Methods and apparatus for transferring product information from manufacturers to retailers and distributors via the Internet

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for disseminating over the Internet product information produced and maintained by product manufacturers using existing universal product codes (bar codes) as access keys. A cross-referencing resource preferably implemented by the existing Internet Domain Name System (DNS) receives Internet request messages containing all or part of a universal product code value and returns the Internet address at which data or services relating to the identified product, or to the manufacturer of that product, may be obtained. By using preferred Web data storage formats and protocol which conform to XML, XLS, XLink, Xpointer, RDF and Web service standards specifications, product and company information may be seamlessly identified, retrieved and integrated with information from other sources. A “web register” module can be employed to provide an Internet interface between a shared sales Internet server and an otherwise conventional inventory control system, and operates in conjunction with the cross-referencing server to provide detailed product information to Internet shoppers who may purchase goods from existing stores via the Internet.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 139,421 filed on May 6, 2002 which was a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 621,662 filed on Jul. 24, 2000 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,441 issued Jul. 9, 2002), which was a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 316,597 filed on May 21, 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,738 issued on Nov. 28, 2000), which was a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 049,426 filed on Mar. 27, 1998 entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Disseminating Product Information via the Internet” ( now U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,210 issued on Jun. 15, 1999). This application claims the benefit of the filing dates of each of the foregoing applications, and incorporates the disclosure of each of the foregoing patents and applications herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to methods and apparatus for transferring requests for specific information to preferred source...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be made more apparent through a consideration of the following deta

Problems solved by technology

This information is often incomplete, difficult to update, and available only to a limited distribution.

While the advent of the World Wide Web has permitted manufacturers to make detailed, up-to-date product information available via the Internet, the information describing a specific product is often difficult to locate, particularly when the URL (uniform resource locator) of the manufacturer's website is not known.

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