FR2813680A1 - Accelerated search for information on a product via the Internet, uses data store to translate bar code information taken from product to URL giving more information on the product - Google Patents

Abstract

The information is gathered by a server which searches information on the Internet. The server has a data store (34) associating a standard format bar code with the URL of another server. The bar code is carried on the product or its packaging, serving to identify the product. The bar code is delivered in numeric form to the server (31), and the identified URL is returned (32) to the client.

Description

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The invention relates to an accelerated search for information relating to a product on a network of the INTERNET type. The invention also aims to provide a server for implementing the invention.

The INTERNET network now offers access to multiple information made available to third parties by companies or individuals on servers connected to the network.

The richness and multiplicity of this information makes it very difficult to find precise and rapid information on a product. Search engines, such as Yahoo! or Altavista (Trademarks), partially remedy this problem by offering a search for WEB pages, meeting search criteria, among millions of WEB pages. The exponential growth of WEB pages made available worldwide further multiplies this difficulty of targeted and very rapid access to given information. Indeed, a search for information concerning a microcomputer 000 sold by an SSS company often gives rise to hundreds of results requiring a tedious job of analyzing the contents of different WEB pages offered.

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 At the same time, individuals and businesses have an increasing need for reliable, fast access to information on specific products.

For example, a person who has lost an explanatory notice attached to a purchased product may wish to access a notice made available on the INTERNET by the seller of the product. Similarly, a person may wish to learn about the specifics of a food product he has just purchased and the only information available on the product itself is not exhaustive. For example, he would like to have access to information concerning the origin of the product, contraindications for feeding a young child with such a product, associated cooking recipes, etc. All of this information obviously cannot be put in an explanatory note attached to the product because of the volume of the notice which should be attached to the product if one wishes to provide very exhaustive information. Another drawback is that even if this notice is attached to the product, this notice cannot be updated after the product has been sold on the market.

The invention therefore aims to remedy these drawbacks. A first objective of the invention is to provide a search method making possible targeted and very rapid access to given information relating to a product. A second objective of the invention is to provide a server allowing this targeted and very fast access.

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 To this end, a method according to the search for information relating to a product in a network of the INTERNET type, comprises the steps of - association, in a search server of the network, with at least one item of information representative of a bar code d 'product identification, of at least one address of another server, said barcode being carried by the product or its packaging in a standardized format; - reception by the search server from a user terminal of said representative bar code information; and - transmission from the search server to said terminal of at least one page address associated, in said search server, with said representative bar code information which is received.

Alternatively, a method according to the invention for searching for information relating to a product in an INTERNET type network, comprises the steps of - associating, in a network search server, with at least one item of information representative of a bar code Identification

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 product, at least one address from another server, said bar code being carried by the product or its packaging in a standardized format; - reception by the search server from a user terminal of said representative bar code information; and - transmission to said terminal of a page whose address is associated, in said search server, with said representative bar code information which is received.

Typically, the method further comprises the step of viewing by the user the content of a page associated with said address by selection by said user of said at least one address.

According to a first variant, the step of transmitting to the terminal is preceded by a step of reading the bar code by means of a bar code reader to produce said information representing bar code.

According to a second variant, the step of transmitting to the terminal is preceded by a step of entering, by means of a keyboard, said information representing bar code in the form of a number, said number being written next to the bar code worn by the product or its packaging.

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 According to an example, the standardized format is the standardized UPC format.

A server according to the invention for searching for information relating to a product in an INTERNET type network, comprises a data storage unit associating with each respective one of a plurality of information representative of product identification bar codes at minus an address from a page on another server, a barcode being carried by a product or its packaging in a standardized product identification format.

Typically, it further comprises - an input interface for receiving requests sent by remote terminals, a given request comprising representative information of bar code sent by a given terminal, - an output interface for sending to said terminal given at least one address associated in said server with said representative bar code information, and - an extractor for extracting from said request the representative information of bar code transmitted by the given terminal, and extracting from said data storage unit at least an address of another server, associated with the representative bar code information.

