Pre-qualifying sellers during the matching phase of an electronic commerce transaction
First Claim
1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software providing seller pre-qualification during the matching phase of an electronic commerce transaction, the software embodied in a computer-readable medium and when executed using one or more computers is configured to:
- make accessible to at least one buyer computer a directory structure comprising a plurality of hierarchically organized product classes, wherein the directory structure is associated with a global content directory server and the global content directory server is coupled with one or more seller databases, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class, one or more pointers being provided for each product class, each pointer identifying a corresponding seller database in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products categorized in the product class, each seller database associated with a seller having values for one or more seller attributes; and
communicate, in response to selection of a product class and specification of one or more seller attribute criteria, a search query for product data only to one or more seller databases associated with sellers having seller attribute values matching the specified seller attribute criteria, these seller databases being identified by the one or more pointers associated with the selected product class.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A process for providing seller pre-qualification during the matching phase of an electronic commerce transaction includes a directory structure comprising multiple hierarchically organized product classes, each product class categorizing multiple products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class. The process also includes one or more pointers for each product class, each pointer identifying a seller database in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products categorized in the product class. The process further includes a search interface configured to communicate a search query for product data only to one or more seller databases associated with sellers having seller attribute values matching the specified seller attribute criteria, these seller databases being identified by the one or more pointers associated with the selected product class.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software providing seller pre-qualification during the matching phase of 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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make accessible to at least one buyer computer a directory structure comprising a plurality of hierarchically organized product classes, wherein the directory structure is associated with a global content directory server and the global content directory server is coupled with one or more seller databases, each product class categorizing a plurality of products and defining one or more attributes of the products categorized in the product class, one or more pointers being provided for each product class, each pointer identifying a corresponding seller database in which product data enabling a product transaction is stored for products categorized in the product class, each seller database associated with a seller having values for one or more seller attributes; and communicate, in response to selection of a product class and specification of one or more seller attribute criteria, a search query for product data only to one or more seller databases associated with sellers having seller attribute values matching the specified seller attribute criteria, these seller databases being identified by the one or more pointers associated with the selected product class. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software providing seller pre-qualification during the matching phase of 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 directory structure comprising a plurality of hierarchically organized product classes, each product class corresponding to a plurality of products having in common one or more product attributes, each product in a product class being defined by a product attribute value for each product attribute for the product class, each product being further defined by a seller attribute value for each of one or more seller attributes, the seller attribute values for a product being associated with a particular seller from which the product may be purchased; communicate to one or more seller databases a search query for product data in response to selection of a product class, specification of one or more product attribute criteria, and specification of one or more seller attribute criteria; and communicate search results in response to the search query, the search results comprising product data for one or more products within the selected product class with product attribute values matching the specified product attribute criteria and with seller attribute values matching the specified product attribute criteria. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A method of pre-qualifying sellers during the matching phase of an electronic commerce transaction, comprising:
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providing, by a computer, a directory structure comprising a plurality of hierarchically organized product classes, each product class corresponding to a plurality of products having in common one or more product attributes, each product in a product class being defined by a product attribute value for each product attribute for the product class, each product being further defined by a seller attribute value for each of one or more seller attributes, the seller attribute values for a product being associated with a particular seller from which the product may be purchased; communicating, by the computer, to one or more seller databases a search query for product data in response to selection of a product class, specification of one or more product attribute criteria, and specification of one or more seller attribute criteria; and communicating, by the computer, search results in response to the search query, the search results comprising product data for one or more products within the selected product class with product attribute values matching the specified product attribute criteria and with seller attribute values matching the specified product attribute criteria. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification