Rules based custom catalogs generated from a central catalog database for multiple entities

US6978273B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• Trilogy Development Group, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Scott Bonneau · Ithaca, US
• Michael Nonemacher · Austin, US
• Jeremy A. Weinrib · New York, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 18, 2001
• Grant date: Dec 20, 2005
• Expiry date: Dec 6, 2022

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S707/99945
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

An arbitrary number of custom catalogs for an arbitrary number of customers can be published from a centrally maintained database of seller catalog data. The custom catalogs are subsets of the catalog database, and are generated in accordance with a set of rules that defines the scope of the content of the custom catalog. The rule sets define a series of sequential searches by which a subset of the item SKUs contained in the database are returned. For extranet buyers, the subsets for each rule set are maintained in a subset table. Whenever a user authorized by a particular buyer wishes to browse the unique catalog subset assigned to that buyer, any queries regarding the catalog will result first in a search of the full catalog database, and the results from the full search are pared down to only those items the SKUs for which have entries in the subset table associated with the buyer's assigned subset. A buyer-authorized user browses the catalog using a standard PC and browser, and SKUs returned to the user based on the user's query will include descriptive information such as descriptive text, pictures etc., which are displayed by the browser. Buyers who are not coupled to the sel…