Patent ID: 7321901

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: (a) hosting, on a server, a database of specification data of products of a plurality of different manufacturers, the product specification data in the database being arranged in a predefined product class; (b) defining, for each product class, a schema for the entry of specification data of products in the product class; (c) providing an interface comprising a tool, used by each product manufacturer, to add new product specification data into the database and to modify existing product specification data in the database, the interface tool requiring each manufacturer to use a same schema when entering and modifying product specification data in a particular product class, the interface further comprising an access control component which restricts any individual product manufacturer to view and edit only the product specification data corresponding to that individual product manufacturer; and (d) in exchange for remuneration from a given manufacturer, providing that manufacturer with query access to the given manufacturer's respective product specification data in the database to obtain the respective product specification data to use in combination with a web authoring tool and charging each manufacturer desiring to have access to the database a fee for such access.