Obtaining reliable information about a seller's practices
First Claim
1. A machine-implemented method for obtaining information about a seller, the method comprising machine-implemented steps of:
- receiving, from a user, over a computer network, input that indicates identifying information;
determining, based on data stored on a machine-readable medium, whether there exist any selling entity accounts that are associated with the identifying information; and
in response to a determination that at least one selling entity account is associated with the identifying information, sending, toward the user, over a computer network, stored data associated with one or more particular selling entity accounts that are associated with the identifying information;
wherein the stored data associated with the one or more particular selling entity accounts comprises one or more ratings for the one or more particular selling entity accounts;
wherein the one or more ratings were submitted by one or more people other than (a) the user and (b) selling entities associated with the one or more particular selling entity accounts; and
wherein the identifying information comprises at least one of a company name, a telephone number, a uniform resource locator (URL), a product name, and a service name.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for obtaining reliable information about sellers is disclosed. According to an example technique described herein, input that indicates identifying information is received from a user. The identifying information might comprise a company name, a telephone number, a uniform resource locator (URL), a product name, and/or a service name, for example. Stored “reputation” data, which is associated with particular selling entity accounts that are associated with the identifying information, is sent toward the user. The “reputation” data includes ratings that were previously submitted by other users who are not associated with the particular selling entity accounts. The ratings may originate from buying entities that previously did business with the selling entities that are associated with the particular selling entity accounts, for example. Additionally, the data sent toward the user may be customized (e.g., filtered, ranked, and/or sorted) based on criteria that the user specified.
40 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A machine-implemented method for obtaining information about a seller, the method comprising machine-implemented steps of:
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receiving, from a user, over a computer network, input that indicates identifying information; determining, based on data stored on a machine-readable medium, whether there exist any selling entity accounts that are associated with the identifying information; and in response to a determination that at least one selling entity account is associated with the identifying information, sending, toward the user, over a computer network, stored data associated with one or more particular selling entity accounts that are associated with the identifying information; wherein the stored data associated with the one or more particular selling entity accounts comprises one or more ratings for the one or more particular selling entity accounts; wherein the one or more ratings were submitted by one or more people other than (a) the user and (b) selling entities associated with the one or more particular selling entity accounts; and wherein the identifying information comprises at least one of a company name, a telephone number, a uniform resource locator (URL), a product name, and a service name. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A non-transitory machine-readable medium for promoting business relationships, the non-transitory machine-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:
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receiving, from a user, over a computer network, input that indicates identifying information; determining, based on data stored on a machine-readable medium, whether there exist any selling entity accounts that are associated with the identifying information; and in response to a determination that at least one selling entity account is associated with the identifying information, sending, toward the user, over a computer network, stored data associated with one or more particular selling entity accounts that are associated with the identifying information; wherein the stored data associated with the one or more particular selling entity accounts comprises one or more ratings for the one or more particular selling entity accounts; wherein the one or more ratings were submitted by one or more people other than (a) the user and (b) selling entities associated with the one or more particular selling entity accounts; and wherein the identifying information comprises at least one of a company name, a telephone number, a uniform resource locator (URL), a product name, and a service name. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification