World wide web registration information processing system Number:7,412,434 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent A World Wide Web registration processing system is disclosed for assisting World Wide Web users in registering at World Wide Web web sites. For each such user, the registration processing system includes a long term repository for the user's web site registration information so that this information can be automatically transferred to a plurality of web sites to which the user may at time to time request to be registered. Further, the registration processing system provides the user with the capability to have a common user identification that may be used for accessing services at a plurality of web sites.<H registration, information, World, wide, web, , 7412434.html, Patent, pto, 7412434

Title: World wide web registration information processing system

Abstract: A World Wide Web registration processing system is disclosed for assisting World Wide Web users in registering at World Wide Web web sites. For each such user, the registration processing system includes a long term repository for the user's web site registration information so that this information can be automatically transferred to a plurality of web sites to which the user may at time to time request to be registered. Further, the registration processing system provides the user with the capability to have a common user identification that may be used for accessing services at a plurality of web sites.

Patent Number: 7,412,434 Issued on 08/12/2008 to Klug, et al.

Inventors: Klug; John R. (Evergreen, CO), Peterson; Thad D. (Marietta, GA)
Assignee: Registrar Systems LLC (Denver, CO)

Appl. No.: 11/032,750

Filed: January 10, 2005

Related U.S. Patent Documents


Application Number	Filing Date	Patent Number	Issue Date
10411829	Apr., 2003	7089224
09884779	Jun., 2001	6823327
09128915	Aug., 1998
08595837	Feb., 1996	5790785
60008736	Dec., 1995

Current U.S. Class: 707/1 ; 726/2; 726/26

Current International Class: G06F 17/30 (20060101)

Field of Search: 707/1-6,9-10,100-104 705/1,14,44,64-67 713/200-202 235/2-3,6-7 709/200-203,223-232

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Primary Examiner: Cheung; Mary
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Parent Case Text

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/411,829, filed on Apr. 10, 2003, and entitled, "World Wide Web Registration Information Processing System"; which is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/884,779, filed Jun. 19, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,327 and entitled, "World Wide Web Registration Information Processing System"; which is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/128,915, filed Aug. 4, 1998, and entitled, "World Wide Web Registration Information Processing System" now abandoned; which is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/595,837, filed Feb. 2, 1996, and entitled "World Wide Web Registration Information Processing System" now U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,785; which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/008,736, filed Dec. 11, 1995, and entitled "World Wide Web Registration Information Processing System"; the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties.

Claims

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer readable medium containing a data structure for storing user registration information accessible by a registration web site, comprising: at least one first data field for storing user registration information; at least one second data field for storing a user identifier; and at least one third data field for storing a user password; wherein the contents of the first, second and third data fields are provided by the registration web site to a third party web site in order to authenticate a user input directing the third party web site to perform a given action; and wherein the data structure is configured to facilitate the communication of the user registration information to the third party web site upon the third party web site communicating to the registration web site the user identifier and user password obtained from a user, and wherein the third party web site utilizes the received registration information to support the given action.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the given action further comprises a request to purchase and have physically delivered to a shipping address a good or service via the third party web site.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the given action further comprises a request to access a web page accessed via the third party web site.

4. A computer system for use in registering a user with one or more web sites comprising: a network interface configured for use in establishing a network connection with a user client node; and a network server configured for executing a registrar application program, wherein the registrar application program includes instructions for configuring the server to obtain user registration information from the user, associate a user identifier and user password with the user registration information, and provide the obtained user registration information to at least one third party web site upon the third party web site obtaining from the user the user identifier and the user password, and providing the obtained user identifier and user password to the registrar application program, wherein the user identifier and user password are utilized by the registrar application program to authenticate a request from the third party web site for the user registration information.

5. The computer system of claim 4 wherein the registrar application program includes instructions for configuring the network server to save the user registration information in a database.

6. The computer system of claim 4 wherein the registrar application program includes instructions for configuring the network server to communicate, upon user permission, the saved user registration information to the at least one third party web site.

7. The computer system of claim 6 wherein the user permission is established by the at least one third party web site communicating to the network server a user identifier and password associated with the user registration information.

8. The computer system of claim 4 wherein the registrar application program includes instructions for configuring the network server to save the user registration information in a database local to the user client node.

9. The computer system of claim 4 wherein the registrar application program includes instructions for configuring the network server to save the user registration information in a database accessible to the network server.

10. The computer system of claim 4 wherein the registrar application program includes instructions instructing the network server to provide a copy of the registrar application program to the user client node; whereupon receipt of the registrar application program, the user client node executes the instructions provided in the registrar application program to obtain the user registration information.

11. The computer system of claim 10 wherein the registrar application program further includes instructions instructing the user client node to save the user registration information in a database.

12. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the database is accessible to the network server.

13. The computer system of claim 11 wherein the registrar application program further includes instructions instructing the user client node to communicate the user registration information to the at least one third party web site.

14. A method for facilitating the communication of information used to facilitate an on-line transaction by identifying a user to a node associated with an on-line merchant, comprising: receiving, at a node having access to the information, from a node associated with an on-line merchant, a request for the information; wherein the request includes a user identifier and password provided by a user to the node associated with an on-line merchant; and communicating the information to the node associated with the on-line merchant, wherein the information includes at least basic, user registration information; wherein the user identifier and user password are utilized by the node having access to the information to authenticate a request from the node associated with an on-line merchant for the information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the information includes a shipping address.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the a request is communicated directly from the node associated with an on-line merchant to the node having access to the information.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the information includes information useful in monitoring web site usage.

18. A method for identifying a user to an on-line merchant, comprising: communicating, from a first networked node associated with an on-line merchant to a second networked node associated with an on-line registration database containing user demographic information, a request for the user demographic information which includes a user identifier and a password, wherein the user identifier and password have been previously provided to the first networked node by a user; and in response to the request, receiving at the first networked node user demographic information communicated from the second networked node; wherein the second networked node can access at least one database storing user demographic information and wherein at least one of the first and second networked nodes are connected to the Internet; wherein the user identifier and user password are utilized by the second networked node to authenticate a request from the first networked node for the user registration information.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the user demographic information includes a shipping address.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the user demographic information saved by the second networked node is user accessible.

21. A method for communicating user information to one or more computers connected to the Internet, comprising: receiving, at a server computer, identifying information from a user; associating, at the server computer, at least one user identifier and password with the information; upon a communication of the at least one user identifier from a user computer, associated with a user, to a merchant computer, associated with an on-line merchant, receiving at the server computer, from the merchant computer, a request for the information, wherein the request includes the user identifier provided by the user computer; and upon validation, by the server computer, of the user identifier received from the merchant computer, communicating the information from the server computer to the merchant computer; wherein user information received by the merchant computer facilitates an on-line transaction between the user and the on-line merchant.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the information includes delivery information.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the user identifier comprises an e-mail address associated with the user.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the user identifier further comprises a user password.

25. A method for registering on-line a first party with a third party by obtaining registration information associated with the first party from a data store associated with a second party, wherein at least a portion of the registration information is provided, at least in part, by the first party to the second party and relates to one or more users; comprising: receiving at the third party, from the first party, a user identifier and a password, wherein the user identifier and password are associated with registration information for the first party stored in the data store; requesting by the third party, from the second party, the registration information wherein the request includes the user identifier and the password; and upon validation of the user identifier and password by the second party, receiving at the third party, from the second party, the registration information; wherein each of the parties are associated with a node having an Internet address.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the registration information received by the third party comprises a street address associated with the first party.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the registration information further comprises demographic information useful in monitoring usage of at least one web site.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for assisting World Wide Web users in registering at World Wide Web web sites. In particular, the present invention provides storage and access to web site registration information provided by a user of the present invention so that, upon requesting to register at a web site that cooperates with the present invention, the user can request his/her web site registration information stored by the present invention to be transmitted to the cooperating web site.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a global communications network having a client-server model as a paradigm for communications. That is, users on client nodes utilizing so called "web browsers" navigate the WWW to access desired server nodes (known as web sites) for at least obtaining information from the server nodes such as hypertext, audio, video, virtual reality, data, etc. For many web sites, it is important to those responsible for the design and maintenance of the web sites that they be capable of accurately measuring both the number and types o users accessing their web sites. In particular, such measurements may be important in determining fees that can be charged by web site developers for building and maintaining a web site. Further, such information may be useful in determining the degree of interest in services and products by web site users. Thus, in order to obtain these web site measurements, such web sites have begun requesting that each user provide information about himself/herself prior to the web site allowing access to web site services. That is, such web sites require a user to "register" at the web site, wherein the user is required to establish a user identification (user ID) and optionally a password with the web site as well as typically provide personal information such as, for example, the city of residence or family size. However, registering at multiple web sites is burdensome for users in that it is: (a) time consuming, and (b) the user is likely to have different user Ids at different web sites, thus requiring a user to maintain a list of user Ids (and optionally passwords) for the web sites to which he/she is registered.