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 The server can, moreover, deliver its own services as a function of the representative barcode information received.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly during the description which follows, given by way of illustrative and nonlimiting example, and made with reference to the appended figures in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic representation an INTERNET type network; - Figure 2 mont = e a barcode format associated with a corresponding number, - Figure 3 is a block diagram of a server according to the invention, and - Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a stored record in a server storage unit in Figure 3.

In the present description, the terms URL address (Uniform Resource Locator in Anglo-Saxon literature) designate an INTERNET address used by browsers. I'_ is the standard addressing for accessing a WEB page, typically on a remote server. In practice, other address formats can be used, such as URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) or URN (Uniform Resource Name) formats.

With reference to FIG. 1, access by a terminal 1 to an INT network of the INTERNET type is carried out through a server / router 2 of an access provider, giving access to the terminal 1 to different servers of the network,

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 such as servers 3 and 4 through network routing nodes (not shown).

With reference to FIG. 2, a product identification bar code is in the form of successive bars, possibly of different thicknesses. The barcode is used to code N digits. Very often, these N digits are written near the bar code. These N = 12 digits are 7 56765 38909 8 in FIG. 2. By way of nonlimiting example, a bar code in UPC format is used to code a 12-digit number, each of these digits taking a value between 0 and 9. The first digit is the character of the number system, the next five define the manufacturer's identification number, the next five define the product reference, and the last digit is an integrity check digit, or checksum. Other formats exist such as the Code 39 format, the CODE 128 format, or even the so-called Interleaved format 2 of 5, and can be used in the context of the invention.

The invention will now be described concerning an embodiment given purely by way of illustration. It is considered that a person buys a bottle of wine in a supermarket. This person wishes to obtain additional information concerning this wine, such as the characteristics of the wine, the method of harvest, the types of dishes with which this wine should be tasted, the precautions to be taken for the proper aging of this wine, access to a forum of people expressing their appreciation of this wine,

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 the list of stores where the same wine is sold, e. vs... . .

The person, or user, then connects to INTERNAL - by means of his terminal 1, then accesses a server 3 after having requested the establishment of a connection with this server 3. For this, the user enters by means of from his keyboard an address of this server, such as www.codebarre.com. The home page of the server 3 is then displayed on the screen of the terminal 1. The person is then invited to indicate the number of the bar code of the product for which he wishes to obtain additional information. Two alternatives are possible. Or, the entry of this information is carried out by means of a bar code reader connected to the terminal 1. In this case, the bar code of the product read by the reader is translated in the form of representative information of bar code , such as -_e number 7 56765 38909 8 associated with this barcode. Or the entry is carried out manually using a keyboard of the terminal 1. In this case, the person enters using his keyboard the representative information of bar code 7 56 765 38 909 8, which is written next to the bar code worn by the product or its packaging. In both cases, after validation by the person, the representative barcode information, typically: # the number 7 56765 38909 8 is transmitted to the server 3.

According. another variant, the procedure can be automatic. Terminal 1 being connected to the network, reading a bar code by a bar code reader automatically triggers an automatic procedure for connecting to the codebarre.com server and sending

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 simultaneous of a request including the representative information of bar code 7 56765 38909 8 which has just been read. Such simultaneous connection and request are for example possible by using GET or POST requests.

As shown in FIG. 3, the server 3 comprises a data storage unit 34 associating with each of a plurality of information representative of product identification bar code at least one URL address. Advantageously, this storage unit 34 is produced in the form of a database. This storage unit 34 stores a plurality of records of the type shown in FIG. 4, each record associating with each representative information of bar code, here 7 56 765 38 909 8 at least one URL address, here www.youpla.com/vin/ invite /; www .youpla.com / wine / recipes / and www.youpla.com/vin/prix.

More precisely, the server 4 comprises (a) - an input interface 31 for receiving requests sent by remote terminals, each given request comprising representative information of bar code sent by a given terminal, (b) - an interface for output 32 to send to the given terminal at least one URL address information associated in the storage unit with the representative bar code information, and (c) - an extractor to extract, from the request, the information representative of barcode emitted by the given terminal, and extract from the data storage unit 34 the address or URL addresses

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 which are associated with representative barcode information.

