| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 705260640 | For generating comparisons | 72 |
| 20100312669 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING SEARCHES AND RETURNING RESULTS BASED ON WEIGHTED CRITERIA - A method and system are provided for comparing a focal product with several comparison products. First, selecting a focal product and several attributes relating to the focal product and the comparison products, standardizing and weighting the attributes, and determining for each weighted attribute an attribute score. Next, based on the attribute score, calculating a total score for each comparison product, and based on the total score, presenting to a user or purchaser the comparison products most relevant to the user's criteria. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20110078045 | Purchaser centered, product driven world wide web seaching and e-commerce system - Aspects of this invention in their broadest sense disclose a system for providing a purchaser specified product search engine, including providing storage circuitry comprising a database of products, storing product data in the database, receiving from a prospective product purchaser, prospective purchaser product data of a desired product to purchase, accessing the database of products and comparing the prospective purchaser product data to product data in the database, and determining a probability that the prospective purchaser product data matches product data stored in the database. In other aspects of this invention, a data processing apparatus which provides a purchaser specified product search engine is disclosed, and includes storage circuitry comprising a database of product data, processing circuitry configured to receive purchaser specified product search inquiry data, and to access the database of product data, and then to compare the purchaser specified product search inquiry data to the product data; and determining a probability that the prospective purchaser product data matches the product data stored in the database. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110082770 | User-Initiated Buyer-Vendor Match Search - A method and a system for a user-initiated vendor search are described. In one aspect, the system includes a mechanism for collecting purchase solicitations from the buyers and sale solicitations from the sellers. The purchase solicitations include information about the products/services sought by the buyers, while the sale solicitations include information about the products/services offered by the sellers to the buyers. In one aspect, upon receiving a purchase solicitation from a buyer, the system attempts to accommodate the request by matching the request for the products/services with the offers of the products/services offered by the sellers. Similarly, upon receiving a sale solicitation from a seller, the system provides the matching offers of the products/services the products/services sought by the buyers. The solicitations and the matches are advertised to the sellers and to the buyers using various schemes and schedules. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110087558 | INFORMATION EXCHANGE SYSTEM - A method for operating an electronic exchange includes receiving, at an exchange system, an offer that includes a description of information for offer and terms associated with access to the information. An offer processor of the electronic exchange stores an offer listing associated with the offer to an offer database. A matching engine of the electronic exchange searches a request database for a request listing that matches the offer listing. The electronic exchange communicates access instructions that enable access to the information to a requestor associated with the request listing when a match is found. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20120130858 | SYSTEM FOR SERVING A DYNAMICALLY RANKED LIST OF MOTOR VEHICLES - A system and method are described for collecting motor vehicle information and generating an individually ranked list from seller information, public databases and buyer inputs and behavior. The ranked list is dynamically generated and presents to the buyer a relevant result set from millions of non-relevant listings. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120203668 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ALLOWING A USER TO INTERACT WITH THE INVENTORY OF A RETAIL LOCATION - The invention relates to a system allowing a customer in a retail location to interact with the inventory of said retail location, as well as a method of using said system. The system allows for searching, sorting, and viewing the inventory information through a user device, as well as requesting, purchasing, and reserving products for sale by said retail location. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120239535 | Method and System for Demand and Supply Map/Shopping Path Model Graphical Platform and Supplying Offers Based on Purchase Intentions - Methods and systems allowing a consumer to use a graphical tool that summarizes, compares and browses multiple offers for products or services over a network or communications medium such as via the Internet. In specific embodiments, potential purchasers can make declarations to buy, which sellers can use to generate improved and customized offers. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120246030 | INFORMATION PROVIDING DEVICE, METHOD, AND SYSTEM - A device executes a program including a process stored in a storage device. The process includes obtaining possessed product information of a possessed product of a user, and usage status information which indicates usage of the possessed product, the process product information being based on a request from the user device, obtaining first product information corresponding to the obtained possessed product information and a second product information of a comparison target product, the first product information and the second product information including a content of the possessed product and the comparison target described in a plurality of items, respectively, extracting a prescribed item from among the items of the first product information and second product information based on the obtained usage status information, and transmitting the content based on the content of the first product information and second product information corresponding to the extracted item to the user device. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20130013458 | IDENTIFYING SIMILAR ITEMS BASED ON GLOBAL INTERACTION HISTORY - One embodiment sets forth technique for computing a similarity score between two digital items is computed based on interaction histories associated with global users and interaction histories associated with local users. Global counts indicating the number of interactions associated with each unique pair of digital items are weighted based on a mixing rate. The weighted global counts are then combined with local counts to compute total counts. An effective interaction probability indicating the likelihood of a user interacting with one digital item in the pair of digital items after interacting with the other digital item in the pair is computed based on the total counts. The effective interaction probability is then corrected for noise, resulting in a similarity score indicating the similarity between the pair of digital items. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130085894 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRESENTING PRODUCT INFORMATION IN CONNECTION WITH E-COMMERCE ACTIVITY OF A USER - User activity is detected that indicates a user's interest in a product. The identifier of the product is determined and used to query a remote and independent network site to obtain information about the product of information. The information about the product of interest is then displayed to the user concurrently (e.g. as a mashup) with the page or resource that displays the product of interest | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130144759 | PRODUCT PURCHASE DEVICE AND PRODUCT PURCHASE METHOD - It is possible to prevent the erroneous purchase of products with similar appearance characteristics and descriptive information. In the present invention, similar products for which the product-related image information and text information is very similar are defined and the possibility of erroneous purchase is reported to the user at the time of product selection. | 06-06-2013 |
| 20130144760 | METHODS FOR ASSISTING A PERSON IN TRANSITIONING FROM ONE DISPOSABLE ABSORBENT PRODUCT TO ANOTHER - The present disclosure generally relates to methods for assisting consumers in transitioning from a current absorbent product to a future absorbent product. Also described are transition aids for assisting in this transition. In particular, the transition aids provide a consumer with a means for comparing different characteristics of their current absorbent product with characteristics of a future absorbent product. | 06-06-2013 |
| 20130173431 | PRODUCT COMPARISON - Products that have been marked on a display as being selected for comparison with each other are counted. In response to the count being equal to or greater than a trigger number of products, a display is altered to add at least one compare link to the display. The compare link is such that when the user selects the compare link, the display shows a comparison of the products that have been marked on the display. | 07-04-2013 |
| 20130173432 | Method for Providing Real-Time Shopping Data to Computer Users - A system is disclosed in which a user's personal computer may access a variety of information regarding products and services, through a computer network, in real time. The computer network collects product/service information from various sources, such as gift stores, clothiers, computer dealers, etc. and formats the information in a recognizable manner to enable the information to be viewed by a user at the user's personal computer. The network performs a single search from a single search command from the user. | 07-04-2013 |
| 20130185175 | USE OF USER-GENERATED CONTENT TO RANK PRODUCTS - Product scores are generated for products. The product scores for the products are based on amounts of user-generated content (UGC) mentioning the products and based on how favorable the UGC is toward the products. A product comparison interface is provided to a consumer. The product comparison interface comprises product elements associated with at least some of the products. Each of the product elements comprises information about a different one of the products. The product comparison interface provides information about the product scores for the products associated with the product elements. | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130191252 | Method and Apparatus of Providing Street View Data of a Comparable Real Estate Property - Video drive-by data provides a street level view of a neighborhood surrounding a selected geographic location. A video and data server farm incorporates a video storage server that stores video image files containing video drive-by data corresponding to a geographic location, a database server that processes a data query received from a user over the Internet corresponding to a geographic location of interest, and an image processing server. In operation, the database server identifies video image files stored in the video storage server that correspond to the geographic location of interest contained in the data query and transfers the video image files over a pre-processing network to the image processing server. The image processing server converts the video drive-by data to post-processed video data corresponding to a desired image format and transfers the post-processed video data via a post-processing network to the Internet in response to the query. | 07-25-2013 |
| 20130211965 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ACQUIRING AND GENERATING COMPARISON INFORMATION FOR ALL COURSE BOOKS, IN MULTI-COURSE STUDENT SCHEDULES - Provided are systems, methods and computer programs for generating comparison information for all course books, regardless of whether or not the books are required or optional, for multi-course student schedules. Also provided are systems, methods and computer programs for transacting sales between sellers and buyers of course books and online products, wherein the sellers and buyers may be online or offline and the online products may have a standardized product identification number. | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130254072 | Collaborative System for Online Search - A collaborative real estate search is described. Overlay data including indications of properties for sale within a geographic area are provided to a first user device. The overlay data are capable of being overlaid on a map of the geographic area on a user interface. Selections of some of the properties for sale are received from the first user device and a list of those properties is stored within a folder associated with the first user. The system enables a second user device—associated with a second user who is associated with the first user—to access the list of the properties selected by the user. This includes enabling the second user device to cause information regarding the properties to be stored within the folder. The information is made available for display on a user interface of the first user device. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130290145 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MOBILE COMPARISON SHOPPING - A comparison shopping method comprising reading with a portable device a product code comprising a product identifier that identifies a product of interest located at a local store; transmitting the product identifier to a comparison shopping server computer; the comparison shopping server computer obtaining price information from a plurality of shopping server computers; the comparison shopping server computer determining the identity of the local store; the comparison shopping server requesting a local store server associated with the local store to provide a real-time offer for purchase of the product from the local store; the local store server computer calculating the real-time offer; the local store server computer sending the real-time offer to the comparison shopping server computer; and the comparison shopping server computer sending the price information from the plurality of shopping server computers and the real-time offer to the portable device. | 10-31-2013 |
| 20130311335 | USER INTERFACE FOR SMART COMPARISON - After marketplace listings are returned via a search, an indication of two or more of the marketplace results to pin and compare is received. A travel cost for any pinned local marketplace result to compare is calculated by determining a travel distance between the electronic device and the location in the pinned local marketplace result to compare and estimating a cost associated with traveling the travel distance. A true purchase price is calculated for each pinned local marketplace result to compare by adding the price for the product, the sales tax, and the travel cost. A true purchase price for each pinned online marketplace result to compare by adding the price for the product, the sales tax, and the shipping cost, these true purchase prices are then displayed side-by-side in the user interface. | 11-21-2013 |
| 20130325667 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES - Disclosed herein is a method of providing a user with one or more savings opportunities. The method comprising, gathering transaction data from a user's financial account, analyzing the transaction data for indications of savings opportunities, identifying savings opportunities from a database based on analysis and communicating the savings opportunities to the user. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130346251 | Systems and Methods for Screening and Proffering Providers of an Urgent Goods or Service - A computerized urgent goods and services fulfillment system vets a plurality of providers of an urgent service or goods (URGS) requested by a seeker. The fulfillment system includes a server and a database for storing provider profiles. Upon seeker request, the server screens the providers capable of providing requested URGS. Screening can include analysis of provider profiles, the seeker profile, proximal data and temporal data associated with the plurality providers. The server then proffers at least one screened provider selected from the plurality of providers. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20140006215 | PROVIDING TRAVEL DESTINATION INFORMATION | 01-02-2014 |
| 20140019303 | Comparison of Product Information - A method for comparison of product information based on product codes to determine the cost per unit volume per product and hereby determine the cheapest product per unit volume is disclosed herein. Embodiments herein enable the consumer to easily access the cost per unit volume of products, without putting an additional burden on the retailer or any other component in the product supply chain. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140032369 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING FITTING AND SIZING RECOMMENDATIONS - A method and system for displaying footwear information. The method and system utilize a database on a computer readable medium, the database including a plurality of footwear representations including various measurement parameters. A user inputs a selection of a reference footwear model. A footwear representation of the reference footwear model is loaded from the database along with footwear representations for a plurality of additional models of footwear. The footwear representation for the reference footwear model and the footwear representations for the additional models of footwear are compared to identify at least one of the additional models of footwear having similar measurement parameters as the reference footwear model. Additional models identified are presented to the user as a recommendation. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140040074 | Value Report Displaying Inverse Highlights - A report generator that analyzes a vehicle for sale against other vehicles in the market. Each vehicle has specific attributes that are not shared by substantially all similar vehicles, (examples of such attributes are: a low price or a low mileage (both as compared to average), a certified status, a low number of accidents reported, whether it is a late model year, a standard color, a warranty, a low number of previous owners, a sunroof, an upgraded engine, an upgraded stereo, keyless entry, heated seats, navigation, or leather seats). The report generator lists a sub-set of the other vehicles and identifies the missing specific attributes of each vehicle in the sub-set. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140149259 | CONSUMER CENTRIC ONLINE PRODUCT RESEARCH - Embodiments of the invention relate to providing online product research. Data related to an activity performed by a consumer at a first electronic commerce website is collected. The collected data includes information about a first product, and the information about the first product is stored as product research data. The product research data is associated with the consumer. It is detected that the consumer is accessing a location in a second electronic commerce website that includes information about a second product. The product research data is searched for data related to the information about the second product. The information about the first product is located in response to searching the product research data for data related to the information about the second product, and the consumer is presented with the information about the first product along with the information about the second product. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140172643 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CATEGORIZING AN IMAGE - A system and method for performing object or context-based categorization of an image is described. A descriptor for image regions, which is represented by a histogram of oriented uniform patterns, is described. The descriptor is compared to descriptors of other images to determine a similarity score that accounts for distinctiveness, reducing perceptual aliasing. Additionally, a kernel alignment process considers only the descriptors that are determined to be most informative. | 06-19-2014 |
| 20140180877 | METHOD FOR SMART RATE PLANS - The present invention relates generally to a process for determining optimized communication rate plans for one or more communications devices across one or more communications networks. The present invention provides for determining an intelligent rate plan for a user having one or more devices operative on a communications network with one or more rate plans. The present invention, in one or more embodiments provides a user of communication devices with a cost-effective rate plan solution in relation to the user's use of their devices and available cost-savings programs available to the user. | 06-26-2014 |
| 20140214624 | Method And Interface For Comparing Costs Of Vacation Components - The disclosure generally describes computer-implemented methods, software, and systems for comparing costs of vacation components. One computer-implemented method includes determining a geographic origin for a received request, selecting a plurality of proposed vacation destinations and, for each proposed vacation destination, identifying vacation information, filtering the selected plurality of proposed vacation destinations based upon at least one filtering rule based at least in part upon the determined geographic origin to generate a set of filtered proposed vacation destinations, initiating a presentation of the vacation information for the set of filtered proposed vacation destinations, wherein each proposed vacation destination of the filtered proposed vacation destinations is associated with an interactive informational element representing the proposed vacation destination, receiving a hover event associated with a particular interactive informational element, and initiating a presentation of an interactive price-date summary graph for the proposed vacation destination associated with the particular interactive informational element. | 07-31-2014 |
| 20140214625 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING PRODUCT SHOPPING - A method and a system to facilitate finding a product (e.g., camera) and corresponding product accessories are described. A list of product combinations may be retrieved from a database. Each product combination may include a product and at least one product accessory respectively supplied from one of product suppliers and one of product accessory suppliers. The list of product combinations may be ranked based on a sum value of a product value/price ratio of the product and a product accessory value/price ratio of the at least one product accessory in each product combination. A display on a machine may cause a presentation of the list of product combinations to a user. | 07-31-2014 |
| 20140236771 | System and Method for Online Agency - The present disclosure describes novel systems and methods for a customer to receive information and/or purchase a product or service while interacting with multiple vendors through a single contact/agency. The customer is able to communicate with the agency through a variety of communication modes. The agency adapts the customer's input as necessary to meet the requirements of the vendors and the agency returns information to the customer so that the customer can conveniently interact with the multiple vendors. The systems and methods allow for the customer to stop and restart the process at various points using any of the communication modes. The agency has the ability to present the customer with prospecting, sales, service, upgrades, cross-sells, and other pre- and post-purchase services at the single point-of-contact agency. | 08-21-2014 |
| 20140249964 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GATHERING ECOMMERCE DATA - The techniques introduced here provide a method of gathering ecommerce data. The techniques described here allow a system to return information about a product from several non-related ecommerce sites in response to a single search query. Using the techniques described here, a data mining system determines from the search query a product ID and retrieves from a database one or more product links that correspond to the product ID. Using the product links retrieved from the database, the data mining system traverses the links and parses the web-pages corresponding each of the links to determine up to date product information. The product information can then be returned to the application that initiated the request. | 09-04-2014 |
| 20140258043 | COMPARABLE PRODUCT MATCHING: SYSTEM AND METHOD - A method and system for matching a basis product with products in the inventory of a provider (e.g., a retailer) that have related functionality. Characteristics of the basis product may be known from its product identifier, or may be specified. Goodness scores for candidate products may be based on similarity of characteristics with those of the basis product. Availability and consumer preferences may be taken into account in assigning goodness scores. Candidates may be drawn from those in inventory having the same type as the basis product, or a type having one or more similar functional aspects. Values of characteristics may require reformatting and/or normalization to facilitate comparison. A list of candidates, ranked by goodness scores, may be prepared. | 09-11-2014 |
| 20140258044 | PRICE SCORING FOR VEHICLES - Vehicle pricing such as used vehicle pricing is improved by supplementing statistical modeling techniques with additional algorithms to accommodate factors such as geography and dealer reputation that do not readily yield to regression analysis or similar tools that might be used to characterize a population. | 09-11-2014 |
| 20140258045 | COLLECTING AND DISPLAYING PRICE INFORMATION - A service for pricing items of inventory contained in a searchable database is available for access via the Internet. Where multiple items can satisfy a consumer's request, it is typical for a service to perform an inventory search for items that match a consumer's request. When the inventory is stored in an inventory database, the inventory database is queried for the purpose of retrieving a result set which matches the consumer's request. A separate fare server database containing inventory recently known to be available, located local to the Internet server for fast and efficient access, can also be provided for performing searches related to the consumer's request. Some inventory, even though recently known to have been available, is filtered out before being stored in the fare server database and inventory is removed when outdated, no longer available or purchased. Searches that are less specific than the search performed in the inventory database based on the consumer request can be performed in the fare server database to retrieve information about similar inventory. In addition to displaying the result set from the inventory database to the consumer, a market summary can be presented to the consumer that reflects information concerning similar inventory. Information from the searches in the fare server database forms the basis for providing the market summary. A consumer is also given the option to purchase the similar inventory returned from the fare server database. As a result, a consumer is not only more informed about the market for which a purchase is being considered, but also has the additional option to purchase similar inventory. A consumer can also directly query the fare server database for flexible searching and for fast and efficient access to market information. The fare server database can be used for multiple client services. | 09-11-2014 |
| 20140279266 | System and Method for Determining Optimum Options for Purchasing Multiple Items On-Line - A system and method for searching for and/or purchasing multiple items on the Internet is provided. The system determines an optimized purchase alternative for purchasing the multiple items based on pre-defined criteria. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140279267 | Methods and apparatus for aggregating, displaying, and promoting branded commodities from multiple vendors - The present invention is related to receiving, storing, and displaying commodities, and more particularly to promoting branded commodities within a commodity search engine which may contain a great number of unbranded and branded commodities. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140279268 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ALTERNATIVE TRIP COMPARISONS AND/OR QUEUE-BASED INTERACTIONS - A method for managing travel, comprising: performing processing associated with accepting information related to options to satisfy a request for a travel service; and performing processing associated with determining how to display the options to the user so that corresponding travel information is listed side by side. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140297480 | ITEM-SPECIFIC MONEY TRANSFER METHODS AND SYSTEMS - The invention provides various systems and methods for implementing item-specific money transfers. The method includes receiving identification of an item, determining a vendor and a price of the item, and receiving, from a receiver, a money transfer request for an amount of the price of the item. The money transfer request identifies a sender. The method further includes sending the money transfer request to the sender, receiving, from the sender, authorization for a money transfer in an amount of the price of the item. The authorization includes an indication that funds from the money transfer are restricted for use only for the item. | 10-02-2014 |
| 20140304118 | PRODUCT COMPARISON APPARATUS AND METHOD - According to an embodiment, a product comparison apparatus for comparing a plurality of products includes an operation acceptance unit, a comparison table generator, and a display unit. The operation acceptance unit is configured to accept a user operation for selecting a plurality of annotated documents which include specification information items related to the products and annotations appended by a user. The comparison table generator is configured to generate a comparison table comprising the specification information items related to the products, in accordance with the user operation. The display unit is configured to display the comparison table. | 10-09-2014 |
| 20140330678 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO GENERATE A SHOPPING CART LIST - A method includes receiving user input at a computing device. The user input indicates a selection of an image at a purchasable item displayed via a first display element of a plurality display elements of a representation sent to a display device associated with the computing device. The first display element is associated with a first vendor. The method includes retrieving information that identifies the purchasable item via the computing device. The method includes querying, via the computing device, a plurality of devices associated with vendors to identify other vendors in addition to the first vendor that sell the purchasable item based on the information. The method also includes identifying, via the computing device, a second vendor of the other vendors that satisfies a condition. | 11-06-2014 |
| 20140365339 | Standardized, Commercial Real Estate "Lease Analysis Conversion and Comp Data" Platform - A method for providing service users with occupancy cost comparisons between a plurality of commercial leased properties includes the steps of: (a) defining an occupancy cost parameter for a leased property, (b) providing an interface for service users to input into a searchable database the identifying property information and the specific lease terms required to compute this occupancy cost parameter for each of the leased properties, (c) providing an algorithm that utilizes the inputted specific lease terms information to compute the occupancy cost parameter for each of the leased properties, (d) utilizing the occupancy cost parameters to create a fiduciary-responsibility-abiding (FRA) lease comp for each of the leased properties, and (e) storing in the database the FRA lease comp for each of the leased properties. | 12-11-2014 |
