System and method for promoting intellectual property

• US 8,086,696 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2010
• Issued: 12/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Martin S. Berger
• Original Assignee: Martin S. Berger
• Inventors: Berger, Martin S.
• Primary Examiner(s): RUDY, ANDREW J
• Application Number:
  US12/852,203
• Publication Number:
  US 20100324975A1
• Time in Patent Office: 508 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/203, 709/217, 709/219, 709/223, 709/230, 707/923, 707/924, 707/930, 707/931, 707/936, 707/937, 707/938, 707/939, 707/999.003, 705/310
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/184 Intellectual property management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/931 Patent comparison
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/937 intellectual property searching

Abstract

A method and system for the online promotion of intellectual property includes providing an Internet host station with at least one database that is connectable via the Internet to consumer stations and industry stations. The database includes a plurality of intellectual property items and a description of each intellectual property item. At least one of the intellectual property items is selected by a consumer station and the description associated with the selected intellectual property item is viewed at the consumer station. Portions of the description may be confidential and therefore not normally viewed at the consumer station. Feedback data is sent from the consumer station to the host station. The feedback data includes consumer opinion information of the selected intellectual property item based at least in part on the description of the selected intellectual property item. The feedback data is then accessed from an industry station to thereby determine the interest in the selected intellectual property item based on the consumer opinion.

Claims

1. A computer implemented system promoting inventions over the Internet communications network, the system comprising:

a host computer station constituting an Internet domain site connected to said communications network and having a database with stored descriptions of respective inventions and their characteristic features;

a publicly accessible interface in communication with the host computer station and in communication with a first set of computer stations via the communications network;

a computer program module at said host computer station selecting at least one of said inventions by reference to the stored invention descriptions and characteristic features for viewing said first set of computer stations and thereafter receiving feedback data relating to a consumer desirability of the selected inventions, wherein said computer program module includes a survey module eliciting said feedback data from multiple users of the first set of computer stations;

a computer program module receiving said consolidated responses at said host computer station to provide an information summary of the consumer desirability of the respective selected inventions;

an interface in communication with the host computer station and in communication with a second set of computer stations via the communications network, wherein said information summary is transferred to users of said second set of computer stations.

2. The computer implemented system of claim 1, wherein said first set of computer stations and said second set of computer stations are not the same.

3. The computer implemented system according to claim 2, wherein said at least one database further includes at least one confidential information description of said inventions, respectively.

4. The computer implemented system according to claim 3, including:

a third computer program module operable to provide said one confidential information description to be viewable only by the second set of computer stations.

5. A computer implemented system promoting inventions over the Internet communications network, the system comprising:

a host computer station constituting an Internet domain site connected to the Internet communications network, the host computer station being associated with at least one database having a plurality of stored invention descriptions, the host computer station being operable to;

receive search information from a consumer computer station;

determine at least one invention description of the plurality of stored invention descriptions that corresponds to the received search information;

communicate a survey corresponding to the at least one invention description to the consumer computer station;

receive a response to the survey from said consumer computer station and consolidate the response with at least one other survey response into an information summary; and

make the information summary available over the Internet communications network.