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BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for finding product
and service related information on the National Information Infrastructure
(e.g. the Internet).
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Presently, an enormous amount of time, money and effort is being expended
by companies in order to advertise and sell their products and services,
and after product purchase has taken place, to provide product related
information, product warranty service and the like. For decades, various
types of media have been used to realize such fundamental business
functions.
In recent times, there has been a number of significant developments in
connection with the global information network called the "Internet",
which has greatly influenced many companies to create multi-media Internet
Websites in order to advertise, sell and maintain their products and
services. Examples of such developments include, for example: the
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) by Tim Berners-Lee; easy to use GUI-based
Internet navigation tools, such as the Netscape.RTM. browser from Netscape
Communications, Inc., the Internet Explorer.TM. browser from MicroSoft
Corporation and the Mosaic.TM. browser from Spyglass Corporation; and the
Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) by Mark Pecse. Such developments
in recent times have made it very easy for businesses to create 2-D
Hypermedia-based Home Pages and 3-D VR Worlds (i.e. 3-D Websites) for the
purpose of projecting a desired "corporate image" and providing a backdrop
for financial investment solicitation as well as product and service
advertisement, sales and maintenance operations.
Presently, a person desiring to acquire information about any particular
product sold anywhere in the world, has had a number of search options
available to them. In particular, he or she may attempt to directly
contact the manufacturer, wholesaler or reseller by telephone, US mail,
e-mail, or through the company's World Wide Website (WWW), if they have
one. In the event one decides to acquire product information through the
seller's WWW site, he or she must first determine the location of its WWW
site (i.e. Internet address) which oftentimes can involve using Internet
Search engines such as Yahoo, AltaVista, WebCrawler, or the like. This can
be a very time consuming process and sometimes lead to a dead end. Once
the Internet address is obtained, one must then review the home page of
the company in order to find where information on a particular product
resides on the Internet. This search process can be both time consuming
and expensive (in terms of Internet time) and may not turn up information
on the product or service of interest.
In some instances, product brochures bear a preprinted Internet address
designed to direct or point prospective customers to a particular Web site
where more detailed product information can be found. A recent example of
this "preprinted Web Address" pointing technique is the 1996 product
brochure published by the Sony Corporation for its Sony.RTM. PCV-70
Personal Computer, which refers prospective customers to the Sony Web
Address "http://www.sony.com/pc". While this approach provides a direct
way of finding product and service related information on the Internet, it
is not without its shortcomings and drawbacks.
In particular, when a company improves, changes or modifies an existing
Website which publishes product and/or service advertisements and related
information, it is difficult (if not impossible) not to change the
Internet locations (i.e. Web addresses) at which such product and/or
service advertisements and related information appear. Whenever a company
decides or is forced to change any of its advertising, marketing and/or
public relations firms, there is a substantial likelihood that new
Websites will be created and launched for particular products and
services, and that the Web addresses of such new Websites will no longer
correspond with the Web addresses on preprinted product and service
brochures currently in circulation at the time. This can result in
pointing a consumer to erroneous or vacant Web sites, that present either
old or otherwise outdated product and/or service information, possibly
adversely influencing the consumer's purchasing decision.
Moreover, when a company launches a new Website as part of a new
advertising and marketing campaign for a particular product or service,
any preprinted advertising or marketing material relating to such products
and services will not reflect the new Website addresses which the campaign
is attempting to get consumers to visit. This fact about preprinted
advertising media renders it difficult to unify new and old advertising
media currently in circulation into an advertising and marketing campaign
having a coherent theme.
In short, the inherently static nature of the "preprinted Web address"
pointing technique described above is wholly incapable of adjusting to the
dynamic needs of advertising, marketing and public relations alike.
Thus, it is clear that there is great need in the art for an improved
system and method for finding commercial product and service information
on the Internet, in a way which avoids the shortcomings and drawbacks of
prior art systems and methodologies.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a
novel system and method for finding product and service related
information on the Internet, while avoiding the shortcomings and drawbacks
of prior art systems and methodologies.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system and
method, wherein virtually any type of product or service can be registered
with the system by symbolically linking its preassigned Universal Product
or Service Number (e.g. UPC numeric string) that points to the Uniform
Resource Locators (URLs) of one or more information resources on the
Internet, e.g. World Wide Websites, related to such products or services.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system and
method with an improved Internet browser or Internet application tool
having both an "Internet Product/Service Information (IPSI) Finder" button
for entering the "IPSI Finder Mode of the system when it is depressed, and
also a "Universal Product/Service Number (UPSN) Search" button for
entering the "UPSN Search Mode" when the "UPSN Search" button is
depressed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system,
wherein, when the system is in its product/service finder mode, a
predesignated information resource (e.g. advertisement, product
information, etc.) pertaining to any commercial product or service
registered with the system can be automatically accessed from the Internet
and displayed from the Internet browser by simply entering the registered
product's UPN or the registered service's USN into the Internet browser.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system,
wherein, when the system is in its "UPSN Search Mode", a predesignated
information resource (e.g. advertisement, produce information, etc.)
pertaining to any commercial product or service registered with the system
can be automatically accessed from the Internet and displayed from the
Internet browser by simply entering the registered product's trademark(s)
or associated company name into the Internet browser.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system,
wherein a predesignated information resource pertaining to any commercial
product or service having been assigned a Universal Product Number (UPN)
or Universal Service Number (USN) can be accessed from the Internet and
displayed from the Internet browser by simply pressing its IPSI Finder
button and then entering the UPN or USN numeric string into a dialogue box
which pops up on Internet Browser.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system in
which a relational database, referred to as "an Internet Product and
Service Directory (IPSD)" is realized on one or more data-synchronized
IPSD Servers for the purpose of registering product and service related
information, namely: (i) information representative of commercial product
descriptions, the trademarks used in connection therewith, the company
names providing and/or promoting such products, the E-mail addresses of
such companies, and the corresponding URLs on the Internet specifying
current (i.e. up-to-date) Internet web site locations that provide
product-related information customized to such products; and (ii)
information representative of commercial service descriptions, the service
marks used in connection therewith, the company names providing and/or
promoting such services, the E-mail addresses of such companies, and the
corresponding URLs on the Internet specifying current (i.e. up-to-date)
Internet web site locations that provide service-related information
customized to such services.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel method of
carrying out electronic-type commercial transactions involving the
purchase of products and services which are advertised on the Internet at
uniform resource locations that are registered with the IPSI system of the
present invention.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel system and
method of finding in the UPN or USN associated with any particular
registered product or service by simply pressing a GUI button on the
Internet browser in order to enter a "UPSN Search Mode", whereby (i) a
dialogue box is displayed on the display screen requesting any known
trademarks associated with the product, or the name of the company that
makes, sells or distributes the particular product, and (ii) the
corresponding UPN (i.e. UPC) number registered with the IPSD Servers is
displayed to the user for acceptance, whereupon the Internet information
resource is automatically accessed and displayed on the display screen of
the Internet browser.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system and
method, wherein during the UPSN Search Mode, the UPN (e.g. UPC data
structure or numeric string) associated with any registered product can be
found within the database of the IPSD Server using any trademark(s) and/or
the company name commonly associated with the product, and the USN number
associated with any registered service can be found within the database of
the IPSD Server using any servicemark(s) and/or the company name commonly
associated with the service.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system and
method, in which Website-based advertising campaigns can be changed,
modified or transformed in virtually any way imaginable by simply
restructuring the symbolic links between the products and/or services in
the campaign with the current Website addresses at which Website
advertisements and information sources related thereto are located on the
Internet.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel system and
method of automatically soliciting companies to register their products
and services within the databases of such IPSD Servers in order that
product and service related information of a multimedia nature (e.g.
