System and method for facilitating electronic commerce transactions
First Claim
1. An electronic commerce system for facilitating an electronic commerce transaction, the electronic commerce system comprising:
- a plurality of seller databases, wherein each seller database is associated with a corresponding seller and different from other seller databases in the plurality of seller databases, including product data for one or more products;
a global content directory server coupled with the plurality of seller databases, the global content directory server providing a plurality of buyer computers access to the plurality of seller databases, the global content directory server comprising;
a storage medium stored therein a directory structure comprising a plurality of hierarchically organized product classes, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class, wherein one or more pointers are associated with each product class, each pointer identifying the seller database in the plurality of seller databases in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products categorized in the product class; and
a server search interface configured to communicate, in response to a selection of a product class by one of the plurality of buyer computers, a search query for product data to the plurality of seller databases identified by one or more pointers associated with the selected product class; and
in response to communicating the search query for product data to the plurality of seller databases identified by one or more pointers associated with the selected product class, receive address information associated with a seller database associated with a seller of the selected product, the seller database including product data for the selected product, wherein one of the plurality of buyer computers is configured to communicate with the seller associated with the seller database to conduct a commerce transaction relating to the selected product using the received address information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A global content directory (42) includes a directory structure (44) that includes a plurality of product classes organized in a hierarchy. Each product class categorizes a plurality of products and defines one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class. The directory (42) also includes one or more pointers that are associated with each product class. Each pointer identifies a seller database (32) in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products that are associated with the product class. The directory (42) also includes a search interface (45) that communicates, in response to a selection of a product class by a user (20) of the global content directory (42), a search query for product data to one or more seller databases (32) identified by the one or more pointers associated with the selected product class.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An electronic commerce system for facilitating an electronic commerce transaction, the electronic commerce system comprising:
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a plurality of seller databases, wherein each seller database is associated with a corresponding seller and different from other seller databases in the plurality of seller databases, including product data for one or more products; a global content directory server coupled with the plurality of seller databases, the global content directory server providing a plurality of buyer computers access to the plurality of seller databases, the global content directory server comprising; a storage medium stored therein a directory structure comprising a plurality of hierarchically organized product classes, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class, wherein one or more pointers are associated with each product class, each pointer identifying the seller database in the plurality of seller databases in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products categorized in the product class; and a server search interface configured to communicate, in response to a selection of a product class by one of the plurality of buyer computers, a search query for product data to the plurality of seller databases identified by one or more pointers associated with the selected product class; and in response to communicating the search query for product data to the plurality of seller databases identified by one or more pointers associated with the selected product class, receive address information associated with a seller database associated with a seller of the selected product, the seller database including product data for the selected product, wherein one of the plurality of buyer computers is configured to communicate with the seller associated with the seller database to conduct a commerce transaction relating to the selected product using the received address information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer-implemented method for facilitating an electronic commerce transaction, the method comprising:
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providing, by a server, a plurality of buyer computers access to a global content directory server for a plurality of seller databases, each seller database associated with a corresponding seller and different from other seller databases in the plurality of seller databases; providing, by the server, a directory structure comprising a plurality of hierarchically organized product classes, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class; providing, by the server, one or more pointers for each product class, each pointer identifying the seller database in the plurality of seller databases in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products categorized in the product class; providing, by the server, a search interface configured to communicate, in response to a selection of a product class by one of the plurality of buyer computers, a search query for product data to the plurality of seller databases identified by one or more pointers associated with the selected product class; and in response to communicating the search query for product data to the plurality of seller databases identified by one or more pointers associated with the selected product class, receiving address information associated with a seller database associated with a seller of the selected product, the seller database including product data for the selected product, wherein one of the plurality of buyer computers is configured to communicate with the seller associated with the seller database to conduct a commerce transaction relating to the selected product using the received address information. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. Software for facilitating an electronic commerce transaction, the software embodied in a computer-readable medium and when executed using one or more computers is configured to:
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provide a plurality of buyer computers access to a global content directory server for a plurality of seller databases, each seller database associated with a corresponding seller and different from other seller databases in the plurality of seller databases; provide a directory structure comprising a plurality of hierarchically organized product classes, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class; provide one or more pointers for each product class, each pointer identifying the seller database in the plurality of seller databases in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products categorized in the product class; provide a search interface configured to communicate, in response to a selection of a product class by one of the plurality of buyer computers, a search query for product data to the plurality of seller databases identified by one or more pointers associated with the selected product class; and in response to communicating the search query for product data to the plurality of seller databases identified by one or more pointers associated with the selected product class, receive address information associated with a seller database associated with a seller of the selected product, the seller database including product data for the selected product, wherein one of the plurality of buyer computers is configured to communicate with the seller associated with the seller database to conduct a commerce transaction relating to the selected product using the received address information. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification