TRADING TECH EXHIBIT 2032
`IBG ET AL. v. TRADING TECH
`CBM2015-00181
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`US 6,993,572 B2
`Page 2
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`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
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`3/1998 Gifford
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`3/1998 Dedrick
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`5,913,202 A
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`6/1999 Allen et al.
`5,918,239 A
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`5,930,765 A
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`8/1999 Angles et al.
`5,933,811 A
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`8/1999 Alberts
`5,937,392 A
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`8/1999 Pinard et al.
`5,940,834 A
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`8/1999 Zucknovich et al.
`5,940,843 A
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`9/1999 Merriman et al.
`5,948,061 A
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`9/1999 Xue
`5,956,709 A
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`10/1999 Kirsch
`5,963,915 A
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`11/1999 Luciw
`5,978,766 A
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`11/1999 Nazem et al.
`5,983,227 A
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`11/1999 Abraham et al.
`5,983,270 A
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`11/1999 Athing et al.
`5,987,498 A
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`11/1999 Gerace
`5,991,735 A
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`11/1999 Messer
`5,991,740 A
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`1/2000 Bayeh et al.
`............. .. 709/246
`6,012,098 A *
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`2/2000 Hill et al.
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`6,023,714 A *
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`2/2000 Bezos et al.
`6,029,141 A
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`6,128,655 A * 10/2000 Fields et al.
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`6,141,666 A
`10/2000 Tobin
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`6,230,173 B1 *
`5/2001 Ferrel et al.
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`6,253,188 B1
`6/2001 Witek et al.
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`6,629,135 B1 *
`9/2003 Ross et al. ................ .. 709/218
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`6,763,343 B1 *
`7/2004 Brooke et al.
`............... .. 707/1
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`wiredhotelier.com; Jul. 22, 1997.
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`tions Through Worldres”; news release from http://www.
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`Cimino JJ, et al. “Architecture for a Web-Based Clinical
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`* cited by examiner
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`US 6,993,572 B2
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`Sheet 10 of 24
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`US 6,993,572 B2
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`1
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR
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`FACILITATING INTERNET COMMERCE
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`WITH OUTSOURCED WEBSITES
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`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
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`APPLICATIONS
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`This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/398,268,
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`filed Sep. 17, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,135, which
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`claims the benefit of application Ser. No. 60/100,697, filed
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`Sep. 17, 1998, which applications are hereby incorporated
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`by reference.
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`BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
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`1. Field of Invention
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`The invention relates to a system and method supporting
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`commerce syndication. More specifically,
`the invention
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`relates to a system and method for computer based infor-
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`mation providers to receive outsourced electronic commerce
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`facilities in a context sensitive, transparent manner.
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`2. Description of Prior Art
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`The World Wide Web began as a simple interface to the
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`Internet using HTML (hypertext markup language) as a
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`means of linking documents together. This allowed a
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`researcher, for example, to embed “active” references in his
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`or her documents that, if selected, would enable the reader
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`to review the source of the reference first-hand. Program-
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`mers quickly capitalized on this technology, creating “web
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`sites” which reflected less staid purposes, laying the ground-
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`work for the literal “web” of content and interactive appli-
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`cations that exists today. In the early stages, website pro-
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`grammers increased visitor traffic by placing “links” within
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`their websites to other websites, usually related in content or
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`function,
`in exchange for a reciprocal link. Additionally,
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`directories of websites, such as Yahoo, and search engines,
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`such as WebCrawler, began to appear in an attempt
`to
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`organize the content of the Internet so that its users could
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`create “custom links pages” related to specific topics.
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`In these early days, the Web was mostly trafficked by
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`programmers and “techies,” and a commune-type “share and
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`share alike” mindset prevailed. As a result, people were
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`happy to litter their sites with links, knowing that, odds
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`were, others would do the same for them and the traffic
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`gain/loss would probably balance out. So, despite the fact
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`that by including and promoting a “links” page, website
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`operators were effectively encouraging people to leave their
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`website, link sharing developed into a standard practice.
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`Then, entrepreneurs and other business-oriented individu-
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`als came along and introduced capitalism to the Internet.
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`Profit-oriented website operators began to seek visitors
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`wherever they could find them, and opportunistic owners of
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`popular sites began to realize that they had an increasingly
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`scarce resource—visitors. Such website owners began to sell
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`the links they had previously offered for free in the form of
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`paid advertisements. Search engines and directories became
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`increasingly popular for two main reasons. First, the number
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`of websites was growing astronomically, so it was becoming
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`harder for users to find what they wanted. Second, since
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`reciprocal
`links were either going away or were being
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`replaced by links exclusively to non-competing websites,
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`search engines and directories were the only way to find
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`multiple resources for a single topic.
