Abstract

An apparatus for conducting an interactive marketplace on the internet, comprisingof a product and service database hardware systematically and in real time. Theapparatus offers a search method whereby comprehensive and wide-ranginggeographic country and city index & product categories are provided to locateonline virtual offices, stores and products in any desired city. The apparatus is alsoused for providing business consultation, subscriber business name and / or bankaccount verification, subscriber networking options, sale of international phonenumbers and domain names, registration of trademarks and other incidentalservices on an online environment.

Information

Application ID	2742/CHE/2009
Invention Field	COMPUTER SCIENCE
Date of Application	2009-11-09
Publication Number	19/2011

Applicants

Name	Address	Country	Nationality
GHULAM YASEEN MAZAR KHAN	RAWDA DIST.  QASIM BEN ZINA ST.  P.O. BOX: 14146  JEDDAH- SAUDI ARABIA	Saudi Arabia	PAKISTAN

Inventors

Name	Address	Country	Nationality
GHULAM YASEEN MAZAR KHAN	RAWDA DIST.  QASIM BEN ZINA ST.  P.O. BOX: 14146  JEDDAH- SAUDI ARABIA	Saudi Arabia	PAKISTAN

Specification

TITLE: AN APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING AN INTERACTIVE MARKETPLACE ON THE INTERNET

Field of Invention:

The present invention belongs to the field of a system and process for the conduct of electronic commerce on the Internet. More particularly the present invention relates to a system and process that contains virtual offices and stores and hardware associated with hosting the same on the internet.

Background of the Invention:

The conduct of commercial transactions has been simplified into different trading modes, and is done in different ways at different time. For example, the Barter system in ancient time refers to exchanging goods with goods, and the platinum, gold, money, paper money, check, money remittance are also used as an instrument for making payment. The trading medium has changed from fair, store, to mail order. As to the application of credit instruments such as a credit card, online shopping can be paid by credit cards, which indicates the cultural development of mankind.

The use of computers to access data via the Internet has pervaded practically every aspect of life today. Businesses can have offices around the world, all connected through the Internet, allowing employees sitting in the US to work on a project with other co-workers in offices in other sites, and even other countries. Most homes have some method in place to access this same Internet, either through the telephone lines or some form of high-speed connection such as cable, satellite, to name a few. With the world becoming increasingly connected, it is possible for individuals to do things through this ever-expanding virtual world that previously needed to be done in the real world.

One specific aspect of the Internet, more widely used than most, is the World Wide Web. People use the Web to talk to their friends, check mail, read the paper, and even shop online for goods and services that used to be purchased through "brick and mortar" retail channels. The number of online shopping options available to consumers has increased dramatically over the past few years to accommodate the growing demand for interactive online shopping. From the shopper''s point of view, online shopping can eliminate much of the stress associated with the more traditional shopping experience. Moreover, online prices are generally lower than prices offered by retail merchants with a physical storefront as well. Given the current regulatory environment, most Internet purchases are also exempt from taxes. Additionally, online shopping allows customers to quickly and easily locate the desired goods and/or services, perform rapid price comparisons, and complete their purchases, all without leaving their home or office. All of this can create an opportunity for shoppers to save both time and money.

It is a known fact that the internet based shopping system allows the customer a great pleasure, flexibility and relaxation which have proved a great success in the electronic shopping arena. For a number of years, shopping over the internet has grown increasingly popular for both business and personal use as more merchants offer goods and services through associated websites. Normally, with an internet based shopping system, a customer accesses a website, views products and/or services and associated specifications, chooses a product and/or service for purchase, selects a delivery option, provides delivery and credit card payment information and authorizes a purchase transaction.

In the recent years it is very well known that the shopping over through the internet has grown rapidly to a maximum extent, which has made the business and the personal use very popular for both the buyers and sellers who offer goods and all other services through the websites. Generally in an internet based shopping system, a user accesses a website, views products for purchase, and selects a delivery option and payment procedures. While accessing the internet for the electronic commerce many shopping systems provide a virtual shopping store which holds the selected products for sale, similarly the product is kept in the virtual store until it is being sold out or the customer completes their shopping. And this virtual shopping store can examined at any time to check whether the store is genuinely functioning and their contents can be edited or deleted at the option of the customer. If the customer/buyer decides to buy a product from the virtual office, he may print the contents of the virtual shopping store in order to obtain a hard copy record of the transaction.

When ordering goods, many shopping systems provide a virtual shopping cart for holding items selected for purchase. Successive items selected for purchase are placed into the virtual shopping cart until a customer completes their shopping trip. Virtual shopping carts may be examined at any time, and their contents can be edited or deleted at the option of the customer. Once the customer decides to submit a purchase order, the customer may print the contents of the virtual shopping basket in order to obtain a hard copy record of the transaction.

