Method and apparatus for conducting purchases in private over a network

• US 6,816,843 B1
• Filed: 04/06/2000
• Issued: 11/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Daniel G. Baughman
• Original Assignee: Daniel G. Baughman
• Inventors: Baughman, Daniel G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hewitt, II, Calvin L
• Application Number:
  US09/545,165
• Time in Patent Office: 1,678 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/50, 705/51, 705/26, 705/64
• US Class Current: 705/64
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted

Abstract

A privacy apparatus and method for purchasing goods or acquiring services over an unsecured network, such as the Internet. By the use of a middle-man company, or proxy, a purchaser sends his/her personal information needed to make the purchase to the middle-man company. The middle-man company deals directly with the seller, and does not provide any information regarding the purchaser to the seller. The seller ships the purchase to the middle-man company, using information on the middle-man company supplied to it from the middle-man company. Upon receipt of the goods or services sent from the seller, the middle-man company provides them to the purchaser, thereby providing privacy for the purchaser with respect to the seller.

Claims

1. A system for conducting a purchase transaction between a buyer and a seller over a network, comprising:

a third party proxy unit for performing a purchase transaction between the a buyer, a third party and a seller without providing any personal information regarding the buyer to the seller, said proxy unit including;

a memory;

a customer registration section configured to receive, from the buyer, identification information required to purchase a product or obtain a service from the seller over the network, the customer registration section configured to store the identification information of the buyer in the memory;

a customer order intake section configured to receive, from the buyer, product information or service information regarding a product or a service desired to be purchased from the seller over the network by way of the proxy unit, the customer order intake section configured to store the product information or the service information in the memory;

a purchasing section configured to purchase the product or to obtain the service by using identification information of the proxy unit and not the identification information of the buyer that was obtained by way of the customer registration section;

a receiving and shipping section configured to receive the product or obtain the service ordered by the purchasing section and that has been sent to the proxy unit from the seller, the receiving and shipping section configured to store, in the memory, product/service information related to the product or the service that has been received by the receiving and shipping section and that is to be supplied to the buyer;

the receiving and shipping section configured to ship the product or the service to the buyer based on the identification information of the buyer that is stored in the memory;

the proxy unit configured to provide the buyer with options to either;

i) purge the identification information of the buyer and the product information or the service information of the product or the service received by the buyer from the memory, ii) purge only the product information or the service information of the product or the service received by the buyer from the memory and leave the identification information of the buyer intact in the memory;

or iii) do not purge any of the identification information of the buyer or the product information or the service information of the product or the service received by the buyer from the memory;

the proxy unit configured to receive option selection information from the buyer regarding which of the options provided to the buyer has been selected by the buyer; and

the proxy unit configured to update the memory based on the option selection information received from the buyer.