The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 14, 2005
Filed:
Mar. 13, 2000
John Jacques Vittal, Lexington, MA (US);
Cynthia Grace Mills, Bedford, MA (US);
Laurence Raphael Brothers, Waltham, MA (US);
John Jacques Vittal, Lexington, MA (US);
Cynthia Grace Mills, Bedford, MA (US);
Laurence Raphael Brothers, Waltham, MA (US);
Verizon Corporate Services Group Inc., New York, NY (US);
Genuity Inc., Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
A portal switch is provided that controls participation of merchants in on-line aggregators, such as portals, used for buying and selling goods and services. Merchants may enable or disable participation in an aggregator site by turning on or off software settings. When participation is enabled, the merchant's site makes its catalog entries and merchant profile available to the aggregator. By enabling or disabling the switch, the merchant actively expresses a willingness to participate in (or, conversely, a desire to be excluded from) the aggregator.