The relevant prior art existent in the field that discloses various methods of providing a marketplace online, are as follows:

Indian Patent Application No: 1295/CHENP/2008 discloses an electronic marketplace that allows owners of unused Internet domain names to lease the domain names using a bidding process. The system allows owners to monetize domain names and lessees to obtain customers who are redirected from targeted domain names.

Indian Patent Application No: 3283/KOLNP/2008 describes a method and system to operate an Internet-based exchange that offers commoditized Ad Media. The system receives the identity of Ad Media from a publisher, automatically classifies the Ad Media so as to associate the classified Ad Media with other like Ad Media and groups the associated Ad Media into buckets forming a commoditized Ad Media, which is offered for purchase or sale over the Internet as tradeable units on the exchange. The system includes a media ownership rules module, containing business rules, in communication with a media trades record module containing records of ownership interests, a classification module, an ad server registry module containing configuration information specific to a plurality of ad servers, and a tag routing module that receives ad requests for advertisements from an Internet browser and forwards the ad requests back to the Internet browser for rerouting to an ad server.

Indian Patent Application No: 3409/CHENP/2008 claims an Internet-based marketplace is provided for animals, gametes and embryos wherein a database retains specific genetic identifiers correlated to the animals, embryos and gametes. A method, an apparatus, a server and a client are provided that allow a remote user to submit a query on one or more genetic identifiers to a centralized database located on the server for the purpose of allowing a user to identify matching stock, to certify stock such as to reduce fraud, to report lost or found stock, to trade stock by either fixed priced selling or auction, and to facilitate shipment of stock. An animal can be identified and a cloned embryo prepared and shipped to the requester such as in a specialized shipping container that stabilizes the cloned embryo.

However the purpose and methodology of all the inventions that are part of prior art do not envisage an improved and more flexible connecting system in the virtual market for providing a plethora of services to the satisfaction of online consumer. There is a further need for an improved and more flexible delivery or service window capability. Additionally, there is a need in the art for a visual presentation of the stores and offices that offer their good and services online in the online shopping portal.

The present invention overcomes these problems by providing an interactive marketplace on the internet, comprising of a product and service database hardware systematically and in real time, embedded on hardware designed for the same.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the objects of this invention have been achieved by providing this present invention. Various changes may be made in and without departing from the concept of the invention. Further, features of some stages disclosed in this application may be employed with features of other stages. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the terminology of the following claims and the legal equivalents thereof.

Objectives of the Invention:

These and other objects and advantages and features of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description.

An objective of the present invention is to provide an interactive marketplace on the internet, comprising of a hardware embedded product and service database hardware through which the online interactive marketplace can be accessed through fewer series of steps.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a hardware embedded interactive marketplace on the internet, where there is no delay time in accessing a new search.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a hardware embedded interactive marketplace on the internet, where the marketplace includes a wide range of goods and services.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a hardware embedded interactive marketplace on the internet, where the full sensory experience of visiting a real store or office is provided.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide a hardware embedded interactive marketplace on the internet, where information presentation is user friendly.

Summary of Invention:

This invention may be summarized, at least in part, with reference to its objects.

Generally speaking, exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a system and process for providing an interactive marketplace on the internet through providing a product and service database hardware systematically and in real time, embedded on hardware designed for the same, in such a manner that a user interface for inputting product and service information systematically is provided to a seller / subscriber and procedures of registering the product or service are performed. When a product or service is selected by a buyer, the present invention database reflects information associated with the seller’s website or the product or service systematically and in real time.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention there is provided a system and process for providing an embedded interactive marketplace on the internet through providing a product and service database hardware.

A further embodiment of the present invention provides a system and process that involves a very convenient & comprehensive search method by using the online portal’s geographic index & product categories to locate existing online virtual offices, stores and products in any desired city in the separate web pages provided with the web links which is useful to contact the seller.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a system and process concerning general business consultancy, drafting contracts and other company services.

Yet another embodiment method of the present invention provides a system and process that included incorporation of companies.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a system and process that consists of consultation, drafting and filing of trademarks.

A further embodiment of the present invention provides a system and process that involves subscriber’s bank account verification before the website subscription account activation and allotting a subscriber number.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a system and process for resale of domain names in the online interactive portal.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a system and process that for resale of international phone numbers.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provides a system and process for networking for the website subscribers, allowing them to invite each other (the website''s subscribers) for a chain management and effective business conduct/ networking.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention provide a system and process for that enables enhanced suitability for practicing business persons and professionals to conduct business due to elaborate search tools and interactive features.