Websites) registered therewith can be easily found on the Internet by
anyone using the system and method of the present invention.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent
hereinafter and in the Claims to Invention
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a more complete understanding of how to practice the Objects of the
Present Invention, the following Detailed Description of the Illustrative
Embodiments should be read in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings,
wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a first illustrative embodiment of the
product and service information finding system of the present invention
shown embedded with the infrastructure of the global computer
communications network known as the "Internet", and comprising a plurality
of data-synchronized Internet Product and Service Directory (IPSD) Servers
connected to the infrastructure of the Internet, a plurality of Internet
Product and Service Information (IPSI) Servers connected to the
infrastructure of the Internet, and a plurality of Client Systems
connected to the infrastructure of the Internet;
FIG. 1A is a schematic representation of an exemplary display screen
produced by a graphical user interface (GUI) based web browser program
running on a Client System and providing an on-screen IPSI Finder button
and an on-screen US/PN Search button for carrying out the IPSI finding
method of the present invention;
FIG. 1B is a schematic representation of an exemplary display screen
produced by a GUI-based web browser program running on a Client System and
providing an on-screen IPSD Website Finder button for instantly connecting
to the IPSD Website and carrying out the Internet Product and Service
Information finding method of the present invention;
FIG. 2A is a schematic representation of the relational-type IPSI
Registrant Database maintained by each IPSD Server that is configured into
the IPSI finding system of the illustrative embodiment of the present
invention, showing the information fields for storing (i) the information
elements representative of the UPN (e.g. UPC numeric data structure,
National Drug Code (NDC) numeric data structure, and/or European Product
Code (EPC) alpha-numeric data structure), URL, trademark(s) (TM.sub.i),
Company Name (CN.sub.i), Product Description (PD.sub.i) and E-mail Address
(EMA.sub.i) thereof symbolically-linked (i.e. related) for a number of
exemplary IPSI Registrants listed (i.e. registered) with the IPSI
Registrant Database maintained by each IPSD Server, and (ii) the
information elements representative of the UPN (e.g. UPC numeric data
structure, National Drug Code (NDC) numeric data structure, and/or
European Product Code (EPC) alphanumeric data structure), URL,
Servicemark(s) (SM.sub.i), Company Name (CN.sub.i), Service Description
(SD.sub.i) and E-mail Address (EMA.sub.i) thereof symbolically-linked for
a number of exemplary IPSI Registrants registered with the IPSI Registrant
Database maintained by each IPSD Server;
FIG. 2B is a schematic representation of the relational-type Non-IPSI
Registrant Database maintained by each IPSD Server that is configured into
the IPSI finding system of the illustrative embodiment of the present
invention, showing the information fields for storing (i) the information
elements representative of the Company Name (CN.sub.i), Trademark(s)
(TM.sub.i) registered by the associated Company, and E-Mail Address
(EMA.sub.i) thereof symbolically-linked for a number of exemplary Non-IPSI
registrants listed within the Non-IPSI Registrant Database maintained by
each IPSD Server, and (ii) the information elements representative of the
Company Name (CN.sub.i), Servicemark(s) (SM.sub.i) registered by the
associated Company, and E-Mail Address (EMA.sub.i) thereof
symbolically-linked for a number of exemplary Non-IPSI registrants listed
within the Non-IPSI Registrant Database maintained by each ISPD Server;
FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating the high level structure of a
first type of comunication protocol that can be used among the Client
System C.sub.a, the IPSD Server S.sub.b, and the IPSI Server S.sub.c of
the IPSI finding system hereof when the GUI browser program running on the
Client System is in its IPSI Finder Mode of operation, requesting as input
a UPSN (i.e. UPN or USN data structure) to determine the URL(s) of the
corresponding product (or service) registered therewith;
FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram illustrating the high level structure of a
first type of comunication protocol that can be used among the Client
System C.sub.a, the IPSD Server S.sub.b, and the IPSI Server S.sub.c of
the IPSI finding system hereof when the GUI browser prgram on the Client
System is in its UPSN Search Mode of operation, requesting as input a
trademark (or servicemark) and/or company name in order to determine the
UPSN (i.e. UPN or USN data structure) of the corresponding product (or
service) and thus the URL(s) registered therewith;
FIG. 4A is a high level flow chart illustrating the steps involved in
carrying out the communication protocol shown in FIG. 3A when the Client
System is in its IPSI Finder Mode of operation;
FIG. 4B is a high level flow chart illustrating the steps involved in
carrying out the communication protocol shown in FIG. 3A when the Client
System is in its UPSN Search mode of operation;
FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram illustrating the high level structure of a
second type of communication protocol that can be used among the Client
System C.sub.a, the IPSD Server S.sub.b, and the IPSI Server S.sub.c of
the IPSI finding system hereof when the GUI browser program on the Client
System is in its IPSI Finder Mode of operation, requiring as input a UPSN
to determine the URL(s) of the corresponding product (or service)
registered therewith;
FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram illustrating the high level structure of a
second type of communication protocol that can be used among the Client
System C.sub.a, the IPSD Server S.sub.b, and the IPSI Server S.sub.c of
the IPSI finding system hereof when the GUI browser program on the Client
System is in its UPSN Search Mode of operation, requiring as input a
trademark (or servicemark) and/or company name in order to determine the
UPSN of the corresponding product (or service) and thus the URL(s)
registered therewith;
FIG. 6A is a high level flow chart illustrating the steps involved in
carrying out the communication protocol shown in FIG. 5A when the Client
System is in its IPSI Finder Mode of operation; and
FIG. 6B is a high level flow chart illustrating the steps involved in
carrying out the communication protocol shown in FIG. 5A when the Client
System is in its UPSN Search mode of operation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the figures shown in the Drawings, like structures and
elements shown throughout the figures shall be indicated with like
reference numerals.
