PCT
`
`WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION
`International Bureau
`
`
`
`INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT)
`
`(51) International Patent Classification 6 i
`G06F 17/60
`
`(11) International Publication Number:
`_
`_
`_
`(43) International Publication Date:
`
`WO 99/01834
`
`14 January 1999 (14.01.99)
`
`(21) International Application Number:
`
`PCT/US98/ 13405
`
`(81) Designated States: JP, European patent (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE,
`DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE).
`
`(22) International Filing Date:
`
`30 June 1998 (30.06.98)
`
`(30) Priority Data:
`60/051,587
`09/001,778
`
`2July 1997 (02.07.97)
`31 December 1997 (31.12.97)
`
`US
`US
`
`With international search report.
`Before the expiration of the time limit for amending the
`claims and to be republished in the event of the receipt of
`amendments.
`
`Published
`
`(71) Applicant: COUEIGNOUX, Philippe, J., M.
`Blake Road, Lexington, MA 02173 (US).
`
`[FR/US]; 33
`
`(74) Agent: CAPRARO, Joseph, A.; Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault,
`LLP, High Street Tower, 125 High Street, Boston, MA
`02110 (US).
`
`(54) Title: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE SECURE DISCOVERY, EXPLOITATION AND PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION
`
`authorization for publication.
`
`5
`
`
`
`INTERFACE
`
`‘—
`
`WW II
`
`0. "1.0. n |
`PUBUC FACTS
`v
`
`(57) Abstract
`
`System and method of discovering and exploiting information such as private or confidential facts from a user, while securing the
`information from unauthorized publication include a sender having a processing module transmitting a request for publication of information
`about a user; an agent in communication with the sender receiving the request for the information, and a user in communication with the
`agent responding to prompts initiated by the agent. The prompts request the user to disclose facts relating to the information desired by the
`sender, and provide indicia relating to authorization for publication of the disclosed facts to the sender. The agent receives the facts and
`determines whether such facts are to be made available to the sender. The agent can include a memory module, and a processing module
`such as a rule engine using dialog classes, for communicating with the sender and user, determining whether the indicia of authorization
`for the facts permits publication of the facts to the sender, and publishing the facts to the sender when said indicia represents a grant of
`
`
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.1/74)
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.1/74)
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`

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`Zimbabwe
`
`Albania
`Armenia
`Austria
`Australia
`Azerbaijan
`Bosnia and Herzegovina
`Barbados
`Belgium
`Burkina Faso
`Bulgaria
`Benin
`Brazil
`Belarus
`Canada
`Central African Republic
`Congo
`Switzerland
`cote d’Ivoire
`Cameroon
`China
`Cuba
`Czech Republic
`Germany
`Denmark
`Estonia
`
`ES
`FI
`FR
`GA
`GB
`GE
`GH
`GN
`GR
`HU
`IE
`IL
`IS
`IT
`JP
`KE
`KG
`KP
`
`KR
`KZ
`LC
`LI
`LK
`LR
`
`Spain
`Finland
`France
`Gabon
`United Kingdom
`Georgia
`Ghana
`Guinea
`Greece
`Hungary
`Ireland
`Israel
`Iceland
`Italy
`Japan
`Kenya
`Kyrgyzstan
`Democratic People’s
`Republic of Korea
`Republic of Korea
`Kazakstan
`Saint Lucia
`Liechtenstein
`Sri Lanka
`Liberia
`
`LS
`LT
`LU
`LV
`MC
`MD
`MG
`MK
`
`ML
`MN
`MR
`MW
`MX
`NE
`NL
`NO
`NZ
`PL
`PT
`RO
`RU
`SD
`SE
`SG
`
`Lesotho
`Lithuania
`Luxembourg
`Latvia
`Monaco
`Republic of Moldova
`Madagascar
`The former Yugoslav
`Republic of Macedonia
`Mali
`Mongolia
`Mauritania
`Malawi
`Mexico
`Niger
`Netherlands
`Norway
`New Zealand
`Poland
`Portugal
`Romania
`Russian Federation
`Sudan
`Sweden
`Singapore
`
`FOR THE PURPOSES OF INFORMATION ONLY
`
`Codes used to identify States party to the PCT on the front pages of pamphlets publishing international applications under the PCT.
`
`SI
`SK
`SN
`SZ
`TD
`TG
`TJ
`TM
`TR
`TT
`UA
`UG
`US
`UZ
`VN
`YU
`ZW
`
`Slovenia
`Slovakia
`Senegal
`Swaziland
`Chad
`Togo
`Tajikistan
`Turkmenistan
`Turkey
`Trinidad and Tobago
`Ukraine
`Uganda
`United States of America
`Uzbekistan
`Viet Nam
`Yugoslavia
`
`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.2/74)
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.2/74)
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`WO 99/01834
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`PCT/US98/13405
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`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE SECURE DISCOVERY, EXPLOITATION
`
`AND PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION
`
`Field of the Invention
`
`The invention relates to a system and method of discovering and exploiting information
`
`such as private or confidential information from a user, while securing the information from
`
`unauthorized publication.
`
`Background of the Invention
`
`Consumer research has focused on discovering user information such as demographic,
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`personal or identifying information and using this information to provide the user with products or
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`services tailored to his geographic area, age, gender, nationality or preferences. Typically such
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`information can be obtained through the use of cash-registers, kiosks, telephones, televisions and
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`computers. While information is often obtained for marketing purposes, such information is also
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`10
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`useful for other purposes.
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`A system for obtaining demographic information is described in US. Patent No.
`
`5,369,571 to Metts, in which a store clerk enters data relating to consumer socio-demographic
`
`characteristics while ringing consumer's purchases at a cash register.
`
`In US. Patent No.
`
`5,237,157 to Kaplan, discovery of marketing information relative to the tastes of music buyers is
`
`carried out while a user interacts with a music sampling kiosk in a music store. In US, Patent
`
`No. 5,515,098 to Carles, marketing data previously obtained and recorded on a central database
`
`is used to target specific commercial messages to on-demand television subscribers. The operation
`
`of a central database is a common characteristic of the above systems. Personalized interactions
`
`based on user-dependent data, if present, require a user to provide user information for this
`
`database as a condition to obtaining the benefit of any privileges provided thereby.
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`20
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`In other systems used to obtain identifying information from a user, all interactions
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`between a user and the system are localized, including user-dependent discovery, storage and use
`
`of the information. In US. Patent No. 5,555,074 to Jacobs disclosed is a system for delivering
`
`personalized greeting cards to consumers interacting with a kiosk. The system is able to query a
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.3/74)
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.3/74)
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`_ 2 _
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`consumer for user-dependent data, store it for the duration of the interactive session and use it to
`
`propose a selection of personalized products for purchase. Although this system does not provide
`
`for permanent recording of user-dependent data, its ability to perform data discovery and
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`exploitation relative to a plurality of users is similar to the above systems that retain such data in a
`
`central database.
`
`In US. Patent No. 4,899,373 to Lee, a system providing personalized, location-
`
`independent telephone services is disclosed, in which user-dependent data is transmitted from a
`
`credit card and temporarily stored on the local exchange that services the telephone picked up by
`
`the user.
`In US. Patent No. 5,552,586 to Kalman, a memory card is used to store user data
`relative to the interactions of the user with a plurality of social agencies. While this system
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`10
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`provides access codes to allow for the protection of confidential data against disclosure to an
`
`unauthorized agency, when access is granted to an authorized agency, user data is unprotected as
`
`data is recorded in the computer of this case worker. These and other systems that record user-
`
`dependent data on a local medium, particularly a removable medium such as a disc drive, typically
`
`allow others to access this data independently of user control. Ofien, access is obtained by
`
`providers of the card or storage medium, as well as others with whom the user—dependent data
`
`was discovered in the first place.