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`Amid frantic efforts on the part of corporate websites to
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`get noticed, the sale of banner ads blossomed into a large
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`industry called Internet advertising. Thousands of websites
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`created space for banner ads and called the space “inven-
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`tory.” At first, they priced ads as a print ad might be priced:
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`by CPM, or cost per thousand “impressions” each ad made
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`on website visitors. Over time this pricing model gave way
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`to arrangements more favorable to advertisers such as Cost
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`Per Click-through and Cost Per Inquiry (meaning the adver-
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`tiser only needs to pay when a visitor sees a banner ad and
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`clicks on it and completes an information request form on
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`the advertiser’s site).
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`Some of the most successful Internet commerce websites,
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`led by online bookseller Amazon.com, have begun to take an
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`even more results-driven approach to the purchase of banner
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`ads. They have offered to pay only for ads that, when
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`clicked, result
`in a product sale. To provide a stronger
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`incentive than a simple banner ad,
`these companies let
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`third-party website owners list a subset of their goods (e.g.,
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`10 of Amazon.com’s millions of books, selected by the
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`website owner) and promote them as they choose within
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`their websites. Initiatives such as these have come to be
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`described as “affiliate programs”, “associate programs” or
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`“commission based advertising programs”.
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`The benefits of affiliate programs are significant. To the
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`website owner, they constitute revenue-generating web con-
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`tent without requiring an investment in product inventory or
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`additional
`infrastructure. They also create new revenues
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`without necessarily reducing the website’s available ad
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`inventory. However,
`the greater benefit almost always
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`accrues not to the affiliate, but to Amazon.com and other
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`online stores. Not only do these sites benefit from the
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`marketing resources of the affiliate operators, they are also
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`able to lure the visitor traffic away from the affiliate. Once
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`a visitor clicks on an affiliate ad and enters an online store,
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`that visitor has left the affiliate’s site and is gone. At best,
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`affiliates are able to use “frames” to keep a shell of their own
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`website around the vendor’s site, but this is only a margin-
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`ally effective solution. No alternatives have been able to
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`address a fundamental drawback of the affiliate programs
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`—the loss of the visitor to the vendor. At best, some Internet
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`affiliate sales vendors have begun placing “return to refer-
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`ring website” links on their order confirmation screens, an
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`approach that is largely ineffective. This limitation of an
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`affiliate program restricts participation to less trafficked
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`websites that are unconcerned about losing visitors. Mean-
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`while, search engines and directories continue to increase in
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`their usefulness and popularity, while banner ads and old-
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`style links continue their rapid loss of effectiveness and
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`popular usage.
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`invention overcomes these limitation of
`The present
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`present affiliate commerce systems and provides other ben-
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`efits as will become clearer to those skilled in the art from
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`the foregoing description.
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`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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`The affiliate commerce system and method of the present
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`invention represents a new paradigm of co-marketing on the
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`Internet. Not only does the present invention provide its
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`Hosts with the added value and incremental revenues of
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`traditional affiliate programs, but the company also enables
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`Hosts to control the customer experience before, during, and
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`after the purchase transaction. At the same time, Merchants
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`receive the same benefits as with older affiliate programs,
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`i.e., increased marketing potential, incremental sales, and
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`new customer relationships, but without the restrictive limi-
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`tations of affiliate programs—the loss of hard-won visitor
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`traffic.
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`Additionally, the present invention can actually obviate
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`the need for some merchants to invest in their own unique
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`Page 27 of 44
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`US 6,993,572 B2
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`Internet presence. By using the present invention as their
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`primary online sales channel, these Merchants can focus on
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`product development, production, and order fulfillment and
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`leave the exploration of the Internet to experts. The resulting
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`ongoing cost savings and operational efficiencies magnify
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`the potential benefits of the Internet while reducing the
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`initial costs.
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`According to the present invention the look and feel of
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`each participating Host is captured and stored. Hosts may
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`include links to selected products or product categories
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`within pages residing on the Hosts’ website. Upon actuation
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`of such a link by a visitor of the Host website, a page is
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`presented to the visitor incorporating a replica of the Host’s
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`look and feel directed to the sale of the selected products or
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`product categories.
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`The look and feel of a host is captured and stored by
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`receiving an identification of an example page of a target
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`host. The identified page is retrieved. The look and feel
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`elements of the page are identified, and these elements are
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`stored for future use in generating outsourced transparent
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`pages, pages served by a server other than the host but with
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`the host’s look and feel. Such pages give the viewer of the
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`page the impression that she is viewing pages served by the
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`host.