The Structure of the Internet Product and Service Information (IPSI)
Finding System of the Present Invention
As shown in FIG. 1, the product/service information delivery system of
illustrative embodiment of the present invention indicated by reference
numeral 1, comprises an arrangement of system components, namely: a
globally-based digital telecommunications network (such as the Internet) 2
having an infrastructure (including Internet Service Providers (ISPs),
Network Service Providers (NSPs), routers, telecommunication lines,
channels, etc.) for supporting packet-switched type digital data
telecommunications using the TCP/IP networking protocol well known in the
art; one or more Internet Product and Service Directory (IPSD) Servers,
each indicated by reference numeral 3 and being connected to the Internet
at strategically different locations via the Internet infrastructure and
data-synchronized with each other in order that each such Server maintains
a mirrored database structure as represented in FIGS. 2A and 2B; a
plurality of Internet Product and Service Information (IPSI) Servers, each
indicated by reference numeral 4 and being connected to the Internet via
the Internet infrastructure; and a plurality of User (or Client)
Computers, each indicated by reference numeral 5 and being connected to
the Internet via the Internet infrastructure.
In a first illustrative embodiment of the system shown in FIG. 1, each
Client Computer 5 has an GUI-based Internet browser program (e.g.
Netscape, Internet Explorer, Mosaic, etc.) which has been provided with a
suitable plug-in type module constructed in such a way as to provide the
functionalities of the present invention herein disclosed. An exemplary
display screen produced by the GUI-based web browser program is set forth
in FIG. 1A. As shown, the GUI-based web browser program provides an
on-screen IPSI Finder Button 8 and an on-screen US/PN Search Button 9 for
carrying out the IPSI finding method of the present invention. The details
of these functions will be described in detail hereinafter.
In an alternative embodiment of the system shown in FIG. 1, each Client
Computer has a conventional GUI-based web browser program (e.g. Netscape,
Internet Explorer, Mosaic, etc.) with a plug-in type module, such as
CyberFinder.TM. navigational software by Aladdin Systems, Inc., of
Watsonville, Calif., that provides an on-screen graphical icon for an
"IPSI Website Finder" function. An exemplary display screen 10 produced by
such a GUI-based web browser program is set forth in FIG. 1B. As shown,
the on-screen IPSI Website Finder icon functions as an "IPSI Website
Finder" Button 11 for instantly connecting the Client System to the IPSI
Website (i.e. on each IPSD Server) and carrying out the Internet Product
and Service Information (IPSI) finding method of the present invention.
Upon pressing this button, the user is automatically connected to IPSI
Website (supported on each IPSD Server), at whose "home page" the IPSI
Finder and UP/SN Search buttons described above appear and functionalities
represented thereby are provided. The URL for the home page of the IPSI
Website could be selected to be, for example, "http://home.ipsi.com",
similar in form to other commercial search engines currently available on
the Internet. Alternatively, the URL of the IPSI Website can be recorded
as a browser "bookmark" for easy recall and access through a conventional
GUI-based Internet browser. Once at the home page of the IPSI Website, an
Internet user can find product and service related information on the
Internet in essentially the same way as when using the web browser program
of FIG. 1A.
