86 results about "Consumer protection" patented technology

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.

A technique for effecting electronic commerce using a data network is described. The data network includes a plurality of subsystems which, together, form an integrated system for receiving customer orders for selected items via a data network, fulfilling the customer orders, and delivering the ordered products to the customers. Moreover, according to a specific embodiment, the integrated nature of the system architecture of the present invention allows the on-line merchant to provide a guarantee to the customer that the ordered items will be available to be delivered to the customer at the specified delivery date, time, and location.

A network server is provided which effects the return of a consumer product. The network server is adapted to present to a client located on the network one or more form pages adapted to elicit consumer information including an identification of the consumer product to be returned and an identification of the present location of the consumer product. The server can receive the consumer information and transmit to the client shipping label data which includes an identification of a destination for the consumer product and of a carrier service. The destination is selected in accordance with the consumer information and without regard to where the consumer product was purchased.

A system and method for controlling a rights expression specifying a manner of use of an item, including specifying by a provider of an item a rights expression indicating a manner of use of the item by a recipient of the item and a condition for use of the item by the recipient, the condition indicating that the use by the recipient of the item is subject to control; associating the rights expression with the item; and controlling the use by the recipient of the item based on the condition in the rights expression. In further exemplary embodiments, the use by the recipient of the item is subject to control by a stakeholder and / or a provider of the item and can be used to provide consumer protection based on parameters of use.

A novel Internet-based consumer product information system and method for use in retail shopping environments, wherein each Web-enabled bar code driven consumer product information kiosk deployed therewithin embodies e-mail messaging capabilities which enable consumers to automatically save and record the URLs of CPI-related Web documents within the message field of a preformatted e-mail message that is transmitted from a retailer-operated e-mail server, to a remote e-mail address specified by the consumer within the retail shopping environment. One or more central e-mail servers are used to collect copies of e-mail documents (and records thereof) transmitted from the Web / e-mail enabled kiosks within each retail shopping environments, for consumer and demographic information analysis, compilation, and storage within RDBMSs that are made accessible to retailers and manufacturers alike for use in product marketing, sales forecasting, customer intelligence, and like operations which enable more effective marketing of consumer products and services in both physical and electronic forms of commerce.

An online system of locating consumer product having specific configuration in an enterprise production pipeline and inventory is provided. The system includes a locate client process operable to receive product configuration data and generate a search request message incorporating the product configuration data in response to user input, and an inventory database storing product availability data in the enterprise production pipeline and in inventory. A locate server process is operable to receive the search request message from the locate client process, and search the product availability data in the inventory database for products matching and substantially matching the product configuration data. The locate server is further operable to generate a search reply message containing the matching products and return the search reply message to the locate client process.

An online communication schema for an online vehicle ordering and tracking system is provided. The communication schema includes a search request message and a search reply message. The search request message includes at least one search criteria, including make and model of a vehicle, and a weighting of each criterion. The search reply message includes a list of vehicles substantially matching the search criteria, and a plurality of vehicle configuration parameters of the vehicles substantially matching the search criteria, including make, model, dealer identifier, price, and color.

A novel system and method are disclosed for finding and serving consumer product-related information over the Internet to consumers. The system includes Internet information servers which store information pertaining to Universal Product Number (e.g. UPC number) preassigned to each consumer product registered with the system, along with a list of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) that point to the location of one or more information resources on the Internet, e.g. World Wide Web-sites, which related to such registered consumer products. Upon entering the UPC number into the system using a conventional Internet browser program, the menu of URLs associated with the entered UPC number is automatically displayed for user selection. The displayed menu of URLs are categorically arranged according to specific types of product information such as, for example: product specifications and operation manuals; product wholesalers and retailers; product advertisements and promotions; product endorsements; product updates and reviews; product warranty / servicing; related or complementary products; product incentives including rebates, discounts and / or coupons; manufacturer's annual report and 10K information; electronic stock purchase; etc. As part of the product registration process, manufacturers are provided with turn-key database construction tools that allow them to create, maintain and serve on the WWW, limited versions of the UPC / URL databases which contain information relating only to the manufacturer's products, and no other manufacturers. The master UPC / URL database of the system is updated using the UPC / URL information in these manufacturer maintained UPC / URL databases.

A method and system for customization of consumer products, such as the creating, designing and / or selecting of artwork, graphic elements and / or designs for consumer products, are provided. An exemplary method and system can allow for a customer to select, design, save and / or purchase customized products more efficiently, and enable merchandizing and operations personnel to be able to more readily create, approve and publicly display products and related designs without possessing extensive technical capabilities. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a system for customization of consumer products can comprise a database configured with a plurality of modules, such as an administration tool module, a home or anchor website module, a customization module, an order processing module, an order management module, and / or an order tracking module. To facilitate a more efficient customization and design process, an exemplary system for customizing consumer products comprises an application configured to use the capabilities of a local computer of the consumer to provide substantially instantaneous design changes and modifications for evaluation by the customer.

A system for combining a payment mechanism with an offer to a consumer is described. The system includes a virtual payment account number generation engine to generate virtual payment account numbers that can be used by a consumer in a payment transaction at a merchant, the virtual payment account number generation service also operable to take a portion of the virtual payment account number and send it as a checkout code to a consumer using the consumer's mobile device, and an offer generation engine used to set rules for an offer to be sent to consumers, create a fund for the offer, and determine individual consumer's eligibility for the offer. The offer is associated with the checkout code such that the offer is processed as part of the payment during the payment transaction using the virtual payment account number.

A method of reporting consumer reaction to a stimulus and resultant report generated by (i) recording facial expressions and eye positions of a human subject while exposed to a stimulus throughout a time period, (ii) coding recorded facial expressions to emotions, and (iii) reporting recorded eye positions and coded emotions, along with an identification of the stimulus.

A method and system for detecting fraud may redirect a user from a phishing message to an education message. The phishing message may include a phishing website that mimics a target entity. A user may be convinced to disclose sensitive information to a fraudster operating the phishing website. The phishing website may be maintained through a service provider and the target entity may request that the service provider disable the phishing website. During evaluation of the target entity's request by the service provider, a user may be directed to an education website that may be displayed until the phishing website may be permanently disabled. The education website may include information or identify a source of information that may help educate the user on fraud prevention, phishing, the target entity, the targeted industry, future prevention tips and suggestions, and other related information.

A system and method for finding and serving consumer product-related information over the Internet (10) to consumers. The system includes Internet Information servers (33) which store information pertaining to Universal Product Number (e.g. UPC number) preassigned to each consumer product registered with the system, along with a list of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) that point to the location of one or more information resources on the Internet, e.g. World Wide Web-sites, which are related to such registered consumer products. Upon entering the UPC number into the system using a conventional Internet browser program (13), the menu of URLs associated with the entered UPC number is automatically displayed for user selection. The displayed menu of URLs are categorically arranged according to specific types of product information.

An Internet-based system for collecting, managing and serving consumer product-related information over the Internet. The system comprises a database management subsystem for storing and managing information representative of (i) a plurality of trademarks placed on or used in connection with a plurality of consumer products, and (ii) a plurality of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) symbolically linked to the trademarks and specifying the location of a plurality of Web documents stored in one or more Internet-based information servers, by manufacturers, their agents and / or third parties, and contain particular kinds of information related to consumer products on which the trademarks are placed and used in commerce. A trademark / URL information server accesses one or more URLs from the database management subsystem in response to a request placed therewith by a consumer-operated client computer subsystem. Each manufacturer uses a manufacturer-managed client computer subsystem to transmit to the database management subsystem, information representative of a plurality of symbolically linked trademarks and URLs. Each consumer uses a consumer-operated client computer subsystem to access one or more URLs from the database management subsystem in response to a request transmitted to the trademark / URL information server. The accessed URLs are then used to access and display Web documents specified by the URLs and containing consumer product related information. Using the present invention, large databases containing symbolically linked trademarks and URLs can be created and managed, so that corresponding consumer product related information on the World Wide Web (WWW) can be reliably accessed and displayed by consumers using trademarks.

A method, system, apparatus, and computer program product for using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to store product information in tags attached to items of merchandise is disclosed. The RFID tagging scheme of the present invention prevents tampering with stored information, global tracking of customers and their purchased items, and pricing mistakes made at the point of sale.

Systems, methods and / or services that allocate and schedules appointments based on supply and demand. In an example, a method is implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions operable to: gather information of a plurality of suppliers from one or more external sources, prior to a registration process for scheduling an appointment request from a consumer; validate the gathered information of the plurality of suppliers; receive a request from the consumer for scheduling of an appointment with one or more of the plurality of suppliers which meet consumer criteria; enable swapping, purchasing and auctioning of appointments; enable virtual visits and virtual visit queues for on demand virtual appointments; provide system agnostic calendar integration, and provide available suppliers to the consumer based on the consumer criteria.

A system and method are disclosed that utilize computers and a network to effect the return of consumer products. In one preferred embodiment, the invention is directed to a system and method for facilitating the return of spent, recyclable products from a consumer to a destination preselected by the manufacturer for recycling. The system uses a computer, located on a network, and adapted to: (a) receive from another computer located on the network consumer information which includes an identification of the consumer product to be returned; and (b) transmit to the other computer shipping label data which includes an identification of a destination for the consumer product, selected in accordance with the consumer information, and an identification of a carrier service.

An organizer serving as a safeguard for electrical cords during charging intervals of electrically-operated consumer products provided by a compartment having internally a strip of uniformly spaced apart female sockets electrically connected to a power company wall socket and externally the consumer products' charging components similarly uniformly spaced apart, wherein the correlation of the uniform spacing maintains the electrical cords in neatly coiled conditions without entanglement with each other within the compartment.