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`The links included by the host directed to the outsource
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`provider need not be statically linked to a particular product
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`or product category. Such links may direct the outsource
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`provider to dynamically select content to serve within the
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`host’s look and feel. This content may be selected based
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`upon a contextual analysis of the page which includes the
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`link. Further, the dynamic content need not be limited to
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`products or product categories but may include any content
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`within the system’s data store that is amenable to contextual
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`correlation with content in the page containing the link.
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`A cost effective, scalable architecture may be used to
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`serve dynamically constructed pages such as those served by
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`the e-commerce outsource provider. This architecture
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`includes three levels: a Web server layer, an application
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`server layer and a database server layer.
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`The Web server layer provides a front end presentation
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`layer for interacting with end users. This layer may consist
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`of one or more interchangeable low cost server systems. Any
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`request from an end user may be fielded by any system
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`within the layer. The selected system can contact any
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`application server within the application layer to provide
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`processed data for use in responding to the end user request.
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`The application layer supports interacting with the data-
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`base server level to acquire needed data and processing it
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`prior to presentation by the Web server layer. As with the
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`Web server layer, this layer may consist of one or more
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`interchangeable low cost server systems. Any Web server
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`system may submit a request to any application server. The
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`application server includes processing functionality suitable
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`for the types of pages to be dynamically constructed.
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`The database server layer supports low level management
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`of data used in dynamic page construction. The data store
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`across the one or more low cost server systems is seamlessly
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`viewed as an integrated whole. As a consequence, any
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`database server within the layer can field any request for data
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`submitted by an application server.
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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`FIG. 1 depicts a typical hardware architecture implement-
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`ing the present invention.
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`FIG. 2 illustrates the software architecture of the Web
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`server layer.
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`Page 28 of 44
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`4
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`FIG. 3 illustrates the software architecture of the appli-
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`cation server layer.
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`FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`host signup process.
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`FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`host account information maintenance process.
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`FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`host look and fee capture process.
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`FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`host link generation process.
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`FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the dynamic content selection and
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`presentation process.
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`FIG. 9 is a screen capture of a Merchant Manager page in
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`a preferred embodiment.
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`FIG. 10 is a screen capture of a Host Manager page in a
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`preferred embodiment.
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`FIGS. 11-18 are screen captures of the page in a preferred
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`embodiment of a look and feel capture process.
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`FIG. 19 is a screen capture of a typical e-commerce
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`supported page served in a preferred embodiment.
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`FIG. 20 is a screen capture of a System Manager page in
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`a preferred embodiment.
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`FIG. 21 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`host view reports process.
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`FIG. 22 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`shopping process.
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`FIG. 23 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`merchant account maintenance process.
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`FIG. 24 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`merchant catalog maintenance process.
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`FIG. 25 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`merchant view reports process.
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`FIG. 26 is a flow chart of the pages and procedures in the
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`merchant view hosts process.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
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`INVENTION
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`Apreferred embodiment of the invention is now described
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`in detail. Referring to the drawings, like numbers indicate
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`like parts throughout the views. As used in the description
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`herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of
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`“a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the
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`context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the
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`description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the
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`meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context
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`clearly dictates otherwise.
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`invention will
`A typical embodiment of the present
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`include a data store including a look and feel description
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`associated with a host website, a communications link to a
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`visitor computer, and a processor. The processor performs
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`the tasks of capturing a look and feel description associated
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`with a host website, storing the captured look and feel
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`description in the data store, providing the host website with
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`a link that link correlates the host website with a commerce
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`object for inclusion within a page on the host website and
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`which, when activated, causes the processor to serve an
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`e-commerce supported page via the communication link
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`with a look and feel corresponding to the captured look and
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`feel description of the host website associated with the
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`provided link and with content based on the commerce
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`object associated with the provided link. The Internet serves
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`as the communication link to visitor computers.
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`In a preferred embodiment as exhibited by FIG. 1, the
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`duties of the processor are split among several computer
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`systems 120a—120c, 125a—125a', 130a—130b. The data store
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`may be implemented through a database system 130a—130b,
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`Page 28 of 44
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`US 6,993,572 B2
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`5
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`135a—135a'. The Internet 110 serves as the communication
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`link to visitor computers 105a—105f.
`In this preferred
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`embodiment, the system utilizes multiple inexpensive com-
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`puter systems at every level of the architecture. Routing
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`between levels will automatically distr