Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Electronic shopping
Reexamination Certificate
1997-07-25
2001-07-24
MacDonald, Allen R. (Department: 2765)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Electronic shopping
C705S026640, C348S014160
Reexamination Certificate
active
06266650
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention specifically relates to a mail-order shopping system utilizing a DVD as a catalog of goods and also to a DVD and an adapter both for use in the mail-order shopping system.
In a conventional mail-order shopping system, a user looks through a catalog distributed from a mail-order firm and chooses desired goods from the catalog. The user orders the goods and provides the firm with information about the desired goods such as the name of the goods (e.g., number, code, etc. assigned to the goods), the size, the color, and the quantity desired. The user also provides user information such as a membership number, a zip code, an address, a name and a telephone number. This information is provided by telephone, facsimile or mail, and then the firm delivers the ordered goods to the address specified. The cost of the goods is paid by automatically drawing money from a user's bank account, by paying money into a mail-order firm's account, or by COD (collect on delivery).
The above conventional mail-order shopping system has the disadvantage that as the goods listed in a catalog increase in number, the catalog bulks up in size and its handling becomes troublesome. Furthermore, because the merchandise in the catalog makes a one-sided impression on the user, the user often purchases goods which are different from those he or she desired.
On the other hand, electronic mail-order shopping systems using personal computers have been put to practical use in light of the pervasiveness of personal computer networks and the Internet. One method, which employs a CD-ROM as a catalog and has been recognized as an electronic publishing medium, is proposed in, e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. (KOKAI) Publication No. 5-298336. According to this method, a user chooses desired goods from displayed catalog information of the CD-ROM, and inputs goods information such as a name, a size, a color, and quantity and user's information such as a membership number, a zip code, an address, a name and a telephone number through a keyboard. Both the goods information and user's information are transmitted to the mail-order firm.
However, the conventional electronic mail-order shopping system has a drawback wherein it is based on the premise of using a personal computer and thus cannot be used by anyone who is inexperienced with computers. Moreover, because the user's information contains a variety of items are described above, it is complicated even for computer-savvy users to input the information by a keyboard for every electronic mail order.
In the catalog stored in the CD-ROM, the images of goods or of those goods actually in use, are basically still images because of the limitations in storage capacity. Utilizing the image compression coding technique such as the MPEG1 standard, catalog information of animation can be stored in the CD-ROM, but high-quality images cannot be expected using the MPEG1 standard.
For the above reasons, the tone of goods, the feel of material thereof, the feel of use thereof, etc. cannot be known exactly from the CD-ROM used as a catalog.
As described above, the mail-order shopping systems which use a CD-ROM and which require the use of a personal computer, make it difficult for those inexperienced in computers to employ the system efficiently, while still making it complicated for experienced users to input information. Furthermore, the catalog information is basically displayed by still images and, even though it is done by dynamic images, no high quality can be expected. Thus, goods information such as the tone of goods, the feel of material thereof, the feel of use thereof or the like, cannot correctly be obtained.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a mail-order shopping system capable of simple operation, without the use of personal computers, while enabling a user to acquire more exact information regarding the desired goods.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a DVD to be utilized by the mail-order shopping system.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an adapter for use in a mail-order shopping system.
To attain the above objects in the present invention, mail-order shopping is done using a DVD reproduction apparatus and using a DVD capable of recording high-quality dynamic and still images in catalog form. The mail-order shopping can be achieved by simply adding an adapter to the DVD reproduction apparatus.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mail-order shopping system comprising:
reproduction means for reproducing catalog information from a first storage means storing the catalog information of different goods, recognition information of a mail-order firm, and communication programs representing a procedure for communication from a user to the mail-order firm;
designation means for designating user desired goods from the catalog information reproduced by the reproduction means;
second storage means for storing user's information specifying a user; and
transmission means for transmitting information of the desired goods designated by the designation means and the user's information stored in the second storage means to the mail-order firm based on both the communication program stored in the first storage means and the recognition information of the mail-order firm.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mail-order shopping system comprising:
reproduction means for reproducing catalog information from a first storage means storing catalog information of different goods, recognition information of a mail-order firm, and communication programs representing a procedure for communication from a user to the mail-order firm;
designation means for designating user desired goods from the catalog information reproduced by the reproduction means;
second storage means for storing user's information specifying a user;
determination means for determining whether the user's information is stored in the second storage means;
instruction means for instructing the user to register the user's information when the determination means determines that the user's information is not stored in the second storage means;
registration means for registering the user's information in the second storage means when the instruction means instructs the user to register the user's information; and
transmission means for transmitting information of the desired goods designated by the designation means and the user's information stored in the second storage means to the mail-order firm based on both the communication program stored in the first storage means and the recognition information of the mail-order firm.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mail-order shopping system comprising:
a DVD reproduction apparatus for reproducing catalog information of different goods, recognition information of a mail-order firm, and communication programs representing a procedure for communication from a user to the mail-order firm from a mail-order shopping DVD in which the catalog information, the recognition information, and the communication programs;
selection means for selecting desired goods from among the catalog information reproduced by the DVD reproduction apparatus; and
an adapter including a memory for registering user's information specifying a user and a modem for communication between the DVD reproduction apparatus and the mail-order firm,
wherein both information of the desired goods selected by the selection means and the user's information registered in the memory are transmitted to the mail-order firm through the modem, based on the communication programs and the recognition information reproduced by the DVD reproduction apparatus.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mail-order shopping system comprising:
a DVD reproduction apparatus for reproducing catalog i
Ban Kimiyoshi
Sugaya Toshihiro
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
MacDonald Allen R.
Patel Jagdish
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
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