Interactive information services system and associated method for facilitating purchasing transactions
First Claim
1. A method of providing a virtual shopping mall coupling subscribers with a plurality of providers in an interactive system, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing the plurality of subscribers with information relating to items provided by the plurality of providers;
encrypting a purchase order to produce an encrypted operator purchase order and an encrypted provider purchase order that include at least a portion of information contained in the purchase order, the purchase order for at least one item provided by at least one of the plurality of providers, the at least one item in the purchase order selected by a subscriber in the plurality of subscribers, wherein encrypting the purchase order to produce the encrypted operator copy of the purchase order and the encrypted provider copy of the purchase order comprises encrypting the purchase order to form the encrypted operator purchase order differently from encrypting the purchase order to form the encrypted provider purchase order;
transmitting the encrypted operator purchase order and encrypted provider purchase order to a central operator, the central operator coupling the subscribers with the plurality of providers;
decrypting the encrypted operator purchase order to form a decrypted purchase order;
analyzing the decrypted operator purchase order to determine a provider, among the plurality of providers, that provides the at least one item selected by the subscriber; and
transmitting the encrypted provider purchase order to the provider that provides the at least one item selected by the subscriber by relaying the encrypted provider copy of the purchase order from the central operator to the provider that provides the at least one item selected by the subscriber without first decrypting the encrypted provider copy of the purchase order.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system are provided to permit a network operator to capture transaction data relating to transactions between a subscriber and a service provider that are conducted via a communications network established by the network operator, such as a cable television network. In operation, the subscribers are provided with information relating to items offered by one or more service providers. The subscriber can transmit a purchase order. A headend of the communications network receives and analyzes the purchase order to capture transaction data. If the service provider is different than the network operator, the headend also relays a copy of the purchase order to the third party service provider such that the purchase order can be filled. Since the network operator has captured information relating to the purchase order, however, the network operator can charge the service provider and/or the subscriber for utilizing its network to facilitate the transaction.
30 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of providing a virtual shopping mall coupling subscribers with a plurality of providers in an interactive system, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing the plurality of subscribers with information relating to items provided by the plurality of providers; encrypting a purchase order to produce an encrypted operator purchase order and an encrypted provider purchase order that include at least a portion of information contained in the purchase order, the purchase order for at least one item provided by at least one of the plurality of providers, the at least one item in the purchase order selected by a subscriber in the plurality of subscribers, wherein encrypting the purchase order to produce the encrypted operator copy of the purchase order and the encrypted provider copy of the purchase order comprises encrypting the purchase order to form the encrypted operator purchase order differently from encrypting the purchase order to form the encrypted provider purchase order; transmitting the encrypted operator purchase order and encrypted provider purchase order to a central operator, the central operator coupling the subscribers with the plurality of providers; decrypting the encrypted operator purchase order to form a decrypted purchase order; analyzing the decrypted operator purchase order to determine a provider, among the plurality of providers, that provides the at least one item selected by the subscriber; and transmitting the encrypted provider purchase order to the provider that provides the at least one item selected by the subscriber by relaying the encrypted provider copy of the purchase order from the central operator to the provider that provides the at least one item selected by the subscriber without first decrypting the encrypted provider copy of the purchase order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 15, 16, 17)
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8. An interactive system for providing a virtual shopping mall coupling a subscriber with a plurality of providers, the interactive system comprising:
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a subscriber terminal for providing the subscriber with information relating to a plurality of items offered by the plurality of providers, wherein a purchase order is formed by the subscriber selecting at least one item offered by the plurality of providers; means for encrypting the purchase order to form an encrypted operator purchase order and an encrypted provider purchase order, each of the operator purchase order and the encrypted provider purchase order comprising at least a portion of information contained in the purchase order, the means for encrypting the purchase order comprising means for encrypting the purchase order to form the encrypted operator purchase order differently from the encryption of the purchase order to form the encrypted provider purchase order; a receiver, associated with a network operator, for receiving the encrypted operator purchase order and the encrypted provider purchase order; a processor, in communication with the receiver, configured to decrypt the encrypted operator purchase order and to analyze the decrypted operator purchase order to determine a provider, among the plurality of providers, that provides the at least one item selected by the subscriber; and
a transmitter for sending the encrypted provider purchase order to the provider that provides the at least one item selected by the subscriber, the transmitter relaying the encrypted provider copy of the purchase order from the central operator to the provider that provides the at least one item selected by the subscriber without the processor first decrypting the encrypted provider copy of the purchase order. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification