Electronic product packaging and distribution for e-Commerce
First Claim
1. A method of using an electronic shopping cart to facilitate defining a distribution package, comprising:
- connecting to an online distribution server;
receiving a list of goods available for electronic and/or physical distribution to a client;
selecting goods from the list;
adding said selected goods to an electronic shopping cart;
requesting creation of a distribution package according to contents of electronic shopping cart; and
assigning access restrictions for the distribution package, said restrictions controlling access by the client to the distribution package.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention generally relates to packaging and distribution of goods for e-Commerce transactions, and more particularly to extending electronic shopping carts to include rules controlling access and distribution to a cart'"'"'s goods. One embodiment includes a distribution method, in which an online distribution server, configured to receive incoming connections from a client, is connected to. A list of goods available for electronic and physical distribution to the client is received, and goods from the list are selected. Selected goods are added to an electronic shopping cart, and creation of a distribution package according to contents of electronic shopping cart is requested. Access restrictions for the distribution package are then assigned. Thus, access to the package created from the shopping cart can be restricted to only authorized clients.
28 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of using an electronic shopping cart to facilitate defining a distribution package, comprising:
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connecting to an online distribution server; receiving a list of goods available for electronic and/or physical distribution to a client; selecting goods from the list; adding said selected goods to an electronic shopping cart; requesting creation of a distribution package according to contents of electronic shopping cart; and assigning access restrictions for the distribution package, said restrictions controlling access by the client to the distribution package. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A machine-accessible medium having instructions encoded thereon for using an electronic shopping cart to facilitate defining a distribution package, said instructions, when accessed, capable of directing a machine to:
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connect to an online distribution server; receive a list of goods available for electronic and physical distribution to a client; select goods from the list; add said selected goods to an electronic shopping cart; request creation of a distribution package according to contents of electronic shopping cart; and assign access restrictions for the distribution package, said restrictions controlling access by the client to the distribution package. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of using an electronic shopping cart to facilitate defining a distribution package, comprising:
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receiving a connection from a manager-client by an online distribution server; determining a client identifier; sending a list of goods to the manager-client based at least in part on the client identifier; receiving a selection of goods from the list; adding said selected goods to a client-side electronic shopping cart; receiving a creation request for a distribution package; creating the distribution package from the contents of the client-side electronic shopping cart; and assigning access restrictions for the distribution package, said restrictions controlling access by user-clients to the distribution package. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A machine-accessible medium having instructions encoded thereon for using an electronic shopping cart to facilitate defining a distribution package, said instructions, when accessed, capable of directing a machine to:
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receive a connection from a manager-client by an online distribution server; determine a client identifier; send a list of goods to the manager-client based at least in part on the client identifier; receive a selection of goods from the list; add said selected goods to a client-side electronic shopping cart; receive a creation request for a distribution package; create the distribution package from the contents of the client-side electronic shopping cart; and assign access restrictions for the distribution package, said restrictions controlling access by user-clients to the distribution package. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of using an electronic shopping cart to facilitate defining a distribution package, comprising:
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receiving a connection from a manager-client; determining an identifier for the manager-client; assembling, based at least in part on the identifier, a list of goods available for electronic and/or physical distribution to a user-client; receiving a selection of a good from the list; adding said selected good to an electronic shopping cart of the manager-client; receiving a request for creation of a distribution package determined based at least in part on the contents of the electronic shopping cart. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. A method comprising:
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a client connecting to a distribution server having associated packages, each package identifying selected ones of electronic and physical goods and updates thereto, and each package having an associated access control set by a creator of the package; receiving a list of goods identifying at least one good available by electronic distribution; selecting the good available for electronic distribution; determining the good is currently installed on the client; determining an update to the good is available from the distribution server; and updating said installed good with the update. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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Specification