Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q40/00—Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
  • G06Q40/04—Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/01—Protocols
  • H04L67/02—Protocols based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/50—Network services
  • H04L67/53—Network services using third party service providers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
  • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
  • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
  • H04L69/322—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
  • H04L69/329—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Definitions

• the present invention is directed to a method for managing the exchange of information between a plurality of infomediaries and a plurality of information suppliers such as manufacturers, via communication networks such as local area network (LAN) , wide area network (WAN) and the Internet .
• This invention utilizes a neutral third party which is responsible for administering exchanges of information between participating infomediaries and participating manufacturers.
• This invention is, in one aspect ideally directed towards a centralized software system to manage the exchange of information between a plurality of infomediaries and a plurality of manufacturer web sites .
• infomediaries are increasingly being used to connect manufacturers with potential customers . These infomediaries provide a central resource where registered users can search a plurality of subscribing manufacturer web sites and obtain information on products, services, service suppliers and the like. These infomediaries serve as easily remembered sites for data requestors such as consumers, and provide an easier and faster way to obtain information regarding a plurality of products, product services and analytical tools.
• the requestor accesses the infomediary search engine and performs a search for the desired information.
• the infomediary Upon receiving the request submitted by the requestor, the infomediary will search through a database of registered manufacturers for the desired information. Once the search has been completed, the infomediary displays the results of that search to the requestor. These results may include hyperlinks to a plurality of manufacturers web sites that satisfied the search criteria.
• the requestor then has the option of browsing one or all of the displayed manufacturer web sites for the desired information.
• the infomediary which receives a commission for connecting a manufacturer with a potential customer, would like to control the exchange of information between a requestor and a manufacturer.
• manufacturers in order to assure that requestor information be received and stored on its database and that requested information be up to date, would also like to control the exchange of information between itself and a requestor.
• Requestor information may include requestor name, requestor location, requestor business and the like.
• One method for managing the exchange of information between a plurality of manufacturers and a plurality of customers is by storing product information on an infomediary database.
• This method requires that the infomediary maintain, process, cleanse, reformat , integrate and host large amounts of data from a plurality of manufacturers. This places a large burden on the manufacturer, which must constantly monitor and update its product information via the infomediary, and also on the infomediary which must maintain this information database.
• the critical link between the manufacturer and the customer is severed and rerouted through the infomediary, which is responsible for transferring the desired product information to the customer and the desired customer information to the manufacturer .
• a method for exchanging information comprises providing an information exchange system; communicating a supplier with an infomediary through said information exchange system; receiving an information package from said infomediary at said information exchange system, wherein said information package includes requestor information; processing said information package with said information exchange system so as to determine if said information package satisfies an established information exchange protocol; and ' conditioning exchange of information between said infomediary and said supplier upon satisfaction of said protocol.
• a method for managing the exchange of information between a requestor and a supplier comprises providing an interactive means for obtaining, storing and exchanging information between said requestor and said supplier; establishing an information exchange protocol to govern said exchange of information between said requestor and said supplier; and conditioning said exchange of information between said requestor and said supplier upon satisfaction of said protocol .
• FIG. 1 illustrates the top-level architecture for the method of the present invention
• FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart illustrating an example of a communication flow for the present invention
• FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the method of the present invention.
• This invention relates to a method for managing the exchange of information, and more particularly for managing the exchange of information between a plurality of infomediaries and a plurality of information suppliers using a neutral third party via a communication network.
• this invention further relates to a method for exchanging information between a plurality of infomediaries and a plurality of information suppliers .
• the term "requestor” includes all requestors submitting requests for information to infomediaries.
• requestor information includes a wide variety of information pertaining to the requestor such as requestor identity, specifically requestor name, requestor email address, requestor business and/or home address and the like.
• quested information includes any type of information which could be of interest to the requestor such as supplier identity and product information related to at least one of product characteristics, product price, product availability, analytical tools and the like.