`
`Similar observations can be made relative to the use of the Internet. Hypertext markup
`
`language HTML and Java applets can be used in a discovery phase to report their findings to a
`
`central database. Similarly, cookies and executable code for push technology can record user-
`
`dependent data locally to avoid repetitive data entry by the user. Such processes can be thought
`
`of as a local extension of the central server, as typically they provide no privacy protection besides
`
`a possible declaration of intent to preserve information in confidence.
`
`The proposal by Firefly, Inc. for an "Open Profiling Standard" (OPS) presents a
`
`framework for such ”before disclosure" user control. Within its scope, attention is given to
`
`important issues such as identification of entities and parties and security of communications
`
`between them. The OPS describes how an entity may negotiate access to confidential information
`
`on a party for the sake of ofi‘ering a personalized service to this party While the OPS gives an
`
`excellent description of the disclosure process and allows for party—dependent data to be kept
`
`locally under the party's control, its spirit is still to trade disclosure for personalization.
`
`It would
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.4/74)
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`be advantageous to break this link so as to reduce the need for disclosure while potentially
`
`increasing its economic value.
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`_ 3 _
`
`Summary of the Invention
`
`The present invention is directed to a system and method for the disclosure and controlled
`
`publication of information. In one embodiment, the system and method requests disclosure of
`
`information and publishes such information only when consent for publication is affirmatively
`
`given. The present invention is further directed to a system and method for the controlled
`
`publication of information. In this embodiment, stored information is published only when
`
`consent for publication exists.
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`In one embodiment, the system includes a sender in communication with a transmission
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`medium, comprising a processing module transmitting a request for publication of a fact over the
`
`transmission medium; an agent in communication with the transmission medium, receiving said
`
`request for the fact from the sender, and a user in communication with the agent over the
`
`transmission medium. The agent requests that the user disclose facts, referred to herein as
`
`“private facts” and provide indicia relating to authorization for publication of the disclosed facts.
`
`Facts having indicia relating to positive authorization for publication are referred to herein as
`
`“public facts”. The agent receives the facts and determines whether such facts are to be made
`
`available to the sender, referred to herein as “published”. The agent can include a memory
`
`module storing a plurality of facts and the indicia of authorization for publication; a processing
`
`module in communication with the memory module for determining whether the indicia of
`
`authorization for the facts disclosed by a user permits publication of the facts to the sender, and
`
`providing the facts to the sender when said indicia of authorization permits publication of the
`
`facts, that is, when the facts are considered public facts.
`
`In one embodiment, the system is implemented using one or more rule engines, and a
`
`plurality of dialog classes that control the strategy of the interaction between the agent and the
`
`user such that the goals of the sender are carried out while the confidentiality of private facts
`
`disclosed by the user is maintained. Using the dialog classes the rule engine can prompt the user
`
`to disclose private facts and provide indicia of authorization for publication of such facts to the
`
`sender. The dialog classes further use the private and public facts associated with the user along
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.5/74)
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.5/74)
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`with known facts about the sender, referred to herein as “inbound public facts”, to determine the
`
`content of additional prompts provided to the user, as well as to make suggestions to the user.
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`_ 4 _
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`In one embodiment, the dialog classes can include a plurality of rules, each of which is
`
`accorded a priority to aid in the process of rule selection. The rules can include pure rules and
`
`interactive rules that require interaction with the user for an action to be executed. Each rule
`
`typically includes a condition and an action that is carried out when the condition is satisfied.
`
`In one embodiment, the sender provides to the agent a publishing request list representing
`
`the facts desired to be known by the sender in response to the sender’s interaction strategy. The
`
`publishing request list can comprise a plurality of name and value pairs, each pair representing a
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`10
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`category of fact desired by a sender. Private facts authorized for publication to the sender can be
`
`implemented in a hash table, which can include a fact and an authorization for publication,
`
`referred to herein as “permission status”.
`
`In another embodiment, a plurality of interaction rules
`
`can be used to determine the action to be accorded to a sender’s publishing request.
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`In yet
`
`another embodiment, a pure rule can determine the action to be accorded to a sender’s publishing
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`request.
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`In another embodiment, a user can be provided with a questionnaire asking for a plurality
`
`of private facts, which result in a score that, if authorized for publication, can be published to the
`
`sender in response to a publishing request.
`
`In yet another embodiment, the agent can receive a special request from the sender, such
`
`as, for example, a special product or price offering that should be made known to the user
`
`immediately because of its temporal nature. In another embodiment, the agent can receive a
`
`special request from the user, such as, for example, a request for cancellation of an authorization
`
`for publication.
`
`In yet another embodiment, a plurality of senders can share one or more agents and public
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`facts. In this embodiment, an agent can serve a plurality of senders using a common set of public
`
`facts, private facts and dialog classes, as well as sender—specific sets of public facts, private facts
`
`and dialog classes.
`
`In still another embodiment of the present invention, the sender and the user can exist as
`
`automated processing units, both having rule engines operating on specific dialog classes to obtain
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.6/74)
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.6/74)
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`facts about the other party, provide facts, and authorize for publication certain facts which can be
`
`made known to the other party.
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`_ 5 _
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`In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method of providing secure
`
`discovery and publication of facts about an entity comprises; receiving at an agent, a publishing
`
`request from a sender; prompting a user for disclosure of facts; requesting authorization for
`
`publication of the facts disclosed; and providing only those facts that include an authorization for
`
`publication to the sender.
`
`In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method of providing controlled
`
`publication of facts to an entity comprises; transmitting from a sender to an agent a publishing
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`request; retrieving from storage a fact relating to the publishing request and information relating
`
`to an authorization for publication associated with the fact; determining whether the authorization
`
`for publication indicates a grant of authorization; and providing the fact to the sender when a
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`grant of authorization exists.
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`The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become
`
`apparent from the following, more particular description of the preferred embodiments of the
`
`invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
`
`Brief Description of Drawings
`
`FIG.
`
`1 is a block diagram of the system according to one embodiment of the present
`
`invention for discovering, exploiting and publishing facts.
`
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the interface computer of Fig. 1.
`
`FIG. 3A illustrates the rules used in the discovery and publication of information
`
`according to one embodiment of the invention.
`
`FIG. 3B illustrates the rules used in the discovery and publication of information
`
`according to another embodiment of the invention.
`
`FIG. 4 is a flow chart describing a method of discovering and publishing facts according to
`
`one embodiment of the present invention.
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.7/74)
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`FIG. 5A is a flow chart illustrating rule selection in the discovery, exploitation, and
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`publication process.
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`_ 6 -
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`FIG. 5B is a flow chart illustrating rule selection in the discovery, exploitation, and
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`publication process.
`
`FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C illustrate rules used by the system according to one embodiment of
`
`the present invention for determining whether private facts are to be published.
`
`FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C illustrate rules used by the system for external prompting of the
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`discovery and exploitation process according to one embodiment of the present invention.
`
`FIG. 8 illustrates rules for interpreting user-completed questionnaires according to another
`
`embodiment of the present invention.
`
`FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of the invention in which
`
`resources are shared by a plurality of senders.
`
`FIG. 10A is a block diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment of the system of the
`
`present invention in which the operations carried out by the sender and receiver are automated.
`
`FIGS. 10B, 10C, 10D, 10B and 10F illustrate rules for carrying out the discovery and
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`exploitation process according to the embodiment of Fig. 10A.
`
`FIG. 11A is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of the system of the present
`
`invention in which the sender and receiver are automated.
`
`FIG. 11B is a block diagram illustrating yet another embodiment of the system of the
`
`present invention in which the sender and receiver are automated.
`
`FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a sender and receiver carrying out
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`automated processing using the system of the present invention.
`
`Detailed Description
`
`Referring to FIG. 1, shown is a block diagram of a system according to one embodiment
`
`of the present invention, for discovering, exploiting and publishing user information, hereinafter
`
`referred to as “facts”. The system of the present invention is described for purposes of illustration
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.8/74)
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.8/74)
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`_ 7 _
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`only, as being implemented on a software-programmable computer system using an object-
`
`oriented programming language such as Sun Java. The software-programmable computer system
`is preferably disposed on a network, such as the Internet. It is to be appreciated, however, that
`
`the present invention can be implemented in the context of other networks such as, for example,
`
`wide area networks WAN, local area networks LAN, intranets and on other computer systems
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`known to hardware designers skilled in the art and using other computer languages known to
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`software programmers skilled in the art.
`
`As shown, a site desiring to acquire information about users, hereinafter referred to as the
`
`sender or sending agent (SA) 4, is in communication with a distribution computer 2 and a memory
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`module 1. The sender 4 can be, for example, a site on the world wide web (WWW) representing
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`a vendor. The user 7 can be a person or entity that interacts with an interface computer 5 to
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`communicate with the sender 4. The memory module 1 associated with the sender 4 stores dialog
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`classes created by or developed for the sender 4. Classes, in object oriented programming, refer
`
`to a collection of data and method declarations, and can be used to encode facts and business
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`rules that apply problem-solving knowledge to facts. In the present invention, dialog classes 1
`
`can be programs that control the interaction between the sender 4 and the user 7, particularly
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`executable programs that seek to obtain from the user 7, information that is of interest to sender
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`4.
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`The memory module l is in communication with a distribution computer 2 which transmits
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`copies of the dialog classes to a distribution network 3. Typically, such a transmission from the
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`memory module 1 occurs in response to a command from a sender 4. The distribution computer
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`2, upon obtaining the dialog classes, transmits them to the distribution network 3 which can
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`broadcast identical copies of the dialog classes to the memory module 1’ via an interface
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`computer 5, The interface computer 5, as fiirther described herein, can comprise, for example, a
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`personal computer, a digital television, or a cable television digital interface that is local to the
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`user 7. It is to be appreciated however, that in alternate embodiments of the present invention,
`
`the interface computer 5 need not be local, and can be disposed on a network that services a
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`plurality of senders 4 and a plurality of users 7.
`
`The sender 4 further is in communication with a transaction computer 11 and a transaction
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`network 12.
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`In the present invention, the transaction computer 11 can comprise, for example, a
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`remote server or a server at the sender’s 4 internet site. As shown, the transaction network 12 is
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`in communication with the interface computer 5, thereby enabling the user 7 to interact with the
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`sender 4 via the interface computer 5. The transaction computer ll further is in communication
`
`with a transaction information memory module 10 that stores transaction information, such as, for
`
`example, information provided by the user 7 and/or the sender 4, such as, comments, questions,
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`purchase units, quantities and dates of delivery, prices and availability. The user 7 can therefore
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`exchange with the transaction computer ll, transaction information. This exchange can then lead
`
`to the creation and storage of new transaction information, such as an order or comments, leading
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`to the creation of a file or ently in memory module 10. The transaction information provided by
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`the user 7 as described above, may further include personal information about the user 7 as sought
`
`by the sender.
`
`It is important to note that the distribution network 3 and the transaction network 12 can
`
`be implemented on the same logical and/or physical network, such as the Internet, a WAN or
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`LAN, an intranet, or an EDI network. The transaction network 12 is essentially a two—way
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`network, that enables the user 7 and the sender 4 to exchange information. The distribution
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`network 3, as will be further described, can be a two-way network, that is, communication is
`
`typically carried out from the sender 4 to the interface computer 5, with signals transmitted from
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`the interface computer 5 that request dialog classes, as further described herein. In yet another
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`embodiment, the distribution network 3 can be a one-way network In another embodiment, the
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`distribution network 3 can include, for example, a distribution of CD-ROMs in which
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`communication is carried out through direct mailing or stores.