A computer system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a processor and a program storage device readable by the computer system, embodying a program of instructions executable by the processor to perform the steps for hosting the interactive market on the internet.

Additional objects and embodiments of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. These and other objects and advantages and features of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing listed below.

Description of Drawing

Figure 1 is a flow chart illustrating the working of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of particular applications of the invention and their requirements. The present invention can be configured as follows:

The system and process of the present invention may be implemented in the form of a software application running on a computer system such as a mainframe, personal computer (PC), handheld computer, server etc. The computer system may be linked to a database or various types of storage media.

The hardware includes a main server containing all advertisement information, processing and control circuitry such as microprocessor and or a Digital Signal Processors that executes sequences of instructions. The hardware may further include a a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both. Moreover, the hardware can include a main memory and a static memory that can communicate with each other. The said instructions may be embedded in a chip memory or by other means. The hardware can also include a disk drive unit, a signal generation device, such as a speaker or remote control, and a network interface device. The present invention may be connected to the other units by hard-wired circuitry or by a combination of hard-wired circuitry with software.

The present invention comprises two essential requirements for the actual functioning of the invention and they are the seller/subscriber and the buyer.

The seller / subscriber

1. Signs up - As the present invention relates to the online stores and offices, the seller who wants to do business through the internet has to sign up on the online portal made available in the web page. A subscription number is provided.

2. Gets access to a personalized control panel to customize the online virtual office & store - The seller will be provided with username and password of his choice, and after the sign up process is over he gets access to a personalized control panel.

3. Receives a subdomain or a nonexclusive domain name ( online office & store number), to access the online office (8) or store (10) - the subscriber/seller receives either a subdomain or a nonexclusive domain name (both domains are added with online office (8) or store (10) numbers and integrated with the main domain name of the website), to access the online office (8) or store (10) - the seller will be provided with a subdomain or nonexclusive domain in the personalized control panel and this will allow the seller and the buyer a direct access to the online virtual office (8) or store (10) with out the search method also the seller may use a pre-owned exclusive domain name or numbers to access online virtual office (8) and store (10), but at the same time the exclusive domain name or numbers will be redirected to the subdomain or nonexclusive domain (describe above) of the website

4. Edits and customizes the online office (8) or store (10) and uploads images & videos - After receiving the personalized domain name from the online portal the seller/subscriber can do any kind of designs works, post product or service information or can edit and customize his virtual office (8) and store (10). The product or service information may include information on a price or fees of the product or service, a category (7) thereof, image data thereof, whether an after-sale service thereof is paid or free, size or color thereof, the number thereof, a delivery method thereof and a registration date thereof and whether a gift or a point is offered to a purchaser of the product or service, a payment method of the product or service (whether a credit card or a payment by installment is available) and the like. Designing the virtual office (8) and store (10) by using and choosing different colors and shades provided in the personalized control panel and similarly editing part like editing the business and personal profile and descriptions of products and services and providing contact information such as address, phone etc., and all these newly edited items will be displayed in the online virtual office (8) and store (10). Similarly customizing the size, style and color of the fonts, rewriting of profiles, products and services, re uploading the images and videos and changing the colors and shades of online virtual office (8) and store (10) can also be done. And all these works can be done by using the demo and instructions provided in the personalized control panel.

5. Chooses desired country (4), city (5) and product category (7) - The seller/subscriber chooses the country (4), city (5) location from a provided list of countries (4) and cities (5) for online virtual office and store. After selecting the country (4) and city (5) location the seller/subscriber has to select the product category (7). The proceeding online portal offers its five main categories such as Health business education, professional entertainment and each of these categories (7) has its sub categories (6) such as doctor, lawyer, tutor, DJ, etc., to select from the listed events, the seller may select numerous product categories (7) that are relating to his business. Generally this process of choosing of country (4), city (5) and product category (7) will allow and assist the buyer/public to search effectively and also helps to locate the online virtual offices (8) and stores (10) by using the online portal’s geographic index and product categories (7). For instance if a seller/subscriber selects the country (4) of USA, the fields may be displayed as CITY (5) -NEWYORK, CATEGORY (7) -BUSINESS, SUBCATEGORY (6) -TEXTILES & PERFUMES.

Similarly when a buyer/public from India or abroad searches for textiles and perfumes in USA - NEWYORK, it will give a link to the seller/subscriber’s virtual office (8) or store (10) which would show up among the other results for online virtual office (8) and stores (10).

After subscription, the online office (8) or store (10) become viewable for the buyer / public on the online portal, however, since the sign up is free, the online office (8) or store (10) can be designed , edited and customized within the personal control panel after just signing up. After the subscription process as described above becomes viewable to public, the seller / subscriber call sell products and services, choose the payment and shipping method by mutual agreement between buyer and seller.

