Computer system and method for electronic commerce

US5710887A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• BroadVision, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Raman Chelliah · Redwood City, US
• Jason S. Cornez · Belmont, US
• Carl Dellar · Cupertino, US
• Stephen Harrison · Benicia, US
• John A. Hempe · Foster City, US
• Chih-Cheng Hsu · Kaohsiung, TW
• Eric Golin · Newton, US
• Charles A. Price · Portage, US
• Neal Rutta · San Jose, US
• Thomas Alexander Wood · Raleigh, US
• Wayne K. Yamamoto · San Francisco, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 29, 1995
• Grant date: Jan 20, 1998
• Expiry date: Aug 29, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06Q30/0641
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A system for facilitating commercial transactions, between a plurality of customers and at least one supplier of items over a computer driven network capable of providing communications between the supplier and at least one customer site associated with each customer. Each site includes an associated display and an input device through which the customer can input information into the system. At least one supplier is presented on the display for selection by the customer using the input device. Similarly items from a supplier can be displayed for the customer to observe. Associated with a supplier of such items is an item database including information on presented items. Pricing subsystem receives information from the item database to determine the cost associated with a presented item. In addition a customer information database stores information relating to the customer. Associated with each customer is a customer monitoring object for each customer. The customer monitoring object is created by referencing information, relating to that customer, which had been stored in the customer information database and when the customer selects a supplier. The customer monitoring object is…