Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for ordering an item using a client system, the method comprising:
- displaying information identifying the item at the client computer system;
receiving from a user an indication of a recipient to whom the ordered item is to be delivered;
displaying an indication of an action that is to be performed by the user to order the item; and
in response to the indicated action being performed, sending to a server system an indication that the item is to be ordered and the indication of the recipient to whom the ordered item is to be deliveredwhereby when the server system does not have sufficient information for the indicated recipient to deliver the ordered item, the server system automatically obtains additional information from one or more external information sources other than the user that is sufficient to deliver the ordered item to the indicated recipient.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for placing an order to purchase an item via the Internet. The order is placed by a purchaser at a client system and received by a server system. The server system receives purchaser information including identification of the purchaser, payment information, and shipment information from the client system. The server system then assigns a client identifier to the client system and associates the assigned client identifier with the received purchaser information. The server system sends to the client system the assigned client identifier and an HTML document identifying the item and including an order button. The client system receives and stores the assigned client identifier and receives and displays the HTML document. In response to the selection of the order button, the client system sends to the server system a request to purchase the identified item. The server system receives the request and combines the purchaser information associated with the client identifier of the client system to generate an order to purchase the item in accordance with the billing and shipment information whereby the purchaser effects the ordering of the product by selection of the order button.
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Citations
55 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for ordering an item using a client system, the method comprising:
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displaying information identifying the item at the client computer system; receiving from a user an indication of a recipient to whom the ordered item is to be delivered; displaying an indication of an action that is to be performed by the user to order the item; and in response to the indicated action being performed, sending to a server system an indication that the item is to be ordered and the indication of the recipient to whom the ordered item is to be delivered whereby when the server system does not have sufficient information for the indicated recipient to deliver the ordered item, the server system automatically obtains additional information from one or more external information sources other than the user that is sufficient to deliver the ordered item to the indicated recipient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer-implemented method for ordering an item, the method comprising:
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sending to a client system instructions to display information identifying the item, to input an indication of a recipient to whom the item is to be delivered, and to send the indication of the recipient to the server system when an indicated single action is performed; and after the indicated single action is performed, receiving the indication of the recipient from a user of the client system; determining whether the server system does not have sufficient information for the indicated recipient to deliver the ordered item; and when the server system does not have sufficient information, automatically obtaining additional information from one or more information sources other than the user that is sufficient to deliver the ordered item to the indicated recipient, the one or more information sources being external to the server system. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A computer-implemented method for ordering an item using a client system, the method comprising:
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displaying information identifying the item at the client computer system; receiving from a user an identifier of a group of one or more recipients to whom the ordered item is to be delivered, the identified group having an indication of each recipient in the group; displaying an indication of an action that is to be performed by the user to order the item; and in response to the indicated action being performed, sending to a server system an indication that the item is to be ordered and the indication of each recipient in the group to whom the ordered item is to be delivered whereby when the server system does not have sufficient information for an indicated recipient to deliver the ordered item, the server system automatically obtains additional information from one or more external information sources other than the user that is sufficient to deliver the ordered item to the indicated recipient. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method in a computer system for coordinating the delivery of a gift given by a gift giver to a recipient, the method comprising:
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automatically receiving an order from the gift giver, the order identifying a gift to be delivered to the recipient and having contact information describing the recipient; storing the received order by the computer system in a computer system order database along with an order tracking number; automatically sending a communication by the computer system to the recipient based on the contact information, the communication requesting delivery information for the gift, the communication including the order tracking number so that the recipient can include the order tracking number in a response to the communication for identification of the stored order when the recipient does not respond to the communication, automatically collecting additional delivery information for the gift based on the contact information from sources other than the gift giver; when potential delivery information for the gift has been identified, automatically verifying by the computer system whether the potential delivery information is valid; and when the delivery location has been verified as being valid, automatically directing delivery of the gift by the computer system in accordance with the delivery information; and automatically notifying the gift giver by the computer system that the gift has been sent to the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A computer-based gift delivery system for coordinating the delivery of a gift from a gift giver to a recipient, the system comprising:
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an order entry component configured to provide a selection of available gifts, to receive a selection of a gift, to receive contact information describing the recipient, and to store the gift order; and a gift delivery component configured to retrieve the stored gift order, configured to determine whether the contact information includes sufficient delivery information to deliver the gift to the recipient, configured to obtain, responsive to determining that sufficient delivery information is not included, additional information about the recipient by attempting to contact the recipient and by searching various databases of information, at least one said database exterior to the computer system, and configured to direct the sending of the gift to the recipient when sufficient delivery information has been obtained. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method in a computer system for coordinating the delivery of a gift given by a gift giver to a recipient, the method comprising:
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automatically receiving an order from the gift giver, the order identifying a gift to be delivered to the recipient and having contact information relating to the recipient; storing the received order by the computer system in an order database in association with an order tracking number; automatically identifying an electronic mail address for the recipient using the contact information received from the gift giver; automatically sending a first electronic mail message by the computer system to the recipient based on the contact information, the first message requesting delivery information for the gift, the first message including the order tracking number so that the recipient can include the order tracking number in a response to the first message for identification of the stored order; when a second electronic mail message that responds to the first electronic mail message sent to the recipient is received from the recipient and the received second message has sufficient delivery information, automatically retrieving the order tracking number and the delivery information from the received second electronic mail message; automatically retrieving from the order database the order associated with the retrieved order tracking number; automatically directing delivery of the gift of the retrieved order in accordance with the retrieved delivery information; and automatically sending a third electronic mail message to the gift giver indicating that the gift is being delivered to the recipient; and when a second electronic mail message that responds to the first electronic mail message sent to the recipient is received from the recipient but the received second message does not have sufficient delivery information or when no second electronic mail message is received, automatically sending a third electronic mail message by the computer system to the gift giver, the third message indicating that the gift cannot be delivered to the recipient and including the order tracking number so that the gift giver can include the order tracking number for identification of the stored order in a response to the third message that provides additional contact information. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49)
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50. A computer system for ordering an item, the system comprising:
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a component that sends to a client system instructions for displaying information identifying the item at the client computer system; receiving from a user an indication of a recipient to whom the ordered item is to be delivered; displaying an indication of an action that is to be performed by the user to order the item; and in response to the indicated action being performed, sending to a server system an indication that the item is to be ordered and the indication of the recipient to whom the ordered item is to be delivered; and a component of the server system that, when the server system does not have sufficient information for the indicated recipient to deliver the ordered item, obtains additional information from one or more external information sources other than the user that is sufficient to deliver the ordered item to the indicated recipient. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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Specification