Therefore, it would be advantageous to alleviate many of the above difficulties by automating the registration process at web sites so that users may register at a single web site and use the information provided at this web sited to more easily register at other web sites.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention is a registration information processing system for the World Wide Web that substantially automates the user registration process at web sites. The registration system of the present invention includes a World Wide Web registration web site wherein a user accessing the World Wide Web can utilize this web site as a repository for registration information so that the user can request this registration information to be transmitted substantially automatically to another web site to which the user desires to register. Furthermore, the present invention provides the user with a common user ID, and optionally common password, that can be used to access a plurality of web sites so that there are fewer web site user IDs and passwords for the user to remember. Additionally, the present invention may establish the common user ID (and optionally password) through user input such that the user may request a candidate user ID (and optionally password) and, if acceptable, the candidate user ID becomes the common user ID. However, if the candidate user ID is unacceptable (e.g., because it is a duplicate of another user's common user ID), then the present invention provides the user with one or more alternatives for the common user ID (and optionally password) that the user may accept or reject. Further, note that whenever possible the present invention provides the user with alternative common user Ids wherein the alternatives are derived from the candidate user ID provided by the user.

The registration information processing system of the present invention has a first embodiment using a first system architecture wherein a user need not have any modules specific to the present invention loaded on his/her World Wide Web client node. In this embodiment, once the user has provided registration information to the registration web site of the present invention, when the user subsequently requests to register at a new web site cooperating with the registration process of the present invention, then the user provides this new web site with a user ID and optionally password (e.g., the above-mentioned common user ID) for the registration web site of the present invention together with an indication that any further information may be obtained from the registration web site. The new web site subsequently is able to automatically retrieve the user's registration information from the registration web site and register the user at the new web site. In a second embodiment of the present invention having a second architecture, World Wide Web client nodes have registration modules for the present invention loaded on them so that these nodes may interact with the registration web site for providing user registration information to cooperating web sites to which the user requests to register. In this second embodiment of the present invention, the user's registration information is stored both locally on the user's client node and at the registration web site, the web site being used as a backup. Thus, when the user desires to register at a new web site, the user's registration information is provided to the web site from the registration module residing on the user's client node.

In either embodiment, the present invention may also provide a "mass" registration capability, wherein a user may request that the present invention automatically register the user at a plurality of web sites. For example, the user may be provided with a capability to search for web sites cooperating with the present invention by, for example, category and request an automatic registration at multiple web sites substantially simultaneously.

Other features and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description with the accompanying figures contained hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the web site registration information processing system of the present invention, wherein this system is shown in the context of its connections to various nodes of the World Wide Web;

FIGS. 2A and 2B provide a flowchart for describing the steps performed when a user of the World Wide Web explicitly contacts the registrar web site 100 of the present invention for supplying registration information to be used in registering at third party web sites 116;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart presenting the steps a user of the World Wide Web performs when entering web site registration information into fill-out forms that are to be submitted to the registrar web site 100 of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B present a flowchart for the steps performed when a user of the World Wide Web accesses a third party web site 116, cooperating with the present invention, and in the process of registering at the third party web site the user is automatically put in contact with the registrar web site 100 of the present invention so that registration information may be provided to the present invention for registering the user at the present third party web site as well as other third party web sites that the user may subsequently request;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the steps performed by the present invention when transferring user registration information from the registrar web site 100 to a third party web site 116 to which the user has requested to register;

FIGS. 6A and 6B provide a flowchart of the steps performed when supplying a third party web site 116 with registration information from the registrar web site 100, assuming that the third party web site has requested such information and that the request has been authenticated at the registrar web site 100;

FIG. 7 presents a flowchart of the steps performed by the present invention when supplying a third party web site 116 with user registration information from the user registration information database 144;