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`The dialog classes stored in memory module 1 are transmitted over the distribution
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`network 3 to the memory module 1’. The dialog classes are transmitted in response to a decision
`
`by the sender 4 to publish the dialog classes, that is, to make the dialog classes available to the
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`user 7 in memory module 1’ so that the user 7 can interact with the dialog classes on the interface
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`computer 5.
`
`In one embodiment of the present invention, the dialog classes can be provided in
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`response to the decision by the sender 4 to publish the dialog classes, and a corresponding
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`decision by the user 7 to receive the dialog classes.
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`In response to such an indication, the sender
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`4 can initiate transmission of the dialog classes to the memory module l’ and provide for
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`additional updates of the dialog classes. The interaction between the sender 4 and the user 7 is
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`known in Internet jargon, as push-pull technology or simply push technology.
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`The interface computer 5 can locally execute the dialog classes stored in memory
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`module 1’. The dialog classes, as described above, are programs that automate the logic of the
`
`sender 4 and control the strategy of the interaction between the sender 4 and the user 7. The
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`dialog classes can thus prompt the user 7 to provide information, such as personal, secret or
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`confidential information, “private facts,” and upon receiving such private facts, determine whether
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`additional prompts should be provided to the user 7 to obtain additional private facts, and what
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`the content of such additional prompts should be. Therefore, during the execution of the dialog
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`classes, as fiarther described, the user 7 can be asked to disclose certain private facts, such as, for
`
`example, date of birth, social security number, annual income, mother’s maiden name, other
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`family information, eye and hair color, and user-preferences. Execution of the dialog classes
`
`enables the user 7 to authorize certain private facts to be made available and published as public
`
`facts. Public facts are thus private facts made available to the sender 4 only in response to
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`authorization by the user 7. Additionally, public facts can further comprise sender-related data
`
`such as, for example, service messages. In the present embodiment, the interface computer 5 can
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`therefore store, modify and retrieve private and public facts relative to the user 7 as well as public
`
`facts relative to the sender 4.
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`Therefore, the interface computer 5 receives the dialog classes from memory module 1’,
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`executes the dialog classes and interacts with the user 7. Any information provided by the user 7
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`in response to such interactions is stored in the memory module 6 as private facts. These private
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`facts remain in the memory module 6 and are copied as outbound public facts only in response to
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`authorization by the user 7 for disclosure to the sender 4, as will be fiirther described. The
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`outbound public facts are stored in memory module 8. As described above, system information or
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`public facts previously provided by the user 7 to the sender 4, or simply provided by the sender 4,
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`are stored in memory module 9 as inbound public facts, and are transmitted to the interface
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`computer 5 to aid in allowing appropriately tailored prompts to be directed to the user 7.
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`Referring to FIG. 2, shown in further detail is the interface computer 5. As shown, a
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`multitasking operating system 13, such as, for example, a Java virtual machine running on
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`Microsoft Windows 95, controls the operation of the interface computer 5. The operating system
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`13 runs the discovery and exploitation engine 14, hereinafier referred to as the “DEP” 14, which
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`can transmit local Copies of the dialog classes to the memory module 1’ and execute local copies
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`of the dialog classes stored in the memory module 1’.
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`In the present embodiment, the DEP 14 is
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.11/74)
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.11/74)
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`WO 99/01834
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`PCT/U598/13405
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`_ 10 _
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`implemented as a rule engine operating with a knowledge base. The knowledge base comprises
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`the dialog classes in memory module 1’ and the public and private facts in memory modules 6, 8,
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`9.
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`It is important to note that each specific fact in object-oriented programming, is represented as
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`an object which is an instance of the relevant generic fact class. For example, looking at the
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`object “sports practiced: golf’, note that “golf” is a specific instance of the class “sports
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`practiced”. The DEP 14 as a rule engine, thus interprets the dialog classes in the storage module
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`1’ by determining which class is the most relevant to the fact objects held in the storage modules
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`6, 8 and 9. The DEP 14 then creates new objects or updates existing objects according to the
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`user 7 responses obtained Via a user interface 15.