• information exchange protocol includes one or more of information exchange rules defined, developed and established, in part or in whole, by one or more of an Information Exchange System (IES) , an information supplier, an infomediary or some other party, and may relate to information required by the information supplier in order to provide information desired by a requestor.
• IES Information Exchange System
• infomediary includes any entity which serves to communicate requestors with suppliers .
• One particular class of infomediary with which the invention finds advantageous use is Internet portal operators or portals, particularly business-to-business portals which function as infomediaries to aggregate buyers and sellers and thereby form electronic marketplaces.
• Infomediaries typically provide an accessible infomediary computer network such as a web site having one or more web pages providing access to various suppliers of information including product and service information suppliers and the like.
• the term "information supplier” includes any individuals, companies or other entities having products, services, tools and/or any other information which may be desirable to requestors.
• the present invention applies broadly to a very wide range of entities supplying any type of information which may be sought by a requestor.
• the terms “information supplier” and “manufacturer” used herein, are used interchangeably.
• Metadata refers to a summary description or searchable summary of terms of the information content available from an information supplier including product information, analytical tools and the like.
• metadata information include product keywords, product attributes, product codes and product manufacturer names.
• metadata will be stored on infomediary database servers, an information exchange system database servers and also by the information supplier.
• metadata stored at some of these locations may contain a hyperlink to an information supplier web site.
• one type of information that may be desirable to an information supplier is requestor information as defined above, which may be useful in marketing, product evaluation and the like. This information may be provided to information suppliers for future use and may be maintained at an infomediary controlled location and stored at an information supplier database server.
• Another type of information that may be exchanged in accordance with the present invention is manufacturer catalog information which may be provided by a product manufacturer. This catalog information may relate to various products or services provided by the information supplier or others. In addition, this catalog information may include specifications on products, ordering information for various products and product description and cost information. Still other types of information that may be exchanged within the scope of this invention are analytical tools and reference materials, such as engineering tables, unit converters and the like.
• the products and services may themselves be offered by the information supplier or by a different entity.
• this information may be maintained at an information supplier controlled site, computer or network of computers and may be conditionally accessible to infomediaries.
• This accessibility is conditioned on the satisfaction of an established information exchange protocol, for example providing the information supplier with requestor information as described above.
• an information supplier provides metadata, including information supplier hyperlink, to an information exchange system which stores the metadata on a database server typically located at the information exchange system location.
• this metadata or at least portions thereof may be stored on an infomediary database server located at an infomediary location.
• An infomediary searching for data requested by a requestor, searches through the metadata stored on the infomediary database server for a supplier of the desired and relevant information. As will be discussed below, once suppliers of desired and relevant information are identified, these suppliers will be presented to a requestor. If a requestor desires to view metadata for a particular supplier, the requestor must select the desired supplier.
• an information package is forwarded to the IES for that supplier, so that the IES can enforce protocol and validate the request.
• the applicable metadata is then presented to a requestor in the form of a search result .
• This search result allows a requestor access to hyperlinks to information supplier web sites. These hyperlinks to information supplier web sites are preferably not stored on the infomediary database . Instead, these hyperlinks are stored on the information exchange system database server and are provided to an infomediary upon valid request.
• a method for advantageously administering the exchange of information between infomediaries and information suppliers using a preferably neutral third party to enforce the information exchange protocol and manage the information exchange.
• Communications may be carried out between the parties via Local Area Network (LAN) , Wide Area Network (WAN) , Internet or any other suitable medium.
• This neutral third party includes a system referred to herein as an Information Exchange System (IES) , which is preferably a centralized software system dedicated to establishing an information exchange protocol and administering the exchange of information between a plurality of infomediaries and a plurality of manufacturer web sites.
• IES Information Exchange System
• This information exchange system is preferably located at an Information Exchange System location (IES location) and is preferably physically remote or at least discrete from the infomediary or infomediaries located at the infomediary location and supplier (s) located at supplier location (s) .
• the information exchange system preferably has a database server for storing searchable supplier metadata and an information package which includes requestor information.
• the information exchange system will be responsible for monitoring and validating the information exchange and information exchange protocol between parties, including requests for information received from infomediaries.