In the illustrative embodiment, each synchronized IPSD Server 3 can be
realized by, for example, the PowerMac.RTM. Internet Server from Apple
Computer, Inc. or any other suitable computing machine that can perform
the function of a Server in a web-based, client-server type computer
system architecture of the illustrative embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1,
each IPSD Server is interfaced with an ISP 13 in a conventional manner.
Each such IPSD Server is assigned a unique domain name and TCP/IP address
on the Internet. Each IPSD Server is also provided with (i) Internet
networking software to support the TCP/IP networking protocol, (ii) an
Application Programming Interface (API) for website and application
program development and (iii) website server software for creating and
maintaining the IPSI Registrant Database and the Non-IPSI Registrant
Database schematically illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, respectively. Such
databases can be expressed in the Sybase language, the 4th Dimension.RTM.
SQL Language, or any other suitable database language which allows for
database programming and database connectivity over the Internet. A
suitable development program for creating a dynamic website with the
integrated database structures of FIGS. 2A and 2B is the "4D Web
SmartServer" from ACI, Inc. Data synchronization thereof can be achieved
using conventional data synchronization techniques well known in the art.
In addition, a backup and mirroring program should be used for complete
data security. Preferably, the synchronized IPSD Servers are maintained by
a team of network managers under the supervision of one or more
webmasters.
Similarly, each IPSI Server 4 can be realized by, for example, the
PowerMac.RTM. Internet Server from Apple Computer, Inc., or any other
computing machine that can perform the function of a Server in a
web-based, client-server type computer system architecture of the
illustrative embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, each IPSI Server is
interfaced with an ISP 13 in a conventional manner. Each such IPSI Server
is assigned a unique domain name and TCP/IP address on the Internet. Each
IPSI Server is also provided with (i) Internet networking software to
support the TCP/IP networking protocol, (ii) an Application Programming
Interface (API) for application program development and (iii) website
server software for creating and maintaining a hypermedia-type website
containing product and/or service related information of a multi-media
nature. Such websites can be expressed in HTML and/or VRML or any other
suitable language which allows for website construction and website
connectivity. Website management software, such as Adobe.RTM.
SiteMill.TM., should be used to maintain correct links for any particular
web site. Preferably, the IPSI Servers are maintained by a team of network
managers under supervision of one or more webmasters.
Each User (i.e. Client) Computer 5 can be realized by any computing system
employing operating system (OS) software (e.g. Macintosh, Windows, Unix
etc.) which supports an Internet browser program (e.g. Netscape, Internet
Explorer, Mosaic, etc.) which includes Internet networking software that
supports the TCP/IP networking protocol, and provides a GUI-based Web
browser interface. Alternatively, Client Systems may also be realized by
(i) a Newton MessagePad 130 (running the Newton 2.0 Operating System and
NetHopper.TM. Internet Software), (ii) a Pippin.TM. computer system from
Apple Computer, Inc., (iii) a network computer (NC) that supports the
Java.TM. programming language and Java applets expressed therewith, (iv) a
Sony.RTM. WebTV Internet Terminal (supported by the WebTV Service provided
by WebTV Network, Inc.), or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, each Client
Computer is interfaced with an ISP 13 in a conventional manner. Each such
Client System may be assigned a unique domain name and TCP/IP address the
Internet, or one may be dynamically assigned thereto by way of its ISP
depending on its connectivity. Optionally, each Client System may include
website server software for creating and maintaining the hypermedia-type
website in a manner well known in the art.
Typically, each Client System 5 will be maintained by potential consumers
of products and services which can be found on the Internet. It is
understood, however, that Client Systems can be realized in the form of a
computer-based kiosk located in supermarkets, department stores, retail
outlets, or other public location where products and/or services are being
offered for sale. In one embodiment of the computer-based kiosk, a visual
display screen, keyboard and pointing device would be provided in the
conventional manner to enable consumers to operate its GUI-based browser
and thus carry out the method of the present invention. In an alternative
embodiment of the kiosk-based Client System, an integrated bar code reader
is provided for reading UPC symbols printed on products (as well as UPNs
printed on service-related brochures), and a visual display screen is
provided for viewing product and service related information automatically
displayed thereon in response to the entry of the UPSN information scanned
into the system.
