a commerce database;

presenting the products being offered for sale by the one or more merchants to the purchaser;

receiving a request for detailed content information from the purchaser for a desired product;

searching the commerce database for content servers containing the detailed content information for the desired product;

presenting the results of said search to the purchaser;

providing at least one location reference for a content server containing the detailed content information for the desired product for selection by the purchaser; and

forwarding the purchaser to the selected content server.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of:

presenting by the selected content server the detailed content information for the desired product.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a purchase request from the purchaser for the desired product; and

initiating an electronic transaction process by the commerce server to complete the electronic commerce transaction for the desired product.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the merchant content abstract is received from the one or more merchants.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the merchant content abstract is generated automatically by the commerce server using results of an electronic search of the content servers.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of storing the merchant content abstract comprising the steps of:

storing product identification data;

storing merchant identification data; and

storing product price data.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of storing the merchant content abstract further comprises the step of:

storing a time stamp designating the time at which said merchant content abstract is stored in the commerce database.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of initiating the electronic transaction process comprising the steps of:

receiving payment vehicle selection data;

directing that the selected payment vehicle be debited to the sum of the net cost of the selected product;

directing that a merchant account be credited for the sale of the desired product; and

directing the delivery of the desired product to its purchaser.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of:

storing a record of the electronic transaction in the commerce database.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of receiving payment vehicle selection data comprises the step of:

retrieving a preregistered payment vehicle information from a preregistration database.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of receiving payment vehicle selection data comprises the steps of:

accessing a purchaser profile;

retrieving purchaser credit card identification data;

retrieving a purchaser credit card number; and

retrieving a purchaser credit card expiration date.

33. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of:

storing transaction data in the commerce database.

34. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of:

generating a transaction report.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the transaction report is generated for the one or more merchants.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the transaction report is generated for the purchaser.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the at least one location reference comprises a Uniform Resource Locator for the content server containing the detailed content information for the desired product.

38. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:

providing content functionality by content servers coupled to a network, wherein content functionality provides detailed merchant content information about products being offered for sale by one or more merchants to a purchaser; and

providing transaction functionality by a commerce server coupled to the network [for completing the electronic commerce transaction], wherein the transactional functionality which includes completing the transaction is provided separate from the content functionality.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 38, having further computer-executable instructions for performing the step of:

storing detailed merchant content information related to the products being offered for sale comprising one or more of product names, product manufacturers, product colors, product sizes, product prices and multimedia product information.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 39 having further computer-executable instructions for performing the step of:

presenting the detailed merchant content information about a product to the purchaser upon request.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the computer-executable instructions for providing transaction functionality having further computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:

storing a merchant content abstract in a commerce database;

presenting the products being offered for sale by the one or more merchants to the purchaser;

receiving a request for detailed content information from the purchaser for a desired product;

searching the commerce database for content servers containing the detailed content information for the desired product;

presenting the results of said search to the purchaser;

providing at least one location reference for a content server containing the detailed content information for the desired product for selection by the purchaser; and

forwarding the purchaser to the selected content server.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 41 having further computer-executable instructions for performing the step of:

presenting by the selected content server the detailed content information for the desired product.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 41 having further computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:

receiving a purchase request from the purchaser for the desired product; and

initiating an electronic transaction process by the commerce server to complete the electronic commerce transaction for the desired product.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the computer executable instructions for storing the merchant content abstract having further computer-executable instructions for performing the steps of:

storing product identification data;

storing merchant identification data; and

storing product price data.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the computer executable instructions for initiating the electronic transaction process having further computer-executable instructions for performing the steps:

receiving payment vehicle selection data;

directing that the selected payment vehicle be debited to the sum of the net cost of the selected product;

directing that a merchant account be credited for the sale of the desired product; and

directing the delivery of the desired product to its purchaser.

46. An electronic commerce server system for carrying out electronic commerce between purchasers and merchants over a network comprising:

at least one merchant content servers coupled to the network, wherein content server provides detailed merchant content information about products being offered for sale by the merchants to the purchasers; and

a common commerce server coupled to the network to provide transactional functionality, wherein the transactional functionality which includes completing the electronic commerce transaction is provided separate from the content functionality.

47. The electronic commerce server system of claim 46, further comprising:

a computer readable storage media for storing a merchant content abstract;

means for receiving a request for merchant content information;

a computer for searching said computer readable storage media for merchant content information responsive to said request;

means for presenting the results of said search;

means for providing a reference to the at least one merchant content server connected to the network;

means for receiving a purchase request having a selected product; and

means for initiating an electronic transaction for said selected product.

48. The system of claim 47, further comprising:

means for generating a transaction report.

49. A method for conducting an electronic commerce transaction, the method comprising:

receiving a request for detailed information about a product from a purchaser at a electronic commerce server;

transferring the purchaser to a merchant content server that contains the requested detailed information about the product;

receiving a purchaser order message at the commerce server from the merchant content server after the purchaser elects to effectuate a transaction; and

providing transactional functionality at the commerce server to complete the transaction.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

processing information related to the purchaser order message to complete the transaction at the commerce server.

51. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

storing detailed information related to products being offered for sale, the detailed information comprising one or more of product names, product manufacturers, product colors, product sizes, product prices and multimedia product information.

52. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

providing an abstract of based on the detailed information about the product to the purchaser.

53. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of executable instructions, the plurality of instructions comprising instructions to:

receive a request for detailed information about a product from a purchaser at a electronic commerce server;

transfer the purchaser to a merchant content server that contains the requested detailed information about the product;

receive a purchaser order message at the commerce server from the merchant content server after the purchaser elects to effectuate a transaction; and

provide transactional functionality at the commerce server to complete the transaction.

54. A machine-readable medium of claim 53, having stored thereon further instructions comprising instructions to:

process information related to the purchaser order message to complete the transaction at the commerce server.

55. A machine-readable medium of claim 53, having stored thereon further instructions comprising instructions to:

store detailed information related to products being offered for sale, the detailed information comprising one or more of product names, product manufacturers, product colors, product sizes, product prices and multimedia product information.

56. A machine-readable medium of claim 53, having stored thereon further instructions comprising instructions to:

provide an abstract of based on the detailed information about the product to the purchased.

57. An electronic commerce server for carrying out electronic commerce between purchasers and merchants over a network, the electronic commerce server to:

receive a request for detailed information about a product from a purchaser;

transfer the purchaser to a merchant content server that contains the requested detailed information about the product;

receive a purchaser order message from the merchant content server after the purchaser elects to effectuate a transaction; and

process information based on the purchaser order message to complete the transaction.

58. The electronic commerce server of claim 57, the electronic commerce server to further:

present summary data related to one or more products for sale by one or more merchants.

59. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the summary data includes abstracts of the content information about the one or more products.