FIG. 8 presents a flowchart of the steps performed when storing in the user registration information database 144 a user's ID (and optionally password) relating to a third party web site 116 to which the user is registered via using the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the steps performed when registering at a third party web site 116 using the module 156 of the present invention installed on the user's client node 108;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the steps performed when the registration module 156 on the user's client node is utilized in supplying a third party web site 116 with registration information;

FIGS. 11A and 11B present a flowchart of the steps performed when a World Wide Web user of the present invention changes his/her registration information stored in the present invention;

FIGS. 12A and 12B present a flowchart of the steps performed when the architecture of the present invention includes the registration module 156 provided at the user's client node 108 and the user requests to enter registration information into the present invention using this module; and

FIGS. 13A and 13B provide a flowchart of the steps performed when a World Wide Web user requests a user ID for the registration information processing system of the present invention and the present invention includes module 156 on the user's client node 108.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a web site registration information processing system of the present invention, (hereinafter also denoted by the name "registrar") wherein this system is shown in the context of its connections to various nodes of the World Wide Web (WWW). In a first embodiment, a web site, denoted the registrar web site 100, provided by the present invention, is connected to the World Wide Web 104 for communicating with both World Wide Web client nodes such as WWW client node 108, and with other web sites such as third party web site 116, wherein the registrar web site 100 facilitates the registration of a user at a WWW client node 108 when this user desires to register at the third party web site 116. In this first embodiment, the user accesses the World Wide Web 104 through a WWW browser 120 on a WWW client node 108 wherein, to use the registration facilities of the registrar web site 100 for registering the user at a one or more third party web sites 116, the user must in some manner request explicit access to the registrar web site 100 for registering his/her registration information to the registrar web site 100. Additionally, in this first embodiment of the present invention, the WWW client node 108 need not have executable program modules designed specifically for interfacing with the registrar web site 100. That is, substantially any conventional World Wide Web browser may be used as the WWW browser 120.

Thus, the first embodiment of the present invention may be described as follows. In order for a user to register at one or more third party web sites 116, the user at a WWW client node 108 accesses the World Wide Web 104 and in a first scenario explicitly navigates through the World Wide Web 104 to the registrar web site 100 wherein a registrar web site 100 home page is communicated back to the user's WWW browser 120. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, program modules 128 (hereinafter denoted "registrar applications") output, to a World Wide Web network server 132, information in, for example, a hypertext markup language (HTML) related to capabilities of the registrar web site 100 in assisting the user in registering at third party web sites 116. Such outputs from registrar applications 128, are subsequently transmitted, via the network server 132 and the network interface 136, to the user's WWW browser 120 in the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), as one skilled in the art will appreciate. Thus, upon presentation of the registrar web site 100 home page on the user's WWW client node 108, the user subsequently may request to provide registration information to the registrar web site 100 so that he/she can have this information at the registrar web site 100 automatically transferred to a third party web site 116 when the user is requested to register at such a third party web site. Subsequently, after the user's request to supply registration information is transmitted to the registrar web site 100 (via World Wide Web 104, network interface 136 and network server 132), the registrar applications 128 receive the request and output to the user's WWW browser 120 one or more "web pages" having fill-out forms to be presented to the user via the WWW browser 120. Thus, upon submittal of the filled out forms by the user to the registrar web site 100 (more precisely, the registrar applications 128), the user's registration information is stored in the user registration information database 144.

Following the above registration procedure at the registrar web site 100, the user may then substantially automatically register at various third party web sites 116 that are affiliated with the registrar web site 100 in that an agreement has been reached between each such third party web site 116 and the registrar web site 120 for transmitting a user's registration information to the third party web site 116 when, for example, the user requests such transmittal. Thus, assuming the user accesses the third party web site 116 and, for example, the home page for the third party web site 116 includes a form field allowing the user to specify that the user's registration information is stored and accessible at the registrar web site 100, then the user can submit a response, via the World Wide Web 104, to the third party web site 116 indicating that the user's registration information should be obtained from the registrar web site 100. Thus, the third party web site 116 requests and receives the user's registration information from the registrar web site 100 and stores the user's registration information in registration information database 148 directly accessible by the third party web site 116. Additionally note that when the registrar web site 100 receives a request from the third party web site 116 for user registration information, a registrar application 128 records the request for the user's registration information in a registrar access log data base 152. Thus, the registrar web site 100 maintains a log of the third party web sites requesting registration information. Further, such third party web sites 116 may periodically provide the registrar web site 100 with information related to the frequency that users registered at the registrar web site 100 have accessed the third party web sites 116. Therefore, by also storing this information, for example, in the registrar access log 152, the registrar web site 100 is able to determine the frequency and type of access of third party web sites 116 by users.

