INTERNET-BASED SYSTEM FOR COLLECTING, MANAGING AND SERVING CONSUMER PRODUCT-RELATED INFORMATION OVER THE INTERNET USING TRADEMARKS AND UNIVERSAL RESOURCE LOCATORS (URLS) SYMBOLICALLY-LINKED BY MANUFACTURERS OF CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND/OR THEIR AGENTS

• US 7,143,055 B1
• Filed: 06/09/1997
• Issued: 11/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Thomas J. Perkowski
• Original Assignee: IPF Incorporated
• Inventors: Perkowski, Thomas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Garg, Yogesh C.
• Application Number:
  US08/871,815
• Time in Patent Office: 3,459 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/26, 705/27, 395/200.33, 395/200.46, 395/200.47, 395/200.48, 395/200.49, 395/200.53, 707/1, 707/3, 707/10, 707/100, 707/102, 707/104, 707/200
• US Class Current: 705/14.34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0234 Rebates after completed purchase
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

An Internet-based system for collecting, managing and serving consumer product-related information over the Internet. The system comprises a database management subsystem for storing and managing information representative of (i) a plurality of trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products, and (ii) a plurality of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) symbolically linked to the trademarks and specifying the location of a plurality of Web documents stored in one or more Internet-based information servers, by manufacturers, their agents and/or third parties, and contain particular kinds of information related to consumer products on which the trademarks are placed and used in commerce. A trademark/URL information server accesses one or more URLs from the database management subsystem in response to a request placed therewith by a consumer-operated client computer subsystem. Each manufacturer uses a manufacturer-managed client computer subsystem to transmit to the database management subsystem, information representative of a plurality of symbolically linked trademarks and URLs. Each consumer uses a consumer-operated client computer subsystem to access one or more URLs from the database management subsystem in response to a request transmitted to the trademark/URL information server. The accessed URLs are then used to access and display Web documents specified by the URLs and containing consumer product related information. Using the present invention, large databases containing symbolically linked trademarks and URLs can be created and managed, so that corresponding consumer product related information on the World Wide Web (WWW) can be reliably accessed and displayed by consumers using trademarks.

Claims

1. An Internet-based system for collecting, managing and serving consumer product-related information over the Internet, said Internet-based system comprising:

a database management subsystem for storing and managing information representative of

(i) a plurality of trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products made, sold and/or distributed by a plurality of manufacturers, and

(ii) a plurality of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) symbolically linked to said trademarks and specifying the location of a plurality of Web documents stored in one or more Internet-based information servers, and published by said manufacturers, their agents and/or third parties, and containing particular kinds of information related to consumer products on which said trademarks are placed and used in commerce;

a trademark/URL information server operably connected to said database management subsystem and the infrastructure of the Internet, said trademark/URL information server accessing one or more URLs from said database management subsystem in response to a request placed with said trademark/URL information server by a consumer-operated client computer subsystem seeking to find consumer product related information contained in one or more Web documents stored in said one or more Internet-based information servers at one or more URLs symbolically linked to a trademark contained within said request;

a plurality of manufacturer-managed client computer subsystems operably connected to the infrastructure of the Internet, each said manufacturer-managed client computer subsystem enabling a manufacturer to transmit to said database management subsystem, information representative of a plurality of trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products and a plurality of URLs symbolically linked to said trademarks and specifying the location of a plurality of said Web documents stored in said one or more Internet-based information servers; and

a plurality of consumer-operated client computer subsystems operably connected to the infrastructure of the Internet, each said consumer-operated client computer subsystem enabling a consumer to access one or more URLs from said database management subsystem in response to a request transmitted to said trademark/URL information server by said consumer-operated client computer subsystem for consumer product related information contained in Web documents located at said one or more URLs symbolically linked to a trademark contained within said request placed by said consumer-operated client computer subsystem.

2. The Internet-based system of claim 1, wherein said information representative of the trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products of a manufacturer and the plurality of URLs symbolically linked thereto, is transmitted from said manufacturer-managed client computer subsystem to said database management subsystem using a file transfer protocol.

