US 8,015,264 B2Granted

Method and apparatus for ordering goods, services and content over an internetwork

AssigneeeCharge Corporation

InventorsRobin B. Hutchison, Michael T. G. Maydaniuk, George A. Fleming, Denis N. Heinrichs, P. Carl Linkletter, Iain M. Begg, Darren W. Hagman, Roberto Dominguez, Jun Huang

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Abstract

A billing system that allows a consumer to order products from computers connected to the Internet, wherein the consumer is automatically billed for the ordered product by its telephone service provider. When a product is ordered over the Internet, a plug-in component of the consumer's computer establishes an Internet connection to a billing server. A billing server component transfers an encrypted version of the product to the plug-in component. The plug-in component then disconnects from the Internet and establishes a point-to-point (PPP) connection with the billing server. During the PPP connection, the billing server component transfers an access key assigned to the order to the plug-in component so that the plug-in component may decrypt the product. The consumer is charged a unit rate or “drop-charge” for the product by the telephone service provider using a premium telephone number assigned and administered by the telephone service provider.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer-readable medium having a plug-in component containing program code for ordering a product over an internetwork formed by a plurality of computers and servers connected together, the internetwork including a billing server that processes orders for the product, wherein the plug-in component places an order for the product by:

(a) establishing an internetwork communication link with the billing server that processes orders for the product;
(b) obtaining from the billing server a transaction identifier that identifies the order for the product, and a premium telephone number for establishing a premium telephone number communication link with the billing server;
(c) disconnecting the internetwork communication link with the billing server;
(d) after disconnecting the internetwork communication link with the billing server, using the premium telephone number to:
(1) establish a premium telephone number communication link with the billing server;
and
(2) identify a telephone communication billing entity to which the order for the product is to be billed;
(e) transferring the order for the product to the billing server for processing;
and
(f) obtaining access information suitable for use in claiming the ordered product from the billing server via the premium telephone number communication link.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/567,328Filed 25 Sep 2009 · continuation
Priority: 22 Apr 1998
Published: US 2010/0017335 A121 Jan 2010
Granted: 6 Sep 2011
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification34 codes

G06Q 30/04
Commerce: billing or invoicing
G06Q 20/04
Payment architectures, schemes or protocols: payment circuits
G06Q 20/102
Specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems: bill distribution or payments
G06Q 20/12
Payment architectures: specially adapted for electronic shopping systems

Family

Application09/064,797Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 22 Apr 1998
Application09/299,156Parent of this continuation · filed 22 Apr 1999
Application09/755,657Parent of this continuation · filed 5 Jan 2001
US 2010/0017335 A1Pre-grant publication · published 21 Jan 2010
US 7,606,355 B2Parent of this continuation
Application09/299,156Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 2001/0001147 A1Published application
US 8,015,264 B2This patent

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