Interactive user interface for displaying supply chain information

• US 7,376,912 B2
• Filed: 03/25/2004
• Issued: 05/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Morgan Stanley Services Group Inc. (Morgan Stanley)
• Original Assignee: Morgan Stanley
• Inventors: Harvey, Vaughn, Hurewitz, Barry
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu; Kieu D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ulrich; Nicholas S
• Application Number:
  US10/809,776
• Publication Number:
  US 20050216861A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,517 Days
• Field of Search: 715/775, 715/841, 715/804, 715/810, 715/803, 715/783, 715/835, 715/764, 715/968, 715/501.1, 715/514, 715/822, 715/821, 715/205, 715/20, 707/104.1, 705/10, 705/7
• US Class Current: 715/804
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/968 interface for database querying and retrieval

Abstract

An interactive user interface is disclosed. According to various embodiments, the interface includes a first field and at least one additional field. The first field lists a focal item and the at least one additional field contains a listing of items related to the focal item. Certain of the related items in the at least one additional field include a hyperlink which, when activated by the user, causes the item corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal item listed in the first field, such that the at least one additional field transitions to list items related to the new focal item. The focal item may be, for example, an identifier corresponding to a company, and the at least one additional field may contain a listing of identifiers corresponding to companies that are customers, suppliers or competitors of the focal item company.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented interactive user interface on a computer display, comprising:

a first field including a focal company identifier that identifies a focal company; and

a second field including supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are suppliers to the focal company that receive a threshold percentage of their revenue from the focal company, wherein at least one supplier company identifier is associated with a supplier level indicator that indicates a percentage range of revenue received by the company identified by the at least one supplier company identifier from the focal company, and wherein certain of the supplier company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the supplier company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal company identified in the first field, such that the second field transitions to include supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are suppliers to the new focal company that receive a threshold percentage of their revenue from the new focal company.

2. The interactive user interface of claim 1, wherein the interface includes a focal company input field in which a user may input an identifier for a new focal company.

3. The interactive user interface of claim 1, wherein the supplier level indicator includes a graphical representation or a color-coded representation.

4. The interactive user interface of claim 1, wherein the focal company identifier comprises a stock trading ticker symbol of the focal company.

5. The interactive user interface of claim 1, further comprising a third field including customer company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the focal company and from which the focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue.

6. The interactive user interface of claim 1, further comprising a third field including competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the focal company.

7. The interactive user interface of claim 1, wherein certain of the supplier company identifiers in the second field are associated with a mouseover such that, when a user maintains a cursor near a selected one of the certain supplier company identifiers for a sufficient time period, additional information about the selected supplier company is presented to the user.

29. The interactive user interface of claim 1, wherein the second field comprises first and second supplier level indicators that indicate a percentage range of revenue received by certain companies identified by the supplier company identifiers included in the second field, wherein the first supplier level indicator corresponds to a first percentage revenue range and the second supplier level indicator corresponds to a second percentage revenue range.

41. The interface of claim 5, further comprising a fourth field including competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the focal company.

8. A computer-implemented interactive user interface on a computer display, comprising:

a first field including a focal company identifier that identifies a focal company;

a second field including supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are suppliers to the focal company that receive a threshold percentage of their revenue from to the focal company, wherein at least one supplier company identifier is associated with a supplier level indicator that indicates a percentage range of revenue received by the supplier company identified by at least one supplier company identifier from the focal company;

a third field including customer company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the focal company from which the focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue, and wherein at least one customer company identifier is associated with a customer level indicator that indicates a percentage range of revenue received by the focal company from the customer company identified by the at least one customer company identifier; and

a fourth field including competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the focal company,

wherein certain of the companies identifiers in the second, third and fourth fields are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal company identifier in the first field that identifies a new focal company, such that;

the second field transitions to include new supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are suppliers of the new focal company;

the third field transitions to include new customer company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the new focal company; and

the fourth field transitions to include new competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the new focal company.

9. The interactive user interface of claim 8, wherein certain of the company identifiers in the second, third and fourth fields are associated with a mouseover such that, when a user maintains a cursor near a selected one of the company identifiers for a sufficient time period, additional information about the selected company is presented to the user.

10. The interactive user interface of claim 8, wherein the supplier indicator includes a graphical representation or a color-coded representation.