The Database Structure of the IPSD Server
As mentioned above, each synchronized IPSD Server 4 maintains two different
relational databases, namely: a IPSI Registrant Database; and a Non-IPSI
Registrant Database. A schematic representation of the IPSI Registrant
Database is shown in FIG. 2A, whereas a schematic representation of the
Non-IPSI Registrant Database is shown in FIG. 2B.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the relational-type IPSI Registrant Database
maintained by each IPSD Server comprises a plurality of labelled
information fields for each product or service "registered" therewith,
namely: an IP/SN Information Field for storing information (e.g. numeric
or alphanumeric string) representative of the Universal Product or Service
Number (e.g. UPC numeric string) assigned to the product or service; a
Company Name Information Field for storing information (e.g. numeric or
alphanumeric string) representative of the name of the company making,
selling or distributing the corresponding product or service; a URL
Information Field for storing information (e.g. numeric or alphanumeric
string) representative of the Universal Resource Locator (URL) or
Universal Resource Locators (URLs) at which information (or the multimedia
type) can be found on the Internet relating to the corresponding product
or service; a Trademark/Servicemark Information Field for storing
information (e.g. text and/or alphanumeric strings) representative of each
trademark used in connection with the promotion, sale, distribution and/or
use of the corresponding product or service, and preferably registered
with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or other
governmental agency; a Product Description Information Field for storing
information (e.g. text strings) descriptive of the corresponding product
or service; an E-mail Address Information Field for storing information
(e.g. numeric or alphanumeric string) representative of the e-mail address
of the corresponding company on the Internet; and a Status Information
Field for storing information (e.g. numeric or alphanumeric string)
representative of whether the company associated registered product or
service has paid their monthly, quarterly or annual registration fees
associated with registration within the IPSD Servers of the information
finding system hereof. In general, the URL stored in the URL Information
Field specifies the address of an information resource on the Internet
(Web), and thus may point to any one of the following types of information
resources: a HTML document or file on the World Wide Web (expressed in the
HyperText Markup Language); a single record in a database; the front-end
of an Internet program such as Gopher; or the results of a query made
using another program. In accordance with convention, the syntactic
structure of each URL generally comprises: a Protocol Specifier, such as
"http", "ftp", "gopher", "news", or "mailto", and specifies the type of
resource that the URL is pointing (i.e. connecting) to; a Host Indicator,
represented by double slashes "//" if the URL is requesting information
from a Web Server; Server Name comprising a Internet Domain Name (e.g.
"www."), the address of the Web Server (e.g. "ibm."), and a designator
(e.g. "com", "edu", "int", "mil", "net", "org", etc.) identifying who owns
the server or where it is located; a Path Name, such as
"Products/Computers/", indicating a path to the destination file on the
identified Server;
and a Resource Name (including file extension, e.g. ".html"), such as
"aptiva.html", identifying the actual named file that contains actual
information resource specified by the URL.
As used herein as well as in the claims, the term "registered" shall be
understood to mean listed or having an entry within the IPSI Registrant
Database. Such listing or entry can be achieved in a variety of ways
including, but not limited to:
(i) by specific request of the associated company or business; or
(ii) by the system administrator without a request and/or authorization of
the corresponding company or business linked to the product or service.
Notably, each information item contained within the information field shown
along the same horizontal line of FIG. 2A is symbolically related or
linked. Different products and/or services of the same registrant or
related registrant may also be linked together so that a user looking for
information about a particular product or service is automatically
provided with URLs which are assigned to related products of the
registrant which may satisfy the goals or objectives of a particular
advertising and/or marketing campaign or product/service promotion program
of the registrant company. As it may be desired to relate particular
products and services at particular points in time, the relationships
therebetween can be dynamically changed within the IPSI Registrant
Database by a straightforward database updating operation carried out by a
system administrator (or manager) who, in theory, can be located virtually
anywhere throughout the world. Expectedly, such database updating
operations would be carried out using appropriate system access and
security procedures well known in the art.
