Collaborative product taxonomy instantiation
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- receiving at least two sets of attributes and values for a product through a communications network, each set of attributes representing quantifiable properties of the product and each set of values representing numerical quantities of the respective properties, wherein there is at least one difference between each of the sets of attributes and values;
forming a collaborative component taxonomy instantiation, the taxonomy instantiation comprising a union of distinct attributes and values obtained from the at least two sets of attributes and values;
associating a unique identifier with the formed collaborative component taxonomy instantiation;
comparing the union of product attributes and values in the collaborative component taxonomy instantiation to product catalog information received from different computing systems through a communications network;
associating the unique identifier with those matching products included in the received product catalog information based on the comparing; and
distributing the unique identifier and the association with a corresponding matching product to each computing system having product catalog information containing the corresponding matching product through the communications network, wherein the unique identifier is associated with each matching product at each computing system through the distributing.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method forms a collaborative product taxonomy instantiation by starting with or defining a base taxonomy instantiation and collaborating between trading parties to negotiate a collaborative product taxonomy instantiation. The taxonomy instantiation comprises a set of characteristics and values of a desired product. The method assigns a set of characters to the collaborative product taxonomy instantiation. The method uses the set of alphanumeric characters in an electronic trade exchange between a buyer software application and a seller software application. The seller software application may determine whether it has a product that is equivalent to the collaborative product taxonomy instantiation.
29 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
receiving at least two sets of attributes and values for a product through a communications network, each set of attributes representing quantifiable properties of the product and each set of values representing numerical quantities of the respective properties, wherein there is at least one difference between each of the sets of attributes and values; forming a collaborative component taxonomy instantiation, the taxonomy instantiation comprising a union of distinct attributes and values obtained from the at least two sets of attributes and values; associating a unique identifier with the formed collaborative component taxonomy instantiation; comparing the union of product attributes and values in the collaborative component taxonomy instantiation to product catalog information received from different computing systems through a communications network; associating the unique identifier with those matching products included in the received product catalog information based on the comparing; and distributing the unique identifier and the association with a corresponding matching product to each computing system having product catalog information containing the corresponding matching product through the communications network, wherein the unique identifier is associated with each matching product at each computing system through the distributing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A system comprising:
-
a memory; a processing device; and a communications network linked to the memory, the memory storing an electronic catalog comprising a plurality of collaborative taxonomy instantiations, each collaborative taxonomy instantiation comprising a union of distinct attributes and values obtained from at least two sets of attributes and values for a product through a communications network, each set of attributes representing quantifiable properties of the product and each set of values representing numerical quantities of the respective properties with at least one difference between each of the sets of attributes and values, and each collaborative taxonomy instantiation being linked to an exchange part number, wherein the processing device is configured to;
(i) compare the union of product attributes and values to product catalog information received from different computing systems through the communications network, (ii) associate respective exchange part numbers with those matching products included in the received product catalog information based on the comparing, and (iii) distribute the respective exchange part number and the association with a corresponding matching product to each computing system having product catalog information containing the corresponding matching product through the communications network, wherein the exchange part number is associated with each matching product at each computing system through the distributing. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. An article of manufacture including machine-readable instructions that, when executed at a processing device, cause the processing device to:
-
receive at least two sets of attributes and values for a product through a communications network, each set of attributes representing quantifiable properties of the product and each set of values representing numerical quantities of the respective properties, wherein there is at least one difference between each of the sets of attributes and values; form a collaborative component taxonomy instantiation, the taxonomy instantiation comprising a union of distinct attributes and values obtained from the at least two sets of attributes and values; associate a unique identifier with the formed collaborative component taxonomy instantiation; compare the union of product attributes and values in the collaborative component taxonomy instantiation to product catalog information received from different computing systems through a communications network; associate the unique identifier with those matching products included in the received product catalog information based on the comparing; and distribute the unique identifier and the association with a corresponding matching product to each computing system having product catalog information containing the corresponding matching product through the communications network, wherein the unique identifier is associated with each matching product at each computing system through the distributing.
-
Specification