US 7,321,901 B1 | ||
Application service provider model for manufacturers product specification data | ||
Arnold N. Blinn, Bellevue, Wash. (US); John A. Dunning, Jr., Seattle, Wash. (US); Jun Li, Seattle, Wash. (US); and Trevor Traina, Seattle, Wash. (US) | ||
Assigned to Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash. (US) | ||
Filed on Sep. 29, 2000, as Appl. No. 9/676,365. | ||
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer. | ||
Int. Cl. G06F 17/30 (2006.01) |
U.S. Cl. 707—104.1 [707/100; 707/101] | 14 Claims |
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
(a) hosting, on a server, a database of specification data of products of a plurality of different manufacturers, the product
specification data in the database being arranged in a predefined product class;
(b) defining, for each product class, a schema for the entry of specification data of products in the product class;
(c) providing an interface comprising a tool, used by each product manufacturer, to add new product specification data into
the database and to modify existing product specification data in the database, the interface tool requiring each manufacturer
to use a same schema when entering and modifying product specification data in a particular product class, the interface further
comprising an access control component which restricts any individual product manufacturer to view and edit only the product
specification data corresponding to that individual product manufacturer; and
(d) in exchange for remuneration from a given manufacturer, providing that manufacturer with query access to the given manufacturer's
respective product specification data in the database to obtain the respective product specification data to use in combination
with a web authoring tool and charging each manufacturer desiring to have access to the database a fee for such access.
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