Providing automated gift registry functionality to assist a user in purchasing an item for a recipient
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for assisting a user in acquiring an item for a recipient, the method comprising:
- receiving information related to previous item acquisitions;
at a first time, receiving from a user an indication of a potential acquisition of an item for a recipient;
retrieving from the received information indications of items acquired for the recipient by others;
after the first time, automatically determining based on the retrieved indications whether the item for the potential acquisition is appropriate to be acquired for the recipient, the determining being based at least in part on an amount of time that has elapsed since at least one of the indicated items was previously acquired for the recipient, the determining being performed by an automated system being executed by one or more computer systems and being performed without using any indication specified by any user prior to the first time of whether the item for the potential acquisition is appropriate to be acquired for the recipient; and
if the item for the potential acquisition is determined to not be appropriate to be acquired for the recipient, automatically providing by the automated system a warning for presentation to the user that indicates inappropriateness of the item for the recipient, and otherwise not providing the warning.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are described for providing automated functionality to assist a user in purchasing an item for a recipient. An automated system may track various information about a series of item purchases from one or more services through which items can be purchased, and use information about past item purchases to provide various automated functionality for users that want to purchase items for various recipients. Types of functionality provided by the system include assisting in preventing recipients from receiving inappropriate items by monitoring item gift purchases and item self-purchases and responding to user requests to determine whether a specified gift would be appropriate for a recipient. In addition to information about past item purchases (e.g., whether a recipient has already received a copy of an item), the system can also use other information when determining whether a purchase of an item for the recipient is appropriate.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for assisting a user in acquiring an item for a recipient, the method comprising:
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receiving information related to previous item acquisitions; at a first time, receiving from a user an indication of a potential acquisition of an item for a recipient; retrieving from the received information indications of items acquired for the recipient by others; after the first time, automatically determining based on the retrieved indications whether the item for the potential acquisition is appropriate to be acquired for the recipient, the determining being based at least in part on an amount of time that has elapsed since at least one of the indicated items was previously acquired for the recipient, the determining being performed by an automated system being executed by one or more computer systems and being performed without using any indication specified by any user prior to the first time of whether the item for the potential acquisition is appropriate to be acquired for the recipient; and if the item for the potential acquisition is determined to not be appropriate to be acquired for the recipient, automatically providing by the automated system a warning for presentation to the user that indicates inappropriateness of the item for the recipient, and otherwise not providing the warning. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer-readable medium whose contents include instructions for an automated system that when executed enable a computer system to assist a user in acquiring an item, by performing a method comprising:
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at a first time, receiving from a user an indication of a potential acquisition of an item for a recipient; receiving information related to previous item acquisitions for the recipient, and retrieving from the received information indications of items acquired for the recipient by others; after the first time, automatically determining based on the retrieved indications whether the item for the potential acquisition is appropriate to be acquired for the recipient, the determining being based at least in part on an amount of time that has elapsed since at least one of the indicated items was previously acquired for the recipient, the determining being performed by the automated system when executed by the computer system and being performed without using any indication specified by any user prior to the first time of whether the item for the potential acquisition is appropriate to be acquired for the recipient; and if the item for the potential acquisition is determined to not be appropriate to be acquired for the recipient, automatically providing by the automated system a warning for presentation to the user that indicates inappropriateness of the item for the recipient, and otherwise not providing the warning. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A computer system configured to assist a user in acquiring an item for a recipient, comprising:
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a processor; an item acquisition analysis component that is configured, when executed by the processor, to receive at a first time from a user an indication of a potential acquisition of an item for a recipient, to receive information related to previous item acquisitions that include item acquisitions for the recipient by others, to retrieve from the received information indications of items acquired for the recipient, and to, after the first time, automatically determine based on the retrieved indications whether the item for the potential acquisition is appropriate to be acquired for the recipient, the determining being based at least in part on an amount of time that has elapsed since at least one of the indicated items was previously acquired for the recipient, the determining being performed without using any indication specified by any user prior to the first time of whether the item for the potential acquisition is appropriate to be acquired for the recipient; and an item acquisition appropriateness indicator component that is configured to, when executed by the processor, if the item for the potential acquisition is determined to not be appropriate to be acquired for the recipient, automatically provide a warning for presentation to the user that indicates inappropriateness of the item for the recipient, and otherwise not provide the warning. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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Specification