Method for providing real-time conversations among business partners

• US 7,051,072 B2
• Filed: 07/16/2001
• Issued: 05/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Takacsi-Nagy, Pal, Stewart, Rocky, Metdsportii, Timo
• Primary Examiner(s): Kyle, Charles R.
• Application Number:
  US09/906,658
• Publication Number:
  US 20020156693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,772 Days
• Field of Search: 705/37, 709/204, 709/205
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding

Abstract

An enterprise wide electronic commerce system allows trading partners to act as participants in a complex trading process. Participants communicate with one another by joining conversations that are hosted in a collaboration space and managed by a collaboration hub. In this manner, the enterprise workflow may have an effect on, or be affected by, local workflows. The invention provides an open market collaboration system for enterprise wide electronic commerce. An embodiment of the invention includes a collaboration system that allows the exchange of data between participants in an electronic commerce environment, comprising a collaboration hub for the transfer of data between participants, a collaboration space defining the rules governing said transfer of data and the role of said participants, and a hub transport that allows a participant to send and receive data from the collaboration hub in accordance with the definitions of the collaboration space.

Claims

1. A method for providing real-time electronic conversations among trading partners using multiple business protocols, comprising:

storing the role of each trading partner and the rules for multiple concurrent conversations in a collaboration space, wherein said collaboration space is installed on a central collaboration hub location, and wherein said collaboration space stores the messages of a conversation for delivery to and from the trading partners as part of that conversation;

providing a plurality of business protocol handlers, each of which are configured to use a different business protocol, and which is used by a trading partner to participate in a conversation, wherein each collaboration space and business protocol combination is identified by a unique uniform resource locator (URL);

allowing the trading partners to send and receive messages in a conversation using an extensible data protocol, in accordance with the rules and roles stored in said collaboration space, wherein said extensible data protocol provides an ability to specify both a routing information and a business protocol for that conversation, wherein the routing information is specified by the trading partner in a header of the extensible data protocol, and wherein the business protocol is specified by the URL used by the trading partner to communicate with said collaboration space, thereby allowing said collaboration space to use multiple URL'"'"'s to support multiple business protocols; and

managing the conversation with conversation management software installed on the central collaboration hub.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

storing a business model for the conversation in the collaboration space, wherein said business model is defined by actions based on messages in the conversation.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing a secure message space in the collaboration space adapted to allow trading partners to communicate via encrypted messages.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

registering a trading partner in the collaboration space and assigning a role to that trading partner.

5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing asynchronous messaging capabilities for messages between trading partners.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

storing a vocabulary for messages between trading partners.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a context for a conversation.

8. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

integrating business information and business logic from an external data system into the conversation.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

said trading partners send messages to, and receive messages from, the collaboration space via the Internet.

10. A method for allowing customers to participate in electronic trading activities via the Internet using multiple business protocols, comprising:

providing a centrally located collaboration hub and collaboration space to support the electronic trading, wherein said collaboration space is installed on the collaboration hub, and wherein each collaboration space and business protocol combination is identified by a unique uniform resource locator (URL);

connecting the collaboration space and associated business protocols to the Internet and assigning a uniform resource locator to each collaboration space and business protocol combination based on an extensible data protocol, wherein said extensible data protocol provides an ability to specify both routing information and a business protocol;

providing a business model and business rules for the electronic trading activities, wherein said business model is defined by actions based on messages exchanged in the electronic trading activities, wherein the routing information is specified by the customer in a header of the extensible data protocol, and wherein the business protocol is specified by the URL used by the customer to communicate with said collaboration space;

allowing a customer to access the collaboration space through a uniform resource locator; and

registering and setting a role for the customer in the collaboration space so the customer can participate in electronic trading activities in the collaboration space.

11. A method according to claim 10, further comprising:

providing a secure message space in the collaboration space to allow customers to engage in trading activities via encrypted messages.

12. A method according to claim 10, further comprising:

providing asynchronous messaging capabilities for messages between customers.

13. A method according to claim 10, further comprising:

defining and storing a vocabulary for the electronic trading activities.

14. A computer readable medium, including instructions stored thereon which when executed cause the computer to perform the steps of:

storing the role of trading partners and the rules for multiple concurrent conversations in a collaboration space, wherein said collaboration space is installed on a central collaboration hub location, and wherein said collaboration space stores the messages of a conversation for delivery to and from the trading partners as part of that conversation;

providing a plurality of business protocol handlers, each of which are configured to use a different business protocol, and which is used by a trading partner to participate in a conversation, wherein each collaboration space and business protocol combination is identified by a unique uniform resource locator (URL);

allowing the trading partners to send and receive messages in a conversation using an extensible data protocol, in accordance with the rules and roles stored in said collaboration space, wherein said extensible data protocol provides an ability to specify both a routing information and a business protocol for that conversation, and

wherein the routing information is specified by the trading partner in a header of the extensible data protocol, and

wherein the business protocol is specified by the URL used by the trading partner to communicate with said collaboration space, thereby allowing said collaboration space to use multiple URL'"'"'s to support multiple business protocols.