Consumer product information request (CPIR) enabling servlets and web-based consumer product information catalogs employing the same
First Claim
1. A consumer product information catalog system for operation on the World Wide Web (WWW), said consumer product information catalog system comprising;
- a database management subsystem including a relational database containing (i) a plurality of Universal Product Numbers (UPNs) uniquely associated with a plurality of consumer products offered for sale in a stream of commerce, and (ii) a plurality of categorized Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) symbolically linked to each one of said plurality of UPNs, wherein each said categorized UPN points to a consumer product related information resource published on the World Wide Web (WWW) supported by the infrastructure of the Internet;
said database management subsystem providing means for manufacturers and/or their agents to dynamically update said relational database, a Consumer Product Information Request (CPIR) enabling servlet tag containing information related to the location of a computer executable servlet;
a first Internet information server for publishing a library of the CPIR-enabling Servlet tags on the Internet, said first Internet information server with means for providing to a user'"'"'s browser, HTML-encoded documents publishable on the WWW with at least one of the CPIR enabling Servlet tags embedded within one of said HTML-encoded documents;
a second Internet information server operably connected to said database management subsystem and the infrastructure of the Internet, with means for detecting when at least one of said CPIR-enabling Servlet tags embedded in one of said HTML-encoded documents has been selected, and means for activating said computer executable servlet;
wherein said means for activating activates said computer executable servlet, automatically executing a method comprising;
loading and running classes so as to perform a UPN-directed search on said database management subsystem, conducting a UPN-directed search carried out within said database management subsystem, and displaying within an Internet-enabled browser, program results from said UPN-directed search, said displaying including a GUI in the form of a menu of categorized URLs pointing to consumer product related information resources published on said WWW and symbolically linked to the UPN corresponding to the selected CPIR-enabling Servlet tag, and said results including a menu of categorized URLs pointing to consumer product related information resources.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A consumer product information requesting (CPIR) enabling Servlet for execution on the server-side of an information network such as the Internet. The CPIR-enabling Servlet comprises a Universal Product Number (UPN) a uniquely associated with a particular consumer product on which an information search is to be carried out within a database management subsystem. One or more classes are loaded on a an Internet-enabled information server. When the consumer selects a CPIR-enabling Servlet tag embedded within the WWW and corresponding CPIR-enabling Servlet, a UPN-directed-search is automatically carried out within the database management subsystem, the a graphical user interface (GUI) is displayed within the Internet-enabled browser program used by the consumer, and the results from the UPN-directed search are displayed within the GUI in the form of a menu of categorized URLs pointing to consumer product related information resources published on the WWW, without disturbing the consumer'"'"'s point of presence thereon. The CPIR-enabling Servlets can be used to build various types of consumer product information systems for operation on the WWW.
271 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A consumer product information catalog system for operation on the World Wide Web (WWW), said consumer product information catalog system comprising;
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a database management subsystem including a relational database containing (i) a plurality of Universal Product Numbers (UPNs) uniquely associated with a plurality of consumer products offered for sale in a stream of commerce, and (ii) a plurality of categorized Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) symbolically linked to each one of said plurality of UPNs, wherein each said categorized UPN points to a consumer product related information resource published on the World Wide Web (WWW) supported by the infrastructure of the Internet;
said database management subsystem providing means for manufacturers and/or their agents to dynamically update said relational database, a Consumer Product Information Request (CPIR) enabling servlet tag containing information related to the location of a computer executable servlet;
a first Internet information server for publishing a library of the CPIR-enabling Servlet tags on the Internet, said first Internet information server with means for providing to a user'"'"'s browser, HTML-encoded documents publishable on the WWW with at least one of the CPIR enabling Servlet tags embedded within one of said HTML-encoded documents;
a second Internet information server operably connected to said database management subsystem and the infrastructure of the Internet, with means for detecting when at least one of said CPIR-enabling Servlet tags embedded in one of said HTML-encoded documents has been selected, and means for activating said computer executable servlet;
wherein said means for activating activates said computer executable servlet, automatically executing a method comprising;
loading and running classes so as to perform a UPN-directed search on said database management subsystem, conducting a UPN-directed search carried out within said database management subsystem, and displaying within an Internet-enabled browser, program results from said UPN-directed search, said displaying including a GUI in the form of a menu of categorized URLs pointing to consumer product related information resources published on said WWW and symbolically linked to the UPN corresponding to the selected CPIR-enabling Servlet tag, and said results including a menu of categorized URLs pointing to consumer product related information resources. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification