Patent ID: 7610312
Filing Date: 2009-10-27
Classification: G06Q,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A computer implemented method for storing and managing a plurality of bills of material (BOMs) comprising: accepting information for a plurality of BOMs, each BOM describable as a tree with each node an element, each element in each BOM having an owner of a set of more than one owner, and each BOM having an owner of the set of owners; storing the plurality of BOMs in a database in a processing system; and providing access to at least some of the information of one or more of the plurality of BOMs to one or more users according to control information, control information for providing access to a particular BOM being received from an entity that is the owner of the particular BOM and/or any entity that the owner of the BOM designates, such that the providing of further access to at least some of the information of a particular BOM is controlled by the entity that is the owner of the particular BOM and/or by any entity that the owner of the BOM designates, such that BOMs associated with different owners are stored in the same processing system, wherein for each of at least two different owners, at least one of the BOMs of the respective owner includes confidential information of the owner, such that unrestricted access to the confidential information is limited to the owner of the BOM and/or to any entity that the owner of the BOM designates; and wherein the different owners need not be related except that they each have information stored in the same processing system.