Virtual packing list

• US 7,426,495 B1
• Filed: 05/10/2000
• Issued: 09/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Corless, Peter P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Worjloh; Jalatee
• Application Number:
  US09/569,093
• Time in Patent Office: 3,051 Days
• Field of Search: 705 50- 79, 705/26, 713/150, 715/500.1, 707/104.1, 726 26- 33, 380200-203
• US Class Current: 705/75
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A virtual packing list for facilitating electronic commerce transactions made over the Internet. When a consumer places an order over the Internet for digital content deliverables, a unique virtual packing list is generated for that order. The virtual packing list contains a manifest of all the digital contents ordered by the consumer. The virtual packing list also optionally includes legal rights, files, and/or other documentation pertaining to the intellectual property corresponding to that commercial transaction. The order is filled based on the virtual packing list. Thereupon, the ordered digital contents, along with the virtual packing list, is downloaded to the consumer. The consumer can verify delivery of the digital contents based on the virtual packing list. Furthermore, the virtual packing list can be used in a host of post-order processes, such as accounting, return receipt, invoicing, inventory control, etc.

Claims

1. A method for performing a commercial transaction over the Internet, comprising:

receiving a consumer selected electronic acceptance of terms included in a digital license agreement that defines intellectual property rights for digital content;

approving the digital license agreement including the electronic acceptance of terms;

accepting an order for the digital content from a consumer, where the order is made electronically over the Internet;

generating a virtual packing list which describes the digital content which was ordered over the Internet;

transmitting the digital content over the Internet to the consumer;

transmitting the virtual packing list to the consumer over the Internet, using the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer as a customer return receipt where the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer is matched at a consumer location with the digital content transmitted to the customer;

receiving a return receipt message back from the customer that certifies that the digital content listed in the virtual packing list was successfully transmitted to the customer and matches the digital content transmitted to the customer; and

providing a list of file sizes in the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer that identify sizes of the digital content transmitted to the customer; and

receiving the return receipt back from the customer proving that the commercial transaction has been successfully transacted when the file sizes identified in the virtual packing list match the sizes of the digital content received by the customer.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending the return receipt back to a vendor or channel partner to prove commercial properties were actually transacted and commercial transaction was successfully completed.

3. The method of claim 1 where the verification of the commercial transaction includes a comparison of the transmitted digital content with the digital content identified in the order.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising verifying delivery of the digital content against the virtual packing list.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing a security process against the delivered digital content by using data contained in the virtual packing list.

6. The method of claim 5, where the security process comprises a checksum process for comparing a data size of the delivered digital content with a data size of the digital content identified in the order.

7. The method of claim 5, where the security process comprises a hash function for determining if the delivered digital content is corrupt.

8. The method of claim 1, where the virtual packing list contains a pointer to the digital content.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating an invoice associated with the digital content identified in the virtual packing list.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing content based routing according to the virtual packing list that identifies the consumer.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising listing a plurality of digital content on the virtual packing list, where the plurality of digital content includes different digital content data types.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating a unique virtual packing list for each commercial transaction.

13. The method of claim 1, where the virtual packing list comprises an extensible markup language format.

14. The method of claim 1 where the virtual packing list contains content in Unicode.

15. The method of claim 1, where the virtual packing list contains Uniform Resource Identifiers that point to the digital content.

16. The method of claim 1 where the virtual packing list includes a link to the digital license agreement.

17. A method for performing a commercial transaction over the Internet, comprising:

receiving a consumer selected electronic acceptance of terms included in a digital license agreement that defines intellectual property rights for digital content;

approving the digital license agreement including the electronic acceptance of terms;

accepting an order for the digital content from a consumer, where the order is made electronically over the Internet;

generating a virtual packing list which describes the digital content which was ordered over the Internet;

transmitting the digital content over the Internet to the consumer;

transmitting the virtual packing list to the consumer over the Internet, using the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer as a customer return receipt where the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer is matched at a consumer location with the digital content transmitted to the customer;

receiving a return receipt message back from the customer that certifies that the digital content listed in the virtual packing list was successfully transmitted to the customer and matches the digital content transmitted to the customer;

adding digital signatures in the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer that are associated with the digital content; and

receiving the return receipt back from the customer proving that the commercial transaction has been successfully transacted when the digital signatures in the virtual packing list correspond with the digital content transmitted to the customer.