• the validating process includes enforcing information exchange rules to ensure that information exchange protocols are satisfied and each party receives its desired information. If the information exchange system determines that the information exchange rules are not satisfied then the infomediary may not be allowed to provide an information requestor with a hyperlink to an information supplier web site, thus denying the information requestor access, or some other action may be taken as may be determined in advance between the infomediary and supplier.
• the information exchange system determines that the information exchange rules are satisfied, the information exchange system will provide the infomediary with one or more hyperlinks, for example from the metadata files, to desired information suppliers. The infomediary will then allow a requestor access to these hyperlinks. If a requestor selects a specific information supplier all applicable information supplier web site hyperlinks will be provided to the requestor and the requestor will be allowed to access the selected information supplier web site. This is advantageously accomplished by allowing the requestor to directly access an information supplier's web site via a separate window using a "punch-out" process, which allows a requestor to communicate directly with a supplier. This "punch-out" process advantageously removes any burden placed on an infomediary or an information supplier to administer the exchange of information, while ensuring that all parties involved receive the desired information.
• Information supplier hyperlinks may be included in metadata content provided to the information exchange system by the information supplier. However, this hyperlink is preferably not provided to the infomediary for display to the requestor unless the requestor selects the search result for a specific information supplier and the request has been validated.
• requestor information could advantageously include identification of the requestor and other information related to the requestor. It should be noted that the information package needs to be sent to the information exchange system for validation only once per requestor.
• the present invention takes advantage of evolving extensible Markup Language (XML) , commerce XML (cXML) and other document type definitions (dtd) to easily transfer information to and from the infomediary and supplier so as to allow a rapid response to the requestor by using these languages to communicate the information exchange system with the infomediary and the supplier.
• XML extensible Markup Language
• cXML commerce XML
• dtd document type definitions
• infomediary which is allowed to connect requestors with suppliers without having to administer information exchange protocols or maintain large databases with supplier information stored on them, and without losing control of the transaction.
• infomediaries receive commissions for each requestor and supplier that they connect .
• This method advantageously provides the infomediary the information needed to collect its commission without placing the burden of administering the information exchange on the infomediary.
• this method is advantageous to the supplier, which is allowed to distribute information on products and services to requestors without having to administer information protocols or constantly monitor and update an information database located at a remote site.
• information suppliers use requestor information for marketing and other business purposes. This makes requestor information valuable to suppliers.
• This method advantageously provides the supplier with requestor information without placing the burden of administering the information exchange on the supplier.
• the information that may be stored at an information supplier database server includes the information package, metadata and product and service information.
• this method is advantageous to the information requestor, which is allowed to utilize the benefits offered by infomediaries and nevertheless can connect directly with a supplier web site without having to be connected through a host server, thus increasing the reliability of information and speed of the supplier web site, as well as the process of locating same .
• Figure 1 illustrates a top-level architecture depicting a plurality of requestors 10 connected to, or communicated with, a plurality of infomediaries 12, typically via a computer network such as Internet, Extranet, Intranet, Wide Area Networks (WAN), Local Area Networks (LAN) and the like.
• Infomediaries 12 are connected to, or communicated with, Information Exchange System (IES) 14 that is connected to, or communicated with, a plurality of manufacturers 16.
• IES Information Exchange System
• Infomediaries 12 may be connected to a plurality of Information Exchange Systems (IES) 14 each of which may be connected to a plurality of manufacturers 16.
• IES Information Exchange Systems
• Figure 2 illustrates an example of a communication flow for the present invention.
• a requestor 10 connects to infomediary 12 as illustrated by step 20 through conventional means, preferably by computer network such as Internet , Extranet and/or Intranet or any other communication network.
• Infomediary 12 displays the "request page" to requestor 10 as illustrated by step 22.
• Requestor 10 enters a request and all required information as illustrated by step 24 as defined by established information exchange protocols to infomediary 12.
• the request page may advantageously prompt requestor 10 to enter information sufficient to satisfy expected information exchange protocols along with information sufficient to define the request .
• Infomediary 12 searches metadata stored on infomediary database as illustrated by step 26 for information or information suppliers 16 that ' satisfy the request criteria.
• infomediary 12 Upon completion of the information search, infomediary 12 creates a list of the information or information suppliers 16 that satisfy the request criteria and displays this list to requestor 10 as illustrated by step 26 for selection. Upon requestor selection, infomediary 12 sends the information package and request for supplier hyperlink to information exchange system 14 as illustrated by step 28. Information exchange system 14 examines the information package and determines if all information exchange protocols have been satisfied as illustrated by step 30. In most cases, this will involve reviewing the information package to determine if sufficient information is provided to satisfy the requirements of the protocol established by the information supplier 16. If the information exchange protocols have not been satisfied, then information exchange system 14 may be programmed not to allow infomediary 12, and hence the requestor 10, to proceed as illustrated by step 32, or may be programmed to take some other action.
• information exchange system 14 will send the information package containing requestor information to applicable information suppliers 16 as illustrated by step 34.
• Information exchange system 14 will also send infomediary 12 applicable information supplier hyperlinks for display to requestor 10 as illustrated by step 36.
• Infomediary 12 will display these information supplier hyperlinks to requestor 10 as illustrated by step 38 in the form of a results page so that requestor 10 can access information supplier web sites.
• Requestor 10 may select a desired hyperlink as illustrated by step 40 which will engage a "punch-out” process as illustrated by step 42. This "punch-out" process directly connects requestor 10 to an information supplier 16 using a separate window as illustrated by step 42, allowing information supplier 16 to host requestor 10.
• Figure 3 further illustrates the method of the present invention.
• Requestor 10 connects to infomediary 12 via the Internet or the like and enters a request.
• Infomediary 12 receives the request and required information from requestor 10 and searches the supplier metadata stored on an infomediary database server for information or information suppliers 16 having desired information. Upon search completion, infomediary 12 displays obtained results to requestor 10, which may include one or more selectable options related to one or more suppliers.
• requestor 10 selects a displayed result and infomediary • 12 sends the requestor information and desired information supplier hyperlink request to information exchange system 14.
• Information exchange system 14 determines if the established information exchange protocols have been satisfied. Once the information exchange protocols have been satisfied, information exchange system 14 sends infomediary 12 applicable information supplier hyperlinks for display to and selection by requestor 10.
• Requestor 10 is able to select any and all displayed information supplier hyperlinks which will transfer requestor 10 directly to an applicable information supplier web site.
• infomediary 12 could obtain validation of the request package simultaneously with the search function so that requestor 10 can be presented with one or more "pre-approved" options.
• the information from the requestor to be sent with a request by the infomediary may be any of a broad variety of information requested by the supplier and established in the information exchange protocol. This may result in an exchange of information for information, or in an exchange of information requested by the requestor for monetary compensation, or any other "consideration" which may be desired by a supplier. Also, it is well within the scope of the present invention that a supplier or information exchange system may negotiate with an infomediary and request different types of "consideration" depending on the identity of the requestor. In addition, it should be noted that the information requested by the requestor could relate to types of information other than catalog or product information as described above.
• Examples of this other type of information include software or programming tools, the use, or the results of the use of software or programming tools, various analytical tools, dealer locating information, product maintenance, service and/or warranty information, and the like. No restriction upon the type of information requested by the requestor and supplied by the supplier is intended within the broad scope of the present invention.
• each party could of course communicate with each other via a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) , webphone, or any other suitable media or communication device. It is also considered within the broad scope of the present invention that this method could provide for application to application communication. That is, an information supplier utilizing a Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) application could communicate and provide availability information to a requestor purchasing application via the same channels as described above.
• MRP Manufacturing Resource Planning

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Cited By (1)

• 2001
  • 2001-07-27 AU AU2001280845A patent/AU2001280845A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-07-27 WO PCT/US2001/023711 patent/WO2002013043A2/fr active Application Filing

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