US 7,644,122 B2Granted

Method apparatus and business system for online communications with online and offline recipients

OwnerFrank Michael Weyer, Troy Kurosh Javaherinventors

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Abstract

The present invention comprises a method, apparatus and business system for allowing on-line communications with members of a group of recipients for whom the invention has been implemented. A group may, for example, comprise members of a particular business or profession. For example, a group may consist of doctors admitted to practice medicine in the United States. Individual members of the group may or may not have existing internet presences. The invention allows online users to communicate with each member of a given group regardless of whether or not the member has an existing internet presence. In one or more embodiments, the invention does so by setting up a database of contact information for members of the group, creating an internet presence for each member of such group, creating an on-line user interface allowing a user to access the member's created internet presence, and providing means of communications between the created internet presence and the member recipient.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A method for providing individual online presences for a each of a plurality of members of a group of members by an interface server computer comprising the steps of:

maintaining a database comprising information associated with each of said plurality of members at a database system connected to said interface server computer;
allotting individual URLS to each of said plurality of members by associating an individual URL with each individual member of said plurality of members in said database system;
associating an individual home page for each said individual member of said plurality of members with said individual URL allotted to said individual member in said database system, said individual home page comprising information from said database associated with said individual member;
a first control for submitting a comment about said individual member;
and a second control separate from said first control for sending a message other than said comment to said individual member;
receiving by said interface server an online request for said individual URL from a requesting source;
providing said individual home page by said interface server computer to said requesting source.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/623,132Filed 15 Jan 2007 · continuation
Priority: 23 Nov 1999
Published: US 2007/0250584 A125 Oct 2007
Granted: 5 Jan 2010
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification16 codes

G06Q 10/107
Office automation; Time management: computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
G06F 16/951
Retrieval from the web: indexing; Web crawling techniques
G06F 16/953
Retrieval from the web: querying, e.g. by the use of web search engines
H04L 51/42
User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail:…

Family

Application09/447,755Parent of this continuation · filed 23 Nov 1999
Application10/747,881Parent of this continuation · filed 29 Dec 2003
US 6,671,714 B1Parent of this continuation · filed 30 Dec 2003
US 2007/0250584 A1Pre-grant publication · published 25 Oct 2007
US 2006/0179112 A1Published application
US 7,644,122 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.