The seller or the subscriber can make use of the improved interactive online virtual stores (10) and offices (8). The interactive online platform provides general business consultancy (12) to the subscriber.

The present invention further facilitates general business incorporation services such as the incorporation of companies (12) in accordance with the laws of a particular country and all services ancillary to such incorporation of companies (12).

The present invention also facilitates consultation, drafting and filing of trademarks for the goods and services (13).

The present invention further provides the subscribers with services which includes subscriber’s bank account verification (14) before the website subscription account activation and allotting a subscriber number.

The present invention also offers services related to resale of domain name in the online interactive portal.

The present invention further envisages methods to offer services related to resale of international phone numbers (11).

Further the present invention provides options for networking for the website subscribers, allowing them to invite each other for a chain management and effective business conduct/ networking (17).

The buyer:

1. Logs into the online portal and searches for online office (8) or store (10) through the geographic index. The buyer also can directly access the online office (8) or store (10) with out the search method) by simply using the sub domain and exclusive domain name provided to seller/subscriber by the online portal after subscription, that can be provided to buyer / public by the seller / subscriber.

2. Selects a product or service category (7) - The online portal search enables the buyer to search for the product or service by a keyword-oriented searching method. In case that a search query is received as above, the online portal searches for a product or service corresponding to the search query and generates a search result list for the searched product or service.

After the main page the visitor/subscriber either selects the quick search method (2) or click/select one of the main 5 domains (1) on the same page. Using the quick search method (2), the first click selection leads to category (7), the second click selection leads to subcategory (6), the third click selection leads to country (4), and the fourth click selection leads to city (5). From city (5) the page will be directed to the virtual offices (8) and store (10) selection page which is the result page.

An alternative method of search offered to the visitor/subscriber is by clicking on one of the 5 main domains (1). After the subcategory (6) selection the page will be directed to the virtual offices (8) and store (10) selection page which is the result page.

3. Receives the search results for existing online offices (8) or store (10) to choose from the website home page. The selected product and office’s web link will be provided in the web pages which the customers can easily access to the link. The product which the customer buys online can be home delivered.

In future, there is a great potential for this system and process to become an organized and comprehensive search facility (online virtual offices (8) & stores (10) directory) for consumers to locate the national and international online virtual offices (8) & stores (10) that offer all the main business within the online portal.

While there has been shown and described what is considered to be preferred embodiments of the invention, it will, of course, be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be not limited to the exact forms described and illustrated, but should be constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the objects of this invention have been achieved by providing the above invention. However various changes may be made in the structure of the invention without departing from the concept of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the terminology of the following claims and the legal equivalents thereof.

Dated this 9th day of November 2009

Sd/-
N. Surya Senthil – IN/PA-736
For JUS MAXIMA LAW OFFICES
(Agent for Applicant)
To
The Controller of Patents
Patent Office
In Chennai

Claims
I Claim:
1. A hardware embedded online operative interactive market system and process thereof for maintaining portable virtual offices & stores comprising of a product and service database systematically and in real time, characterized in that a user interface for inputting product and service information systematically and procedures of registering the product or service is provided to a seller / subscriber and information associated with the seller or the product or service is provided to a buyer.

2. The interactive market as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the said search method includes a detailed and comprehensive geographic country and city index & product categories to locate the said online virtual offices, stores and products in any desired city.

3. The interactive market as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the said seller is provided with username and password of his choice and access to a personalized control panel and a subdomain or a nonexclusive domain name in the said personalized control panel.

4. The interactive market as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the said personalized control panel containing the said virtual office or store can be edited, customized and designed by the said seller.

5. The interactive market as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the said buyer can search online for the product or service by a keyword-oriented searching method whereby a search is conducted for a product or service and a search result list is generated for the said search.

6. The interactive market as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the user can obtain business advice and draft agreements.

7. The interactive market as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the said user can obtain services for consultation of trademark.

8. The interactive market as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the said user can obtain consultation regarding incorporation of companies in a specific geographical area.

9. The interactive market as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the said user can obtain advice relating to subscriber’s bank account verification before the website subscription account activation and allotting a subscriber number.

10. The interactive market as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the said user can use services of resale of the domain name and international phone numbers.

Dated this 9th day of November 2009
Sd/-
N. Surya Senthil – IN/PA-736
For JUS MAXIMA LAW OFFICES
(Agent for Applicant)

To
The Controller of Patents
Patent Office
In Chennai

Documents

Name	Date
Form-5.pdf	2011-09-04
Form-3.pdf	2011-09-04
Form-1.pdf	2011-09-04
Drawings.pdf	2011-09-04

Orders

Applicant

Section

Controller

Decision Date

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