11. The interactive user interface of claim 8, wherein the interface includes a focal company input field in which a user may input the focal company identifier for a new focal company.

30. The interactive user interface of claim 8, wherein the second field comprises first and second supplier level indicators that indicate the percentage range of revenue received by certain companies identified by the supplier company identifiers in the second field, wherein the first supplier level indicator corresponds to a first percentage revenue range and the second supplier level indicator corresponds to a second percentage revenue range.

12. A computer-implemented system for providing an interactive user interface to a user, the system comprising:

a server for serving a document containing the interactive user interface via a network to the user, the interactive user interface including;

a first field including a focal company identifier that identities a focal company; and

a second field including supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are suppliers to the focal company that receive a threshold percentage of their revenue from the focal company, wherein at least one supplier company identifier is associated with a supplier level indicator that indicates a percentage range of revenue received by a supplier company identified by the at least one supplier company identifier from the focal company, and wherein certain of the supplier company identifiers are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the supplier company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal company identifier listed in the first field, such that the second field transitions to include new supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are suppliers to the new focal company that receive a threshold percentage of their revenue from the new focal company; and

a database in communication with the server for storing data about the companies.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising an alert engine in communication with the database for sending an alert message via the network to the user.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the focal company identifier comprises a stock trading ticker symbol of the focal company.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising a third field that includes customer company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the focal company from which the focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue.

16. The system of claim 12, further comprising a third field including competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the focal company.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the document further includes a focal company identifier input field in which a user may input the focal company identifier for a new focal company.

31. The system of claim 12, wherein the second field comprises first and second supplier level indicators that indicate the percentage range of revenue received by certain companies identified by the supplier company identifiers in the second field, wherein the first supplier level indicator corresponds to a first percentage revenue range and the second supplier level indicator corresponds to a second percentage revenue range.

42. The system of claim 15, further comprising a fourth field including competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the focal company.

18. A method of presenting data in an interactive user interface, comprising:

displaying a first page including;

a first field including a focal company identifier that identifies a focal company;

a second field including supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are suppliers to the focal company that receive a threshold percentage of their revenue from the focal company, wherein at least one supplier company identifier is associated with a supplier level indicator that indicates a percentage range of revenue received by the supplier company identified by the at least one supplier company identifier from the focal company, and wherein certain of the supplier company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink; and

displaying a second page, when one of the hyperlinks of the first page is activated, wherein the second page includes;

in the first field, a new focal company identifier for a new focal company corresponding to the supplier company identifier associated with the activated hyperlink; and

in the second field, new supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are suppliers to the new focal company and that receive a threshold percentage of their revenue from the new focal company, wherein certain of the new supplier company identifiers in the second field on the second page are associated with a hyperlink.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the suppler level indicator includes a graphical representation or a color-coded representation.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the focal company identifier comprises a stock trading ticker symbol of the focal company.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the first page further comprises a third field including customer company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the focal company from which the focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue, and wherein at least one customer company identifier is associated with a customer level indicator indicating a percentage range of revenue received by the focal company from the company identified by the at least one customer company identifier.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the first page further comprises a fourth field including competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the focal company.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein each of the first and second pages further include a focal company identifier input field in which a user may input a focal company identifier for a new focal company.

32. The method of claim 18, wherein the second field comprises first and second supplier level indicators that indicate the percentage range of revenue received by certain companies identified by the supplier company identifiers in the second field, wherein the first supplier level indicator corresponds to a first percentage revenue range and the second supplier level indicator corresponds to a second percentage revenue range.

43. The method of claim 18, wherein the first page further comprises a third field including competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the focal company.

24. A computer-implemented interactive user interface on a company display, comprising:

a first field identifying a focal item; and

a second field including company identifiers that identify companies related to the focal item, wherein certain of the companies identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal item identified in the first field, such that the second field transitions to include company identifiers that identify companies related to the new focal item,

wherein the focal item includes one of an identifier for a company or an identifier of an economic indicator; and

the second field includes;

when the focal item is an identifier for a company, company identifiers for companies that are suppliers of the focal item; and

when the focal item is an identifier of an economic indicator, company identifiers for companies whose stock price is known to change with changes to the economic indicator.

25. A computer-implemented system for providing an interactive user interface to a user, the system comprising:

a server for serving a document containing the interactive user interface via a network to the user, the interactive user interface including;

a first field identifying a focal item; and

a second field including company identifiers that identify companies related to the focal item, wherein certain of the company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal item listed in the first field, such that the second field transitions to include company identifiers that identify companies related to the new focal item; and

a database in communication with the server for storing data about the companies,

wherein the focal item includes one of an identifier for a company or an identifier of an economic indicator; and

the second field includes;

when the focal item is an identifier for a company, company identifiers for companies that are suppliers of the focal item; and

when the focal item is an identifier of an economic indicator, company identifiers for companies whose stock price is known to change with changes to the economic indicator.

26. A computer-implemented method of presenting data in an interactive user interface, comprising:

displaying a first page including;

a focal item in a first field;

a second field including company identifiers that identify companies related to the focal item, wherein certain of the company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink; and

displaying a second page, when one of the hyperlinks of the second field of the first page is activated, wherein the second page includes;

in the first field, an identifier for the company corresponding to the activated hyperlink as a new focal item; and

in the second field, a listing of new company identifiers that identify companies related to the new focal item, wherein certain of the new company identifiers in the second page are associated with a hyperlink,

wherein the focal item includes one of an identifier for a company or an identifier of an economic indicator; and

the second field includes;

when the focal item is an identifier for a company, company identifiers for companies that are suppliers of the focal item; and

when the focal item is an identifier of an economic indicator, company identifiers for companies whose stock price is known to change with changes to the economic indicator.

27. A computer-implemented interactive user interface on a computer display, comprising:

a first field including a focal company identifier that identifies a focal company; and

a second field including supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the focal company and from which the focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue, wherein at least one customer company identifier in the second field is associated with a customer level indicator that indicates a percentage range of revenue received by the focal company from the company identified by the at least one customer company identifier, and wherein certain of the customer company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the customer company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal company identified in the first field, such that the second field transitions to included customer company identifiers that identify companies that are a customer of the new focal company and from which the new focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue.

33. The interface of claim 27, wherein the second field comprises first and second customer level indicators that indicate the percentage range of revenue received by the focal company from certain companies identified by the customer company identifiers in the second field, wherein the first customer level indicator corresponds to a first percentage revenue range and the second customer level indicator corresponds to a second percentage revenue range.

44. The interface of claim 27, further comprising a third field including competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the focal company.

28. A computer-implemented system for providing an interactive user interface to a user, the system comprising:

a server for serving a document containing the interactive user interface via a network to the user, the interactive user interface including;

a first field including a focal company identifier that identifies a focal company; and

a second field including supplier company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the focal company and from which the focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue, wherein at least one customer company identifier is associated with a customer level indicator that indicates a percentage range of revenue received by the focal company from the company identified by the at least one customer company identifier, and wherein certain of the customer company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the customer company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal company identified in the first field, such that the second field transitions to include customer company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the new focal company and from which the new focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue; and

a database in communication with the server for storing data about the companies.

34. The method of claim 28, wherein the second field comprises first and second customer level indicators that indicate the percentage range of revenue received by the focal company from certain companies identified by the customer company identifiers in the second field, wherein the first customer level indicator corresponds to a first percentage revenue range and the second customer level indicator corresponds to a second percentage revenue range.

45. The system of claim 28, further comprising a third field including competitor company identifiers that identify companies that are competitors of the focal company.

35. A computer-implemented interactive user interface on a computer display, comprising:

a first field identifying a focal item; and

a second field including company identifiers that identify companies related to the focal item, wherein certain of the companies identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal item identified in the first field, such that the second field transitions to include company identifiers that identify companies related to the new focal item,

wherein the focal item includes one of an identifier for a company or an identifier of an economic indicator; and

the second field includes;

when the focal item is an identifier for a company, company identifiers for companies that are customers of the focal item; and

when the focal item is an identifier of an economic indicator, company identifiers for companies whose stock price is known to change with changes to the economic indicator.

36. A computer-implemented system for providing an interactive user interface to a user, the system comprising:

a server for serving a document containing the interactive user interface via a network to the user, the interactive user interface including;

a first field identifying a focal item; and

a second field including company identifiers that identify companies related to the focal item, wherein certain of the company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal item listed in the first field, such that the second field transitions to include company identifiers that identify companies related to the new focal item; and

a database in communication with the server for storing data about the companies,

wherein the focal item includes one of an identifier for a company or an identifier of an economic indicator; and

the second field includes;

when the focal item is an identifier for a company, company identifiers for companies that are customers of the focal item; and

when the focal item is an identifier of an economic indicator, company identifiers for companies whose stock price is known to change with changes to the economic indicator.

37. A computer-implemented method of presenting data in an interactive user interface, comprising:

displaying a first page including;

a focal item in a first field;

a second field including company identifiers that identify companies related to the focal item, wherein certain of the company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink; and

displaying a second page, when one of the hyperlinks of the second field of the first page is activated, wherein the second page includes;

in the first field, the company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink as a new focal item; and

in the second field, company identifiers that identify companies related to the new focal item, wherein certain of the company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink,

wherein the focal item includes one of an identifier for a company or an identifier of an economic indicator; and

the second field includes;

when the focal item is an identifier for a company, company identifiers for companies that are customers of the focal item; and

when the focal item is an identifier of an economic indicator, company identifiers for companies whose stock price is known to change with changes to the economic indicator.

38. A computer-implemented interactive user interface on a computer display, comprising:

a first field identifying a focal item; and

a second field including company identifiers that identify companies related to the focal item, wherein certain of the company identifiers are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal item in the first field, such that the second field transitions to include company identifiers that identify companies related to the new focal item,

wherein the focal item includes one of an identifier for a company or an identifier of an economic indicator; and

the second field includes;

when the focal item is an identifier for a company, company identifiers for companies that are competitors of the focal item; and

when the focal item is an identifier of an economic indicator, company identifiers for companies whose stock price is known to change with changes to the economic indicator.

39. A computer-implemented system for providing an interactive user interface to a user, the system comprising:

a server for serving a document containing the interactive user interface via a network to the user, the interactive user interface including;

a first field identifying a focal item; and

a second field including company identifiers that identify companies related to the focal item, wherein certain of the company identifiers are associated with a hyperlink that, when activated by the user, causes the company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to become a new focal item in the first field, such that the second field transitions to include company identifiers that identify companies related to the new focal item; and

a database in communication with the server for storing data about the companies,

wherein the focal item includes one of an identifier for a company or an identifier of an economic indicator; and

the second field includes;

when the focal item is an identifier for a company, company identifiers for companies that are competitors of the focal item; and

when the focal item is an identifier of an economic indicator, company identifiers for companies whose stock price is known to change with changes to the economic indicator.

40. A computer-implemented method of presenting data in an interactive user interface, comprising:

displaying a first page including;

a focal item in a first field;

a second field including company identifiers that identify companies related to the focal item, wherein certain of the company identifiers are associated with a hyperlink; and

displaying a second page, when one of the hyperlinks of the second field of the first page is activated, wherein the second page includes;

in the first field, the company identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink as a new focal item; and

in the second field, new company identifiers that identify companies related to the new focal item, wherein certain of the new company identifiers are associated with a hyperlink,

wherein the focal item includes one of an identifier for a company or an identifier of an economic indicator; and

the second field includes;

when the focal item is an identifier for a company, company identifiers for companies that are competitors of the focal item; and

when the focal item is an identifier of an economic indicator, company identifiers for companies whose stock price is known to change with changes to the economic indicator.

46. A computer-implemented method of presenting data in an interactive user interface, comprising:

displaying a first page including;

a first field including a focal company identifier that identifies a focal company;

a second field including customer company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the focal company and from which the focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue, wherein at least one customer company identifier in the second field is associated with an customer level indicator that indicates a percentage range of revenue received by the focal company from company identified by the at least one customer company identifier, and wherein certain of the company identifiers in the second field are associated with a hyperlink; and

displaying a second page, when one of the hyperlinks of the first page is activated, wherein the second page includes;

in the first field, a new focal company identifier for a new focal company corresponding to the customer company identifier associated with the activated hyperlink; and

in the second field, new customer company identifiers that identify companies that are customers of the new focal company and from which the new focal company receives a threshold percentage of its revenue, wherein certain of the new customer company identifiers are associated with a hyperlink.