Method of and
system for delivering
consumer product related information to consumers over
the Internet. The
system and method involves creating an UPN-encoded
Consumer Product Information (CPIR) enabling Applet for each
consumer product registered within a manufacturer-managed UPN / URL
database management system. Each CPIR-enabling Applet is encapsulated within an
executable file and then stored in the UPN / URL
database management system. Each CPIR-enabling Applet is searchable and downloadable by, for example, (1) retailers
purchasing products from an electronic-commerce enabled product catalog, (2) advertisers desiring to link
consumer product information to Web-based product advertisements, or (3) anyone having a legitimate purpose of disseminating such information within the
stream of electronic commerce. After downloading and extraction from its encapsulating file, the CPIR-enabling Applet is embedded within an
HTML-encoded document associated with, for example, an EC-enabled store, on-line auction site, product advertisement, Internet
search engine or
directory, and the like. Upon encountering such an Applet-encoded
HTML document on the WWW, the consumer need only perform a single mouse-clicking operation to automatically execute the underlying CPIR-enabling Applet (on either the
client or
server side of the network), causing a UPN-directed search to be performed against the manufacturer-defined UPN / URL
Database, and the results thereof displayed in an independent
Java GUI, without disturbing the consumer's
point of presence on the WWW. Preferably, the CPIR-enabling Applets are realized using
Java(TM) technology, although it is understood that alternative technologies can be used to practice the
system and methods of the present invention.