In a second method of using the first embodiment of the present invention, instead of the user explicitly navigating the World Wide Web 104 to the registrar web site 100 for providing registration information, the user may instead access a third party web site 116 wherein the home page or registration page for the third party web site includes input fields allowing the user to request that the registrar web site 100 automatically be accessed so that the user can enter web site registration information at the registrar web site 100 and subsequently use the registration information provided to the registrar web site 100 for automatically registering at the third party web site 116 (as well as other third party web sites that may be subsequently requested). That is, the newly entered registration information is transferred to the third party web site 116 by entering into a registrar specific portion of the registration form for the third party web site 116 a registrar user identification and optionally a password for requesting that the third party web site access the registrar web site 100 to obtain the user's registration information. Thus, the user's registration information automatically is communicated to the third party web site 116 without the user explicitly having to navigate the World Wide Web 104 and access the registrar web site 100 to register his/her web site registration information.

Note that alternative embodiments are within the scope of the present invention, wherein program modules for the present invention are distributed so that there is an executable module provided on the user's WWW client node 108 for communication with the registrar web site 100 as well as with third party web sites 116 that accept registration information from the present invention. In one embodiment of such a distributed architecture for the present invention, a registrar registration module 156 is integrated into the user's WWW browser 120 for gathering the user's web site registration information and communicating with the registrar web site 100 as well as cooperating third party web sites 116 at which the user desires to register. Such a registration module 156 may provide the user with easier access to his/her registration information since the information resides locally on the user's WWW client node 108 in a persistent nonvolatile storage. Further, the registrar registration module 156 may be activated for entering or updating user registration information without the user necessarily being connected to the World Wide Web 104. Moreover, by integrating the registrar registration module 156 into the user's WWW browser 120, the user is presented with an integrated set of functions for registering and accessing third party web sites 116.

Thus, in such distributed architectures, after the user has entered registration information into the registrar registration module 156, this module will substantially automatically contact the registrar web site 100 (via the World Wide Web 104) and thereby communicate the user's registration information to the registrar web site 100 so that, for example, the user's registration information may be reliably stored in case there are failures at the user's WWW client node 108. Thus, to access a third party web site 116 that cooperates with the registrar for registering the user, once the user has made contact through the World Wide Web 104 with such a third party web site 116, the user transfers his/her registration information from the registration module 156 to the third party web site. Further note that in the registration process of the present embodiment, whenever the user registers at a third party web site 116, the registrar web site 100 is provided, by (for example) the module 156, with information related to the registration so that the user also has a off-site backup copy of all registrations at third party web sites residing at the registrar web site 100.

Note that other distributed architectures for the present invention are also contemplated wherein the registrar registration module 156 on the user's WWW client node 108 is not integrated with the user's WWW browser 120. In such an embodiment, the user may be faced with a different user interaction technique for the module 156 than that of the WWW browser 120. However, the user is provided with added flexibility in choosing a WWW browser 120 and/or using his/her existing browser 120 which may not contain as part of the browser the registrar registration module 156.

In FIGS. 2A and 2B, a flowchart is presented describing the steps performed when the user explicitly navigates the World Wide Web 104 to contact the registrar web site 100 for supplying registration information. Accordingly, assuming the user contacts the registrar web site 100, in step 204 the web site 100 receives the user's request for information. Subsequently, in step 208 the registrar web site 100 responds with a home page describing the registrar services, a selection or browsing capability for reviewing third party web sites 116 accepting registrar registrations, and a fill-out form so that the user may request to proceed, if desired, with entering registration information at the registrar web site 100. In step 212 the user determines whether to proceed with the registration process or not. Assuming the user elects to proceed, the request to proceed is transferred back to the registrar web site 100 wherein a registrar application 128 examines the response and outputs a fill-out form that is transmitted back to the user's WWW browser 120 so that the user may enter his/her registration information and submit it to the registrar web site 100. Thus, in step 216 the steps of the flowchart of FIG. 3 are performed by the user when entering information into the registration fill-out form provided by th