Method of and system for accessing consumer product related information at points of consumer presence on the World Wide Web(WWW) at which UPN-encoded java-applets are embedded within HTML-encoded documents

A consumer product information catalog system for operation on the World Wide Web (WWW), said consumer product information catalog system comprising:

• a database management subsystem including a relational database containing (i) a plurality of Universal Product Numbers (UPNs) uniquely associated with a plurality of consumer products offered for sale in a stream of commerce, and (ii) a plurality of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) symbolically linked to each one of said plurality of UPNs, wherein each said categorized URL points to a consumer product related information resource published on the World Wide Web (WWW) supported by the infrastructure of the Internet;
• said database management subsystem providing means for manufacturers and/or their agents to dynamically update said relational database,
• a Consumer Product Information Request (CPIR) enabling tag containing information related to the location of a computer executable server-side component;
• a first Internet information server for publishing a collection of the CPIR-enabling tags on the Internet,
• said first Internet information server with means for providing to a consumer's Web browser, HTML-encoded documents publishable on the WWW with at least one of the CPIR enabling tags embedded within one of said HTML-encoded documents;
• a second Internet information server operably connected to said database management subsystem and the infrastructure of the Internet, with means for detecting when at least one of said CPIR-enabling tags embedded in one of said HTML-encoded documents has been selected by the consumer's Web browser, and means for activating said computer executable server-side component;
• wherein said means for activating activates said computer executable server-side component, automatically executing a method comprising:
• loading and running classes so as to perform a UPN-directed search on said database management subsystem,
• conducting a UPN-directed search carried out within said database management subsystem, and
• displaying within the consumer's Web browser, program results from said UPN-directed search,
• said displaying including a GUI in the form of a menu of URLs pointing to consumer product related information resources published on said WWW and symbolically linked to the UPN corresponding to the selected CPIR-enabling tag.

An Internet-based electronic commerce (EC) enabled shopping system comprising:

• a Web-enabled client subsystem connected to the infrastructure of the Internet;
• a Web-enabled information server for serving an EC-enabled WWW site comprising a plurality of interlinked HTML-encoded documents arranged and rendered to provide an electronic store environment for a consumer when served to said Web-enabled client subsystem,
• wherein said electronic store environment presenting a plurality of products for purchase and sale by an EC-enabled payment method supported over the Internet,
• wherein a consumer product information request (CPIR) enabling tag, associated with each said product, is embedded within at least one of said HTML-encoded documents displayed on said Web-enabled client subsystem, and each said CPIR-enabling tag being associated with an executable server-side component encoded with information related to the universal product number (UPN) assigned to one said product, and
• whereby, when the Web-enabled client subsystem encounters one said CPIR-enabling tag, the associated computer executable server-side component is automatically executed, enabling a search to be conducted against a product information database hosted on an Internet database server connected to the Internet, and the results from the search displayed in a GUI served to said Web-enabled client subsystem.

A method of purchasing a consumer product over the Internet comprising the steps of:

• (a) storing on a first Internet-based information server connected to an information network, a Consumer Product Information Request (CPIR) enabling server-side component encoded with information related to a Universal Product Number (UPN) identifying a particular consumer product;
• (b) embedding a CPIR-enabling tag associated with said CPIR-enabling server-side component within the HTML code of a Web page served from a second Internet-based information server;
• (c) displaying said Web page with said CPIR-enabling tag embedded therein, on a Web-browser enabled graphical user interface (GUI) running on a client computer operably connected to said information network and accessible by a consumer;
• (d) said Web-browser selecting said CPIR-enabling tag embedded within said Web page, so as to automatically initiate said CPIR-enabling server-side component associated with said CPIR-enabling tag to execute on said information network, and request information on the consumer product identified by said UPN to be carried out against an Internet-enabled database server;
• and
• (e) in response to said request, automatically displaying on said Web-browser enabled GUI, information retrieved from said Internet-enabled database server for access and use by said consumer;
• wherein said displayed information comprises one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) pointing to one or more EC-enabled stores or on-line catalogs on the World Wide Web (WWW) at which the consumer product identified by said encoded UPN can be purchased by the consumer.

A cyber-kiosk launchable from a predefined point of presence along the HTML fabric of the World Wide Web (WWW), said cyber-kiosk comprising:

• a Consumer Product Information Request (CPIR) enabling server-side component stored on an Internet-enabled information server operably connected to an information network, and encoded with information related to a Universal Product Number (UPN) identifying a particular consumer product;
• and
• a CPIR-enabling tag associated with said CPIR-enabling server-side component, and being embedded within a Web-based document located at a predefined point of presence along the HTML fabric of the WWW;
• wherein said Web-based document is served from a Web-based information server operably connected to said information network;
• wherein said CPIR-enabling tag is selectable by a Web-browser of a consumer so that said CPIR-enabling server-side component is executed, and a search is conducted against an Internet-enabled database, and the information results from said search are automatically displayed in an independent graphical user interface (GUI) displayed on said Web-browser, and
• wherein said displayed information results comprise one or more Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) pointing to one or more information resources on the WWW, at which brand-related information about the consumer product identified by the encoded UPN can be accessed, displayed and reviewed by the consumer.

An Internet-based method of electronic commerce (EC) enabled shopping comprising the steps of:

• (a) operating an Internet information server connected to the infrastructure of the Internet and supporting the hypertext transmission protocol (http);
• (b) operating a Web-enabled client subsystem connected to the infrastructure of the Internet;
• (c) serving from said Internet information server, an EC-enabled WWW site comprising a plurality of interlinked HTML-encoded documents arranged and rendered to provide an electronic store environment for a consumer when served to said Web-enabled client subsystem,
• wherein said electronic store environment presents a plurality of products for purchase and sale by an EC-enabled payment method supported over the Internet, and
• wherein a Consumer Product Information Request (CPIR) enabling tag, associated with each said product, is embedded within at least one of said HTML-encoded documents displayed on said Web-enabled client subsystem, and each said CPIR-enabling tag being associated with a CPIR-enabling server-side component encoded with a Universal Product Number (UPN) assigned to one said product;
• and
• (d) selecting one said CPIR-enabling Servlet tag in one of said HTML-encoded documents, and executing the associated CPIR-enabling server-side component so as to automatically enable a search to be conducted against a product information database hosted on an Internet database server connected to the Internet, and the results from the search displayed in a graphical user interface (GUI) served to said Web-enabled client subsystem.