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Method and system for controlled access to profile information for non-affiliated users over a network

Method and system for controlled access to profile information for non-affiliated users over a network description/claims

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/840,968, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLED DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION OVER A NETWORK”, and filed on Aug. 19, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/170,370, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLED DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION OVER A NETWORK”, and filed on Jun. 28, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/417,456, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLED DISTRIBUTION OF CONTACT INFORMATION OVER A NETWORK”, and filed on Oct. 13, 1999, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/104,311, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLED DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION OVER A NETWORK”, and filed on Oct. 13, 1998. The disclosures of each of these related applications are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the management and exchange of information and, more particularly, to information management and exchange over networks.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is very common today for individuals to distribute or exchange business cards with others. Normally, the distribution or exchange of business cards occurs during the course of business; however, such distributions or exchanges can also occur in more personal settings.

Business cards contain information pertaining to an individual who is normally associated with a business entity. The information on business cards typically includes a company name, an individual's name, title, phone number, facsimile number, mail address, and email address. Business cards thus record the information that is needed to not only identify but also contact the individuals represented by the business cards.

One problem with conventional approaches to distributing or exchanging business cards is that the information on the business cards often becomes outdated after their distribution. Typically, business cards become outdated when the individuals move offices, change employers, obtain promotions, etc. When the information on a particular business card does become outdated, the information no longer facilitates the contacting of the individual associated with the particular business card. The outdated information is often misleading. In general, the persons receiving the business cards cannot determine from the business cards whether the information on the business cards is still accurate.

Another problem with conventional business cards is that their distribution is manual. As a result, for one's business card to be distributed, the business card needs to be physically handed to another person. Also, when a revised business card with updated information is to be distributed, often there is no way to know who currently holds an older version of the business card. As a result, inaccurate business cards remain in circulation long after being outdated.

Thus, there is a need for improved approaches to automatically distribute and update contact information.

Broadly speaking, the invention pertains to an information management and distribution system. The information management and distribution system include a client-side application and a server application that interact to facilitate the controlled exchange of contact information over a network. The client-side application can provide creation and design, rolodex, exchange, and update features. The information management and distribution system can also include a corporate administrator application.

One aspect of the invention pertains to techniques for electronically distributing contact information over a network in a controlled manner. In one embodiment, the contact information includes information that is useful for identifying or contacting a registered user (e.g., person or entity). As an example, the contact information for a registrant can include name, telephone number, facsimile number, mail address, and email address. When the registration pertains to a business, the contact information can also include a title, business name, and a Universal Resource Locator (URL) to an associated business website. A registered user that has received contact information pertaining to another registered user can contact the registered user using the contact information.

Additionally, since contact information is dynamic and needs to be maintained, another aspect of the invention is the automatic update of the previously distributed contact information. Hence, should the contract information change after its distribution to certain registered users, then the updated contact information is able to be distributed to the certain registered users in an automated manner.

Still another aspect of the invention is that contact information can be distributed to registered users in a common format. A common format for the distributed contact information can be used to facilitate a consistent type of contact information as well as a consistent presentation of the contact information to registered users. In one example, the common format is provided by a business card arrangement. Further, the common format facilitates the association or attachment of additional information to the basic contact information. This additional information can include a wide variety of items. For example, the additional information can include text, data, hyper links, audio objects, video objects, etc. The additional information can also be used for a variety of purposes, including announcements, messages, notifications, and advertisements.

Yet another aspect of the invention is the corporate administrator application. The corporate administrator application enables an administrator to control the use of corporate (i.e., business entity) information. The corporate administrator application can include many of the features associated with the client-side application, including creation and design, rolodex, exchange, and update features. For example, the administrator may wish to update the corporate information that has been previously distributed or exchanged. In addition, the corporate administrator application can facilitate registration of employees of a business entity with the information management and distribution system. The corporate administrator application can also disable certain employees from further use of the corporate information.

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a method, an apparatus, a computer readable medium, and a computer system. Several embodiments of the invention are discussed below.

As a computer-implemented method for accessing certain profile information over a network, the profile information being stored in a database and pertaining to a plurality of registered users, one embodiment of the invention includes at least the steps of: (a) receiving a request from a requesting user specifying a particular one of the registered users whose profile information the requesting user desires to access, the requesting user and requested user being non-affiliated in the database at the time of the identification; (b) identifying the particular one of the registered users based on information contained in the request; (c) informing the identified registered user via the network that the requesting user has requested to access profile information of the requested user; (d) receiving instructions from the identified registered user via the network on whether to permit the requested access of profile information by the requesting user; and (e) thereafter providing the requesting user access to the requested profile information of the identified registered user from the database via the network in accordance with the instructions.

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