System and method for pairing providers with consumers of online goods and services
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- maintaining a database of personal information relating to a consumer, the database associated with a plurality of domain names and the personal information including a list of preferred providers identified by the consumer or by prior purchases thereby;
receiving a request initiated by the consumer and transmitted over a global communication network to a system associated with the plurality of domain names, wherein the request includes one of the plurality of domain names and the domain name included in the request includes an identification of a subject of the request without identifying a specific provider thereof;
identifying, responsive to the received request initiated by the consumer and based upon the request and the preferred providers in the database, at least one name of at least one provider;
forwarding the identified at least one name of the at least one provider from said system to said consumer, wherein said consumer is subsequently capable of choosing a provider from the identified at least one provider to communicate therewith;
completing a transaction between the consumer and a provider selected from the identified at least one provider; and
updating the personal information based on the completed transaction, wherein the updated personal information is accessible by the system for use in connection with a subsequent request initialed by the consumer that includes a different one of the plurality of domain names, with the domain name included in the subsequent request including an identification of the subject of the subsequent request.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system is provided that operates as an intelligent intermediary between online consumers and providers of goods and services. The system operates to receive a request initiated by a consumer and transmitted over a global communication network (e.g., the Internet), said request comprised of a highly intuitive and simple domain name (e.g., INEEDACAB.COM) further associated with a large family of domain names (e.g., INEEDAHOTELROOM.COM and INEEDHOMEREPAIRS.COM) each of which includes a common domain name element (e.g., INEED). In response to receiving the request, the system determines the subject matter of the request and operates to select at least one name of at least one provider related to the subject matter using a name linking policy. Thereafter, the system operates to forward the selected at least one name of the at least one provider to the consumer, along with comparative pricing and availability information regarding goods and services offered by the selected provider(s), allowing the consumer to make optimized choices regarding which provider(s) with whom to communicate and, optionally, transact business. Privacy and payment instructions, consumer preferences, provider history and other instructive information for each consumer are maintained by the system in a common database to further facilitate commercial transactions between a consumer and a provider.
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Citations
80 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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maintaining a database of personal information relating to a consumer, the database associated with a plurality of domain names and the personal information including a list of preferred providers identified by the consumer or by prior purchases thereby; receiving a request initiated by the consumer and transmitted over a global communication network to a system associated with the plurality of domain names, wherein the request includes one of the plurality of domain names and the domain name included in the request includes an identification of a subject of the request without identifying a specific provider thereof; identifying, responsive to the received request initiated by the consumer and based upon the request and the preferred providers in the database, at least one name of at least one provider; forwarding the identified at least one name of the at least one provider from said system to said consumer, wherein said consumer is subsequently capable of choosing a provider from the identified at least one provider to communicate therewith;
completing a transaction between the consumer and a provider selected from the identified at least one provider; andupdating the personal information based on the completed transaction, wherein the updated personal information is accessible by the system for use in connection with a subsequent request initialed by the consumer that includes a different one of the plurality of domain names, with the domain name included in the subsequent request including an identification of the subject of the subsequent request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system comprising:
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a database operable to store information associated with a consumer, the database associated with a plurality of domain names and the information including a list of preferred providers identified by the consumer or by prior purchases made thereby; and a server, in communication with the database, operable to receive a request initiated by said consumer and transmitted over a global communication network, the server associated with the plurality of domain names and the request including one of the plurality of domain names, with the domain name included in the request including an identification of a subject of the request without identifying a specific provider thereof said server further including; a module operable to select, responsive to the received request and based upon said request and said preferred providers stored in the database, at least one name of at least one provider; and a controller operable to forward the selected at least one name of the at least one provider to said consumer, wherein said consumer is then capable of choosing a provider from the selected at least one provider to communicate and complete a business transaction therewith, the server being further operable to; update the information associated with the consumer based on the completed transaction; and access the updated information for use in connection with a subsequent request initiated by said consumer, wherein the subsequent request includes a different one of the plurality of domain names and the domain name included in the subsequent request identifying a subject of the subsequent request. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method for providing a consumer with a customized presentation containing the names of various providers of goods and services that are selected, said method comprising:
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storing, within an intermediary system, consumer-provided information associated with said consume; receding a request initiated by said consumer and transmitted over a global communication network to said intermediary system, said request being a domain name associated with the intermediary system, with the domain name identifying a subject of the request without identifying a specific provider thereof; selecting, responsive to the received request and based upon said information associated with said consumer and stored in said intermediary system, at least one name of at least one provider; forwarding the selected at least one name of the at least one provider within a customized presentation to said consumer, wherein said consumer is then capable of choosing a provider from the selected at least one provider to communicate and, optionally, transact business therewith; operating, within said intermediary system, as an intermediary between said consumer and said chosen provider; and updating the information associated with the consumer based upon a provider chosen thereby with which to transact business, wherein the information is updated for future use in selecting, responsive to a subsequent received request and based upon the updated information, at least one name of at least one provider. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method comprising:
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maintaining a database of personal information relating to a consumer, the personal information including a list of at least one preferred provider of goods or services; receiving a search request initiated by the consumer over a global communications network, the Request comprising a domain name identifying a type of goods or services without identifying a specific provider thereof; identifying, in response to the received search request, one or more providers of the type of goods or services requested based upon the at least one preferred provider, presenting the one or more providers to the consumer, enabling the consumer to complete a transaction with a provider from the one or more providers chosen by the consumer; and updating the list of at least one preferred provider based upon the one or more providers chosen by the;
consumer to complete the transaction, wherein the list of at least one preferred provider is undated to identify the chosen provider as a preferred provider for future use in selecting, responsive to a subsequent received request. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. An apparatus for facilitating a transaction between a consumer and a provider of goods or services over communications network, the apparatus being adapted to:
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maintain a database of personal information relating to a consumer wherein the personal information relating to the consumer includes a list of a plurality of consumer-provided names of one or more providers with which the consumer prefers to transact business; receive a search request initiated by the consumer over a global communications network, the request identifying a type of goods or services, the search request having a single set of characters forming a plurality of fields, a first field having a common name as between different search requests and a second field identifying the type of goods or services to be searched without specifying a specific provider of goods or services; identify, responsive only to the search request without additional search information being directly provided by the consumer, one or more providers of the type of goods or services requested, this one or more providers being identified based upon the personal information relating to the consumer in the database; present the one or more providers to the consumer; and enable the consumer to complete a transaction with a provider from the one or more providers chosen by the consumer using the personal information in the database wherein the list is automatically undated to reflect the consumer completing a transaction with the provider chosen by the consumer. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A method comprising:
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maintaining a database of personal information relating to a consumer; receiving a request initiated by the consumer and transmitted over a global communication network to a system, said request having a single set of characters forming a plurality of fields, a first field having a common name as between different requests and a second field identifying a type of goods or services without identifying a specific provider thereof; selecting, responsive only to the received request initiated by the consumer without additional search information being directly provided by the consumer and based upon the personal information relating thereto in the database, at least one name of at least one provider; forwarding the selected at least one name of the at least one provider from said system to said consumer, wherein said consumer is subsequently capable of choosing a provider from the selected at least one provider to communicate therewith; and updating the database of personal information for subsequent selections of at least one provider, based upon the provider chosen by the consumer with which to communicate. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A system comprising:
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a database operable to store information associated with a consumer; a server, communicably coupled to the database, operable to receive a request initiated by said consumer and transmitted over a global communication network, the request comprising a single set of characters representative of typed text, the typed text including a first field having a common name as between different requests and a second field for identifying at least one type of goods or services without identifying a specific provider thereof, said server further including; a module operable to select, responsive to the received request without additional information directly provided by the consumer and based upon personal information relating to the consumer in the database, at least one name of at least one provider; and a controller operable to forward the selected at least one name of the at least one provider to said consumer, wherein said consumer is thereafter enabled to choose a provider from the selected at least one provider to communicate and selectively complete a transaction therewith, wherein the information associated with the consumer is automatically updated for subsequent selections by the module, based upon the provider chosen by the consumer with which to complete a transaction. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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Specification