A novel system and method are disclosed for finding and serving consumer product-related information over the Internet to consumers in retail shopping environments, as well as at home and work, and on the road. The system includes Internet information servers which store information pertaining to Universal Product Number (e.g. UPC number) preassigned to each consumer product registered with the system, along with a list of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) that point to the location of one or more information resources on the Internet, e.g. World Wide Web-sites, which related to such registered consumer products. Upon entering the UPC number into the system using a conventional Internet browser program running on any computing platform or system, the menu of URLs associated with the entered UPC number is automatically displayed for user selection. The displayed menu of URLs are categorically arranged according to specific types of product information such as, for example: product specifications and operation manuals; product wholesalers and retailers; product advertisements and promotions; product endorsements; product updates and reviews; product warranty / servicing; related or complementary products; product incentives including rebates, discounts and / or coupons; manufacturer's annual report and 10K information; electronic stock purchase; etc. Novel Web-based techniques are disclosed for collecting the UPC / URL information from manufacturers and transmitting the same to the Internet-based databases of the system.

Tools for improving interactions between promoters and consumers of products. These tools can enable promoters of products to employ more effective promotional programs, and consumers to receive promotional information about products of interest, while avoiding the excessive overload of information about promotions that are not of interest. Some such tools can enhance consumer satisfaction with—and, correspondingly, consumer participation in—promotional programs by allowing consumers to tailor the discount programs to their preferences, by analyzing consumer behavior and tailoring promotions accordingly, and / or by providing cross promotions of complementary products. Some of the tools can provide substantial savings, in both costs and natural resources, as well as provide a more satisfying experience for consumers, by substantially reducing, or even eliminating, excessive use of paper for promotional programs and transaction receipts.

A radio transponder encoded with a serial number that is linked to a vehicle's vehicle identification number (VIN) is installed on a vehicle at time of manufacturer. When the vehicle is tendered for repairs, an electronic interrogator detects the presence of the vehicle, reads its VIN, and checks a database of safety recalls applicable to that VIN, recall repairs completed, state consumer protection Lemon Laws applicable to that vehicle, and the vehicle's service history. This information is all stored within a relational database that can be viewed via the Internet with user friendly computer interfaces. In addition, electronic alerts are automatically generated and sent indicating which safety recall repairs have yet to be performed for that vehicle, and whether any Lemon Law repair limits are being approached or have been exceeded. The system helps to ensure that all applicable safety recall repairs are completed for each vehicle, and that the manufacturer can get involved before expensive consumer remedies such as buy-back requirements are triggered. The system also allows lenders to conduct inventory remote, electronic inventory audits and it allows dealers to more easily locate and manage inventory, conduct warranty repairs, and seek warranty reimbursements.

The present invention provides a computer network implementable integration of promoted information with non-promoted content before a consumer interaction with the network, such that when the consumer interacts with the network, a consumer information interacts with this integrated content and delivers a message to the consumer such that the consumer visualizes this message as part of consumer experience without distracting from the network interaction task at hand. The integration is facilitated by semantic analysis and synthesis to naturally position the promoted content as close to the consumer interaction tasks as possible at that instant. This approach displaces the current practise of matching message to media placement while further enabling a promoter to evaluate and respond to feedback data depicting the efficacy of the sponsor message. The network in question is any computer network such as the Internet or intranet.

A system and method for selling and / or dispensing consumer products from a vending or transactional-based machine is disclosed. The vending or transactional-based machine comprises an aerial display device that displays an aerial image designed to attract the attention of potential consumers and sell advertising, special promotions or certain products. Once a consumer begins to interact with the vending machine, demographic data is collected or correlated with the product purchased or dispensed. The consumer can initiate and conclude a purchase by merely pointing at the desired product. A mechanism is provided that accepts payment by currency, credit card or electronically.

A computer-implemented method for the design and / or marketing of one or more consumer products based on an identified Icon includes capturing and storing in memory preferences of the Icon in accordance with at least one systematic survey of at least some of the preferences; creating one or more of a design for at least one consumer product or for a space or scheme for marketing and promotion, the consumer product, space or scheme design incorporating the captured preferences; and storing the design in memory. The preferences may include aspects of a product or space and information regarding the background of the Icon. A method for at least one of the design and marketing of one or more consumer products includes creating a design for at least one of a consumer product and an environment for sales, promotion and / or demonstration of at least one consumer product, the design incorporating captured preferences of an Icon; and storing the design in memory. A method for marketing of a consumer product includes communicating to prospective customers incorporation of preferences of an Icon in at least one of the design and / or marketing of the consumer product; making the consumer product available for purchase. A determination may be made as to whether a person has Icon status by obtaining and storing in memory values of objective and subjective variables, entering the variables into a weighted formula, calculating the result of the formula, and comparing the result to a threshold for Icon status.

The invention discloses a consumer projection service system, a method and an online transaction architecture based on online transaction, wherein the consumer projection service system based on the online transaction is arranged on an online transaction platform and used for protecting after-sales rights of a buying party client after the buying party client carries on transactions with a selling party client through the online transaction platform; and the consumer projection service system based on the online transaction comprises a service type section unit, a protocol template storage unit, a consumer protection service management unit, a selling party protocol storage unit, a complaining unit and an earnest money management unit. The system, the method and the architecture provided by the invention can provide after-sales protection service for the online transactions, are helpful for increasing confidence of online consumers in online transactions, and can further promote trading volume of the online transaction platform.