3. The Internet-based system of claim 1, wherein said information representative of the trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products of a manufacturer and the plurality of URLs symbolically linked thereto, is transmitted from said manufacturer-managed client computer subsystem to said database management subsystem using an electronic data interchange process.

4. The Internet-based system of claim 1, wherein said Web-documents comprise HTML-encoded documents.

5. The Internet-based system of claim 1, wherein said particular kinds of information related to consumer products are selected from the group consisting of product advertisements, products specifications, product updates, product distributors, product warranty/servicing, and product incentives including rebates, discounts and coupons.

6. The Internet-based system of claim 1, wherein said trademarks are registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office or are the subject matters of trademark applications pending therein.

7. The Internet-based system of claim 1, wherein at least one said consumer-operated client computer subsystem comprises:

a GUI-based Web browser program, and

a bar code symbol reader, operably connected to said GUI-based Web browser program, for reading bar code symbols placed on consumer products and encoded with said trademarks.

8. The Internet-based system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said plurality of consumer-operated client computer subsystems is installed within a retail environment, and comprises

a GUI-based Web browser program, and

a bar code symbol reader, operably connected to said GUI-based Web browser program, for reading bar code symbols placed on consumer products and encoded with said trademarks.

9. The Internet-based system of claim 1, wherein said database management subsystem is realized on a first computing platform, and said trademark/URL information server is realized on a second computing platform, and said first and second computing platforms are interconnected by an information network.

10. An Internet-based system for collecting and managing consumer product-related information for serving over the Internet to consumer-operated client subsystems, said Internet-based system comprising:

a database management subsystem for storing and managing information representative of

(i) a plurality of trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products made, sold and/or distributed by a plurality of manufacturers, and

(ii) a plurality of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) symbolically linked to said trademarks and specifying the location of a plurality of Web documents stored in one or more Internet-based information servers, and published by said manufacturers, their agents and/or third parties, and containing particular kinds of information related to consumer products on which said trademarks are placed and used in commerce;

a trademark/URL information server operably connected to the infrastructure of the Internet and said database management system, said trademark/URL information server accessing one or more URLs from said database management subsystem in response to a request placed with said trademark/URL information server by a consumer-operated client computer subsystem seeking to find consumer product related information contained is one or more Web documents stored in one or more Internet-based information servers at one or more URLs symbolically linked to a trademark contained within said request; and

a plurality of manufacturer-managed client computer subsystems operably connected to the infrastructure of the Internet, each said manufacturer-managed client computer subsystem enabling a manufacturer to transmit to said database management system, information representative of a plurality of trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products and a plurality of URLs symbolically linked to said trademarks and specifying the location of a plurality of said Web documents stored in one or more Internet-based information servers.

11. The Internet-based system of claim 10, wherein said information representative of the trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products of a manufacturer and the plurality of URLs symbolically linked thereto, is transmitted from said manufacturer-managed client computer subsystem to said database management subsystem using a file transfer protocol.

12. The Internet-based system of claim 10, wherein said information representative of the trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products of a manufacturer and the plurality of URLs symbolically linked thereto, is transmitted from said manufacturer-managed client computer subsystem to said database management subsystem using an electronic data interchange process.

13. The Internet-based system of claim 10, wherein Web-documents comprise HTML-encoded documents.

14. The Internet-based system of claim 10, wherein said particular kinds of information related to consumer products are selected from the group consisting of product advertisements, product specifications, product updates, product distributors, product warranty/servicing, and product incentives including rebates, discounts and coupons.

15. The Internet-based system of claim 10, wherein said trademarks are registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office or are the subject matters of trademark applications pending therein.

16. The Internet-based system of claim 10, wherein said database management subsystem is realized on a first computing platform, and said trademark/URL information server is realized on a second computing platform, and said first and second computing platforms are interconnected by an information network.