18. A method for performing a commercial transaction over the Internet, comprising:

receiving a consumer selected electronic acceptance of terms included in a digital license agreement that defines intellectual property rights for digital content;

approving the digital license agreement including the electronic acceptance of terms;

accepting an order for the digital content from consumer, where the order is made electronically over the Internet;

generating a virtual packing list which describes the digital content which was ordered over the Internet;

transmitting the digital content over the Internet to the consumer;

transmitting the virtual packing list to the consumer over the Internet, using the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer as a customer return receipt where the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer is matched at a consumer location with the digital content transmitted to the customer;

receiving a return receipt message back from the customer that certifies that the digital content listed in the virtual packing list was successfully transmitted to the customer and matches the digital content transmitted to the customer;

adding a checksum to the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer associated with the digital content; and

receiving the return receipt back from the customer proving that the commercial transaction has been successfully transacted when the checksum in the virtual packing list corresponds with the digital content transmitted to the customer.

19. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for performing a commercial transaction over the Internet, the instructions comprising:

receiving a consumer selected electronic acceptance of terms included in a digital license agreement that defines intellectual property rights for digital content;

approving the digital license agreement including the electronic acceptance of terms;

accepting an order for the digital content from a consumer, where the order is made electronically over the Internet;

generating a virtual packing list which describes the digital content which was ordered over the Internet;

transmitting the digital content over the Internet to the consumer;

transmitting the virtual packing list to the consumer over the Internet, where the virtual packing list enables verification of the commercial transaction including verification of the electronic acceptance of terms;

using the virtual packing list transmitted to the consumer as a consumer return receipt where the virtual packing list transmitted to the consumer is matched at a consumer receiving location with the digital content received by the consumer;

receiving a return receipt message back from the consumer when the digital content listed in the virtual packing list is successfully received by the consumer and matches the digital content received by the consumer;

providing a list of files sizes in the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer that identify sizes of the digital content transmitted to the customer; and

receiving the return receipt back from the customer proving that the commercial transaction has been successfully transacted and that the file sizes identified in the virtual packing list match the sizes of the digital content received by the customer.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 where the digital license agreement describes the consumer'"'"'s legal rights with respect to the digital content.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 further comprising a digital rights framework declaration with the virtual packing list.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 further comprising including a user help file with the virtual packing list including instructions for running a startup file for installation of the digital content.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 further comprising where the verification of the commercial transaction is performed by the consumer or by a consumer'"'"'s computer.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 where the verification of the commercial transaction includes a comparison of the transmitted digital content with the digital content identified in the order.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 further comprising performing a security process against the delivered digital content by using data contained in the virtual packing list.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, where the security process comprises a checksum process for comparing a data size of the delivered digital content with a data size of the digital content identified in the order.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, where the security process comprises a hash function for determining if the delivered digital content is corrupt.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, where the virtual packing list contains a pointer to the digital content.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 further comprising generating an invoice associated with the digital content identified in the virtual packing list.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 further comprising performing content based routing according to the virtual packing list that identifies the consumer.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 further comprising listing a plurality of digital content on the virtual packing list, where the plurality of digital content includes different digital content data types.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 further comprising generating a unique virtual packing list for each commercial transaction.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, where the virtual packing list comprises an extensible markup language format.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 where the virtual packing list contains content in Unicode.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, where the virtual packing list contains Uniform Resource Identifiers that point to the digital content.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 where the virtual packing list includes a link to the digital license agreement.

37. A system comprising:

a network interface which transmits and receives digital data to and from the Internet;

a port of the network interface which accepts an incoming order made from a remote consumer;

a processor coupled to the port which is configured to;

approve a consumer selected electronic acceptance of terms included in a digital license agreement that defines intellectual property rights for digital content requested in the incoming order,

generate a virtual packing list in response to the incoming order, where the virtual packing list comprises a list of digital content ordered by the remote consumer,

transmit the virtual packing list over the Internet to the remote consumer along with the ordered digital content, and where the virtual packing list enables verification of the commercial transaction including verification of the electronic acceptance of terms, and

create an invoice associated with the ordered digital content and the digital license agreement; and

a memory coupled to the processor which stores the invoice and the associated digital license agreement, wherein the processor uses the virtual packing list transmitted to the remote consumer as a remote consumer return receipt where the virtual packing list transmitted to the remote consumer is matched at a remote consumer location with the digital content received by the remote consumer and the processor receives a return receipt message back from the remote consumer when the digital content listed in the virtual packing list is successfully received by the remote consumer and matches the digital content received by the remote consumer,

wherein the processor is further configured to add digital signatures to the virtual packing list transmitted to the customer that are associated with the digital content so that the return receipt message received back from the remote customer proves that the commercial transaction has been successfully transacted and the digital signatures in the virtual packing correspond with the digital content transmitted to the customer.

38. The computer system of claim 37, where the digital license agreement describes the remote consumer'"'"'s legal rights with respect to the ordered digital content.

39. The computer system of claim 37, where the verification of the commercial transaction and the generation of the return receipt is performed by the remote consumer or by a consumer'"'"'s computer.

40. The computer system of claim 37, where the virtual packing list contains pointers to the digital content and to the digital license agreement.