| 20140365340 | ENSURING APPEARANCE OF MERCHANT OFFERING IN NETWORK SITES - The present disclosure involves ensuring that items sold by a merchant appear in certain network pages. A network page is automatically accessed in a computing device. The network page is generated by a referral network site that displays at least one offering of an item by at least one competitor merchant. A unique identifier associated with the item is identified from the network page in the computing device. The unique identifier is stored in association with the item in a data store accessible to the computing device. The item and the unique identifier are included in a feed sent from the computing device of a merchant to the referral network site. The feed includes a listing of the item and a plurality of other items, wherein the item and the other items are offered for sale by the merchant. | 12-11-2014 |
| 20150012387 | DEVICE FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION, METHOD FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION, PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM STORING PROGRAM FOR SAME - An information providing device includes a specifying unit that specifies a second trading object related to a second trading object page to be compared with a first trading object related to a first trading object page to be displayed on a user terminal, a comparison unit that extracts first trading object information corresponding to the first trading object and second trading object information corresponding to the second trading object from a page information database that stores trading object information corresponding to trading objects, and compares the first and second trading object information, and a page transmitting unit that presents comparison information indicating a result of comparison to a user. The second trading object page is a webpage displayed on the user terminal prior to the first trading object page. | 01-08-2015 |
| 20150032574 | PRICE EVALUATION BASED ON ELECTRONIC RECEIPT DATA - Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems, methods and computer program products for providing price evaluation based on electronic receipt data. An exemplary apparatus is configured to: identify purchase transaction data associated with identified electronic communications between a merchant and a customer, wherein the purchase transaction data includes product level data from a transaction; receive the identified purchase transaction data, wherein the purchase transaction data is received in an unstructured format; convert the purchase transaction data from the unstructured format to a structured format; associate the structured purchase transaction data with the customer's online banking application; aggregate purchase transaction data related to a first product purchased by a plurality of customers; determine a best price available for the first product based at least partially on an analyses of the purchase transaction data; and communicate the best price available for the first product to one or more parties. | 01-29-2015 |
| 20150046292 | FACILITATING TRANSACTIONS IN CONNECTION WITH SERVICE PROVIDERS - A system according to an embodiment comprises one or more processors; and one or more memories adapted to store a plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by the processor(s) are adapted to cause the system to: receive, from a user device of a user, user input search information in connection with one or more desired items of interest to the user; determine one or more service providers or entities offering the one or more desired items based on a location of the user device; and generate comparative data for the one or more service providers or entities that provide the desired item(s) based on historical data of the one or more service providers or entities and the received user input search information. | 02-12-2015 |
| 20150058173 | SALES PROMOTION USING PRODUCT COMPARISON - Methods and apparatus are disclosed regarding an e-commerce system that promotes sales of products based on product comparisons. Some embodiments may present a marketing message that justifies a price difference between presented products based on attribute differences between the presented products. | 02-26-2015 |
| 20150058174 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DERIVING A SCORE WITH WHICH ITEM LISTINGS ARE ORDERED WHEN PRESENTED IN SEARCH RESULTS - Methods and systems for analyzing, ordering and presenting item listings are described. In one example embodiment, a search query is processed to identify item listings satisfying the search query. Then, for each item listing that satisfies the search query, a ranking score is derived and assigned to the item listing. The ranking score is based in part on a relevance score, a listing quality score and a business rules score (or, adjustment factor). Finally, the item listings are ordered, based on their corresponding ranking score, and presented in order in a search results page. | 02-26-2015 |
| 20150095197 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MINIMIZING TRAVEL COSTS FOR USE OF TRANSPORTATION PROVIDERS BY A USER - There is provided systems and method for minimizing travel costs for use of transportation providers by a user. A user may wish to travel between two locations but may not know a least costly route. Thus, travel routes may be calculated between to location to minimize the monetary cost to the user. The travel routes may be updated or reflect changes in the travel route, such as traffic conditions, tolls, or other travel condition. Additionally, the user may wish to change the travel route to reflect other stops the user may wish to make. The travel route can be updated in real time. The travel route can also be recorded and changes from an agreed upon travel route by the transportation provider may be sent to the user for reporting to a transit authority. | 04-02-2015 |
| 20150095198 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ALTERING TRAVEL ROUTES WITH A TRANSACTION LOCATION - There is provided systems and method for altering travel route with a transaction location. A buyer may wish to travel between two locations and have a least costly or most direct route with a transportation provider. Additionally, the buyer may wish to arrange a transaction location along the travel route with a merchant. The transaction location may correspond to a merchant storefront or a mobile seller. Thus, the least costly travel route may be changed to incorporate the transaction location, where the new travel route is calculated to minimize a monetary cost to the user by changing the least costly travel route with the transaction location. | 04-02-2015 |
| 20150106236 | Obtaining remote shopping advice - Various methods and systems for obtaining remote shopping advice are described herein. In one example, a method includes taking two or more media representations of items to be discussed. A parameter is selected within a social shopping app for obtaining feedback on the items to be discussed. The two or more media representations are assembled into a query within the social shopping app based, at least in part, on the parameter. The query is sent to a reviewer from within the social shopping app. Feedback on the items to be discussed is received from the reviewer within the social shopping app. | 04-16-2015 |
| 20150142609 | IDENTIFYING CLASSES OF PRODUCT DESIRABILITY VIA FEATURE CORRELATIONS - Some embodiments include a method of identifying desirable items in a category of items based on features. Other embodiments of related systems and methods are also disclosed. | 05-21-2015 |
| 20150142610 | Providing Lowest Trip Prices - Methods, systems, and apparatus include computer programs encoded on a computer-readable storage medium, including a method for providing price information. Travel preferences are received from a user for a trip including a starting location, starting travel date, destination and arrival date. At least two months are presented in a calendar, including a month associated with the starting travel date. For one or more days from the starting travel date, a price is determined that is associated with a cost of originating travel on a respective day. A lowest price is determined of a ticket to travel on a trip starting on the respective day that lasts a projected number of days equal to a proposed trip length plus or minus a predetermined delta number of days. The lowest price for each day is presented in the calendar and in a graph that includes axes representing price and days. | 05-21-2015 |
| 20150294389 | PROVIDING COMPARISON SHOPPING EXPERIENCES THROUGH AN OPTICAL HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAYS IN A WEARABLE COMPUTER - Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems, methods and computer program products for aiding with purchase inquiries through an optical head-mounted display in a wearable computer. An exemplary apparatus is configured to receive information captured by the wearable computer; transmit, to at least one database, the received information including a primary identifier and at least one secondary identifier; retrieve, from at least one database, detailed information related to the first item of interest and the at least one additional item of interest, where the detailed information is associated with the primary identifier and the at least one secondary identifier; and present, on the optical head-mounted display in the wearable computer, the detailed information related to the first item of interest and the at least one additional item of interest, in a comparison format. | 10-15-2015 |
| 20150339753 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION - A method of organizing information on products available at virtual stores on the Internet is described. Lists of prices may be displayed to the user in the form of a comparative table, one of the columns in the table including product prices. | 11-26-2015 |
| 20150356657 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTERACTION WITH A RETAIL ENVIRONMENT - A retail system configured to provide interaction between a user and product supported in a retail environment. The system includes a plurality of merchandisers, an access device, and a controller. Each merchandiser defines a product display area and has one or more light sources positioned to illuminate product. The access device has a processing system operable to select a light characteristic associated with the light sources in response to user input, and the access device is operable by a user to select a desired product. The access device is programmed to generate one or more signals indicative of the selected light characteristic and the desired product. In response to the one or more signals, the controller controls the light sources associated with the desired product to illuminate at least partially based on the light characteristic to identify a location of the desired product to the user. | 12-10-2015 |
| 20150379607 | EMPLOYING A SHOPPING LIST ON A HAND-HELD COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE AT A RETAILER - A computer-implemented process is described and includes employing a shopping list that is accessible on a hand-held communications device, the shopping list including desired items for purchasing from a retailer. The hand-held communications device is employed at the retailer to capture information associated with a selected product. The information associated with the selected product is compared with the desired items contained on the shopping list accessible to the hand-held communications device. Upon correlating the selected product with one of the desired items contained on the shopping list, the shopping list is updated to indicate the desired item has been acquired. | 12-31-2015 |
| 20160012510 | EVALUATING REAL ESTATE PROPERTIES | 01-14-2016 |
| 20160027086 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RETRIEVING AND NORMALIZING PRODUCT INFORMATION - Systems and a method for retrieving and normalizing product information are described. The method selects a normalized representation of a product. The selecting is responsive to receiving a user indication of the product. The normalized representation is based on product information that is collected from two or more suppliers and described differently by the two or more suppliers. The method further identifies a plurality of offerings for the product based on the normalized representation. The plurality of offerings includes offerings from the two or more suppliers that describe the product differently. Finally, a user interface includes information corresponding to the plurality of offerings for the product. | 01-28-2016 |
| 20160034999 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SELECTION, FILTERING OR PRESENTATION OF AVAILABLE SALES OUTLETS - Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for the filtering, selection and presentation of vendors accounting for both user characteristics and vendor characteristics, such that the systems and methods may be used by both customer and vendor alike to better match customer needs with the resource-constrained vendors with whom a successful sale has a higher probability of occurring. Embodiments may include filtering, selecting and/or presenting vendors to a user sorted by the probability that the particular vendor will possess the characteristics that appeal to a particular customer and therefore result in a large probability of sale and suppress presentation of those vendors that are unlikely to be selected by the customer since their characteristics are less consistent with those needed by the customer and, therefore, are unlikely to result in a sale. | 02-04-2016 |
| 20160063593 | MEDIA INTUITIVE ONLINE SHOPPING SYSTEM - A media intuitive online shopping system includes an electronic device and a server connected to the electronic device. When the electronic device plays a program of videos and photos, an object to be purchased is selected from an image of the program by an input device of the server. The server is caused to compare and identify a merchant from a database and to display information of the identified merchant via the electronic device. A user is allowed to enter a webpage of the merchant using the input device to select a desired object (product) to perform an online product transaction. As such, in an image of a program being watched, a desired object can be selected and purchased. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160063603 | RE-RANKING ITEM RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON IMAGE FEATURE DATA - An apparatus and method to adjust item recommendations are disclosed herein. A first image attribute of a query image is compared to a second image attribute of each of a plurality of inventory images of a plurality of inventory items to identify the inventory items similar to the query image. Item recommendations comprising the identified inventory items in a first listing order are provided for display at a remote device. A second listing order of the identified inventory items is determined based on a user preference for a particular one of the identified inventory items. At least the second listing order is provided to the remote device for re-display of the item recommendations in accordance with the second listing order. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160086248 | PRODUCT SEARCH SYSTEM AND PRODUCT SEARCH PROGRAM - There is provided a product search system including a user interface through which a target product can be efficiently searched and specified from a number of products registered in a product master with high speed while reducing work load. In a representative embodiment of the present invention, there are provided a phrase analysis unit which acquires a character string of a product name of each of the products contained in a list of the products, divides the character string into phrases by a predetermined division character or a symbol to acquire words, and sets a word satisfying a predetermined condition in each of the words to a search word, and a search word processing unit that shows the search word to the user, narrows the products contained in the list down to products of which the product names contain a search word designated by the user, and outputs the narrowed products. | 03-24-2016 |
| 20160098774 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RECOMMENDING A RETAIL LOCATION - A method and a system are disclosed for generating a recommendation of a retail location on a network-based system. For example, a system may obtain a retail location definition associated with a geographic location. The geographic location may represent the retail location. The system then builds a scan event model from product scan messages received from a plurality of scanning devices located within the geographic location. The scan event model may include one or more scan events each being associated with a product definition and the retail location definition. Next, a recommendation query from the search device is received by the system. The recommendation query may include a product identifier and a query location. The system may generate a recommendation of the retail location based on determining that the product identifier and the query location match the one or more scan events of the scan event model. | 04-07-2016 |
| 20160110793 | METHOD, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING A SENSOR-BASED ENVIRONMENT - Method, computer program product, and system of visual identification of an item selected by a person during a transaction within an environment having a plurality of items. The method includes acquiring, using a visual sensor disposed within the environment, image information that includes at least a portion of the selected item, and analyzing the image information to determine a set of possible items for classifying the selected item. The method further includes selecting, based on personal profile information associated with the person, one of the set of possible items to thereby identify the selected item. | 04-21-2016 |
| 20160171587 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SELECTING AN OPTIMIZED SCORING FUNCTION FOR USE IN RANKING ITEM LISTINGS PRESENTED IN SEARCH RESULTS | 06-16-2016 |
| 20160253734 | SYSTEM, METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIA FOR ENHANCING ONLINE PRODUCT SEARCH THROUGH RETAIL BUSINESS PROCESS AWARENESS | 09-01-2016 |
| 20160379290 | Systems and Methods for Generating Competitive Merchant Sets for Target Merchants - Exemplary systems and methods for generating competitive merchant sets for target merchants are disclosed. One exemplary method includes compiling a sample of merchants from the database of merchants based on a geographic region and/or an industry associated with the merchants; selecting a target merchant from the sample of merchants; and generating from the merchants in the compiled sample of merchants, by a computing device, a competitive merchant set for the target merchant, based on the target merchant and each merchant in the competitive merchant set including at least one transaction to the same payment account | 12-29-2016 |
| 20160379291 | CLOUD-BASED ITEM STORAGE SYSTEM - A system for storing items may include a refrigerator comprising a scanner that is positioned to scan codes from packaging of items as they are placed into the refrigerator or removed from the refrigerator, a cloud storage system that maintains a list of items in the refrigerator, wherein the cloud storage system is programmed to receive, from the refrigerator, the list of items in the refrigerator; and a trash bin comprising a scanner that is positioned to scan codes from the packaging of items as they are placed into the trash bin. | 12-29-2016 |
| 20170236180 | Method and Apparatus for a Trusted Localized Peer-to-Peer Services Marketplace | 08-17-2017 |
| 20170236181 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE, SYSTEM, AND METHOD | 08-17-2017 |