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`The DEP 14 thus creates, writes, updates, and reads the public facts held in memory
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`module 8 and the private facts held in memory module 6. The DEP l4 fiirther determines which
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`private facts are to become outbound public facts, and stores such facts in memory module 8 so
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`that they are available for further processing by both the DEP l4 and the external process 16
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`hereinafter referred to as the “EPR” 16. The EPR 16 communicates with the user 7 through the
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`user interface 15, to enable the user 7 to communicate transaction information with the sender 4
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`over the transaction network 12. As will be further described, private facts cannot be accessed by
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`a system element other than the DEP 14, and can be discovered by the DEP 14 during a single
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`user-interaction session or during multiple user-interaction sessions. The inbound public facts in
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`memory module 9 can further be read by the DEP 14 as transmitted to by the EPR 16.
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`It is to be noted that the DEP 14 can, in other embodiments, be configured using other
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`elements while retaining the functionality described herein in connection with a rule engine. For
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`example, the basic rule engine design described herein can be coupled with free form ancillary
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`modules limited to the computation of some derived facts added to the list of private facts.
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`The operating system 13 also runs the EPR 16, a rule engine that interacts with the sender
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`4 and the user 7 via the user interface 15. The EPR 16 can be a local agent of the sender 4, such
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`as a local server or an applet. In another embodiment, the EPR can simply be a local application
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`programming interface (API) remotely accessible from the transaction computer 11 over the
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`transaction network 12. In the present embodiment, the EPR 16 allows the DEP 14 to interact
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`with the transaction computer 11. The EPR 16 can access the outbound public facts in storage
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`module 8 as generated by the DEP 14, and transmit such facts to the sender 4 over the transaction
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.12/74)
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`Monster Worldwide, Inc. Exhibit 1024 (p.12/74)
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`WO 99/01834
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`PCT/US98/13405
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`_ 11 _
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`network 12. Additionally, the EPR 16 can receive inbound public facts from the transaction
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`network 12, and store the inbound public facts in memory module 9, to be retrieved by the DEP
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`14. Further, the EPR 16 can be used to process independent commands received via the user
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`interface 15.
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`In another embodiment, the system can comprise a plurality of EPRS 16, each with
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`its own set of inbound public facts. As fiirther described in FIG. 9, where multiple senders 4 are
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`disposed on a network and share the private and public facts, a plurality of EPRs 16 can be
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`desirable.
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`Referring to FIG. 3A, the dialog classes stored in memory modules 1 and 1’ generally
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`comprise at least two types of rules known as pure rules 150 and interaction rules 152. As shown
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`in this figure, pure rules 150 and interaction rules 152 are characterized by a priority value, such
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`as, for example, an integer from 1 to ll, given by R-p. It is to be appreciated that any method of
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`assigning differing values to a plurality of rules can be used, as the priority value is simply a value
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`that can be ranked against the priorities of other rules to determine the order in which the rules
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`are selected. Both the pure rules 150 and the interaction rules 152 further include a condition,
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`given by R—c. A condition is a Boolean operation that results in an output that is either true or
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`false. Both types of rules are configured in accordance with the objectives of the sender 4 in
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`determining when the user 7 should be prompted for facts, what strategy should be employed in
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`prompting a user 7 for facts and what suggestions should be made to the user 7 on the basis of
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`such facts.
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`Pure rules 150 further include a body, given by R—b, within which a conclusion, RR-c is
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`found. Pure rules 150 incorporate the logic of the sender 4 using information already available to
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`the DEP 14. That is, pure rules 150 are executed on the basis of existing private and public facts
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`and do not rely on direct interaction with the user 7 for their execution. For example, a pure rule
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`150, can include a timer, and include the condition that if more than a month has passed without
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`effective interactions with the user 7, the user 7 is no longer of interest to the sender 4. The
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`interaction rules l52 in