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:
May. 18, 2010
Filed:
Sep. 12, 2001
Hiroshi Kitada, Tuckahoe, NY (US);
Shogo Hyakutake, Boonton Township, NJ (US);
Hiroaki Ishizuka, San Jose, CA (US);
Minoru Aoshima, Edgewater, NJ (US);
Akio Kizawa, Ridgewood, NJ (US);
Hiroshi Kitada, Tuckahoe, NY (US);
Shogo Hyakutake, Boonton Township, NJ (US);
Hiroaki Ishizuka, San Jose, CA (US);
Minoru Aoshima, Edgewater, NJ (US);
Akio Kizawa, Ridgewood, NJ (US);
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Ricoh Americas Corporation, West Caldwell, NJ (US);
Abstract
A method, system and computer program product for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs). The method on which the system and computer readable medium are based includes receiving an ASP service request from a remote user, forwarding the ASP service request to an ASP, receiving a service bill from the ASP, and incorporating the service bill into a unified bill and issuing the unified bill to the remote user. Calculating the ASP fee may include determining a discount offered by the ASP. The discount offered by the ASP may be determined on a customer by customer basis or based on a volume usage of a document management system providing access to the ASP for a plurality of users. The accuracy of the service bill from the ASP may be verified, and a discrepancy between a calculated fee and the billing amount may be determined, and negotiations undertaken with the ASP to resolve the discrepancy. Whether the user pays the bill issued may also be monitored.