A request is received by the interface 31. The extractor 33 extracts the representative barcode information from the request. I1 then accesses the storage unit to read the URL address (s) associated with this representative bar code information.

This URL address information is then transmitted to the terminal 1, through the interface 32, to be viewed in the form of selectable link (s). The user views the content of a page associated with a URL address by selection, for example by means. of his mouse, of a selectable link pointing to a URL address of a page of a server 4 memorizing the information which he wishes to obtain concerning the characteristics of the wine, method of harvest, types of dishes with which to be tasted this wine , precaution to take for the good aging of this wine, forum of people expressing their appreciation of this wine, all the stores where this same wine is sold, etc ..... This server is typically a server of the company which has put the product on the market, this company having previously transmitted to the search server 2 the address or addresses of WEB pages to be associated with such and such a bar code.

According to another variant, the server 3 can itself take the initiative to be transmitted to the user's terminal 1, in response to this user's request, the page of the server 4 memorizing the information that it wishes to obtain concerning the characteristics of the wine. This can be the case for example when a single address is available for the representative bar code information received by the server 3.

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 In this case, a transmission is made to the terminal 1 of a page asleep the address is associated, in the search server 3, with said representative bar code information which is received. This page can be transmitted to the terminal 1 or directly by the server 4 storing this page, or can be transmitted by the server 4 to the terminal 1 through the server 3.

The server 3 can, moreover, host services associated with one or more representative information of bar code. Thus, for example, a diet information service can be implemented on the basis of representative bar code information transmitted by a user and relating to his diet over a given period. The server will, for example, inform the user of all the calories contained in all of the food absorbed during this given period.

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Claims (10)

 CLAIMS 1. Method for searching for information relating to a product in an INTERNET type network, comprising the steps of - associating, in a search server of the network, with at least one item of information representative of an identification bar code of product, from at least one address of another server, said bar code being carried by the product or its packaging in a standardized format; - reception by the search server from a user terminal of said representative bar code information; and - transmission from the search server to said terminal of at least one page address associated, in said search server, with said representative bar code information which is received. 2. Method for searching for information relating to a product in an INTERNET type network, comprising the steps of <Desc / Clms Page number 13>  - association, in a network search server, with at least one piece of information representative of a product identification bar code, of at least one address of another server, said bar code being carried by the product or its packaging in a standardized format; - reception by the search server from a user terminal of said representative bar code information; and - transmission to said terminal of a page whose address is associated, in said search server, with said representative bar code information which is received. 3 - Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it further comprises the step of viewing by the user of the content of a page associated with said address by selection by said user of said at least one address . 4 - Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the step of transmission to the terminal is preceded by a step of reading the bar code by means of a bar code reader to produce said information representative of bar code .  5 - Process according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the step of transmission to the <Desc / Clms Page number 14>  terminal is preceded by a step of entering, using a keyboard, said representative bar code information in the form of a number, said number being written next to the bar code carried by the product or its packaging. 6 - Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said standardized format is at least one of the formats among all the standardized formats (UPC, Code39, Code128, Interleaved 2 of 5). 7 - Search server for information relating to a product in an INTERNET type network, characterized in that it comprises a data storage unit associating with each respective one of a plurality of information representative of identification bar codes product at least one address of a page from another server, a barcode being carried by a product or its packaging according to a standardized format for product identification. 8. Server according to claim 7, characterized in that it further comprises - an input interface for receiving requests sent by remote terminals, a given request comprising representative information of bar code sent by a given terminal , - an output interface for sending to said terminal given at least one <Desc / Clms Page number 15>  address associated in said server with said representative information of barcode, and - an extractor for extracting from said request the representative information of barcode transmitted by the given terminal, and extracting from said data storage unit at least one address of another server, associated with the representative bar code information. 9 - Server according to the claim. 7 or 8, characterized in that it delivers its own services as a function of information representative of the bar code received. 10 - Server according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that said standardized format is at least one of the formats among all the standardized formats (UPC, Code39, Codel28, Interleaved 2 of 5).