Inasmuch as the UPC data structure is presently employed as a universal
product identifier (i.e. a primary data structure) in a majority of
industries throughout the world, its twelve (12) digit numeric string will
be a preferred UPN (in many embodiments) for purposes of carrying out the
principles of the present invention. This 12 digit human-readable number,
printed on the bottom of each UPC symbol (and encoded within the bars and
spaces of the UPC symbol itself), comprises: a six digit manufacturer
number assigned to the manufacturer by the Uniform Code Council (UCC); a
five digit product number assigned to the product by the manufacturer; and
a one digit modulo check digit (mathematically calculated) and added to
each UPC to check that the code has been read correctly by the bar code
reader.
It is understood that, at present, few (if any) services have been
currently assigned a UPC numeric string in the manner that nearly all
consumer products have been assigned in the contempory period. However,
the present invention contemplates the need for and utility of widespread
assignment of UPC (or similar) numeric data structures to particular
services (as well as the imprinting of the UPC (or similar) symbol on
service brochures and advertisements) in order that (i) such services can
be procured on the Internet through an electronic data transaction, and
(ii) service-related information can be easily found (i.e. located) and
accessed on websites using the system and method of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the relational-type Non-IPSI Registrant Database
maintained by each IPSD Server comprises a plurality of labelled
information fields for each product or service that is not currently
registered with the IPSD Server, namely: an IPSN (i.e. IP/SN) information
Field for storing information (e.g. numeric or alphanumeric string)
representative of the Universal Product or Service Number (e.g. UPC
numeric string) assigned to the non-registered product or service; a
Company Name Information Field for storing information (e.g. numeric or
alphanumeric string) representative of the name of the company making,
selling or distributing the corresponding non-registered product or
service; a Trademark/Servicemark Information Field for storing information
(e.g. text and/or alphanumeric strings) representative of each trademark
(or servicemark) used in connection the promotion, sale, distribution
and/or use of the corresponding product or service, and preferably
registered with the USPTO or other governmental agency; a Product
Description Information Field for storing information (e.g. text strings)
descriptive of the corresponding product or service; and an E-mail Address
Information Field for storing information (e.g. numeric or alphanumeric
string) representative of the e-mail address of the corresponding company
on the Internet; a Status Information Field for storing information (e.g.
numeric or alphanumeric string) representative of whether the company
associated non-registered product or service has been solicited by the
IPSD Server, and on what dates registration solicitation has occurred.
Notably, each information item contained within the information field
shown along the same horizontal line of FIG. 2A is related or linked. The
information required to construct the Non-IPSI Registrant Database shown
in FIG. 2B can be readily obtained from a number of commercially or
publicly available information sources (e.g., the Universal Code Council,
Dayton, Ohio; Infotest International, http://www.infotest.com//, etc.)
Communication Protocols for Carrying Out the System and Method of the
Present Invention
In general, there are a number of possible communication protocols that can
be used to carry out the system and method of the present invention. In
FIGS. 3A and 3B, a first communication protocol is schematically depicted
for both the IPSI Finder and UPSN Search Modes of operation, whereas the
basic operations carried out thereby are shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. In
FIGS. 5A and 5B, a second communication protocol is schematically depicted
for both the IPSI Finder and UPSN Search Modes of operation, whereas the
basic operations carried out thereby are shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. The
details of such protocols will be described below.
Referring to FIG. 3A, the high level structure is shown for a first-type of
communication protocol that can be used among the Client System C.sub.a,
the IPSD Server S.sub.b, and the IPSI Server S.sub.c of the IPSI finding
system hereof when the GUI browser program on the Client System is in its
IPSI Finder Mode of operation. FIG. 4A provides a high level flow chart
illustrating the steps involved in carrying out this communication
protocol when the Client System is in its IPSI Finder Mode of operation.
In order to enter the IPSI Finder mode of the system, the user pushes the
"IPSI Finder" button on the GUI-based browser screen. Then at Block A of
FIG. 4A, a UPSN is provided as input to IPSD Server S.sub.b, and in
response thereto the Client System C.sub.a requests the IPSD Server
S.sub.b to provide a registered URL.sub.i if anyone exists in the IPSI
Registrant Database.
At Block B in FIG. 4A, the IPSD Server S.sub.b analyses the IPSI Registrant
Database shown in FIG. 2A to determine whether or not a symbolically
linked URL.sub.i has been registered with a UPSN.sub.i that has been
provided as input. If so, then the IPSD Server sends the symbolically
linked URL.sub.i to the Client System C.sub.a. If not, then the IPSD
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