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.