Cataloging items and relationships between items

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9589293-B1
Application number	US-201414222523-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 21, 2014
Priority date	Mar 21, 2014
Publication date	Mar 7, 2017
Grant date	Mar 7, 2017

Abstract

Techniques for cataloging items and relationships between items may be provided. For example, a computing service may be implemented to generate a description of an item and to determine a relationship between the item and another item. In addition to cataloging the description of the item, the computing service may also catalog the relationship. For example, the catalog service may generate a catalog page that may include a number of fields. Some of the fields may be used to capture the description of the item, while other fields may be used to identify the other item and a relationship type. Further, in response to a search for the item, the catalog service may return information about the item and, based on the cataloged relationship, information about the other item.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
determining, by a computer system associated with an electronic marketplace, a relationship between a parent item and a member item offered at the electronic marketplace, the relationship describing a relationship type between the parent item and the member item, the parent item associated with a first data structure that describes the parent item, the member item associated with a second data structure that describes the member item, and the relationship determined by at least:
identifying an item type of the member item based at least in part on the second data structure,
analyzing, based at least in part on the item type, the first data structure and the second data structure to determine a match between the first data structure and the second data structure, and
identifying the relationship type based at least in part on the match between the first data structure and the second data structure;

updating, by the computer system, a data model comprising the first data structure and the second data structure by at least updating the first data structure and the second data structure based at least in part on the relationship, the first data structure updated to also describe the relationship type with the member item and to identify the second data structure, the second data structure updated to describe the relationship type with the parent item and to identify the first data structure;
receiving a search request associated with the parent item;
identifying the parent item based at least in part on a match between the search request and a description of the parent item from the first data structure;
identifying, from the first data structure, the member item based at least in part on a description of the relationship type with the parent item in the first data structure;
identifying, from the second data structure, a description of the member item based at least in part on an identifier of the second data structure in the first data structure;
providing a search result based at least in part on the data model, the search result identifying the parent item in a first field and identifying the member item in a second field; and
at least in response to receiving a selection of the second field, providing the description of the member item from the second data structure and a description of the relationship type with the parent item from the second data structure.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the parent item and the member item are offered by an item provider, and wherein determining the relationship between the parent item and the member item comprises:
providing an interface to a computing device of the item provider, the interface requesting a definition of the relationship;
receiving an input defining the relationship by way of the interface; and
storing the relationship in a field of the second data structure describing the member item.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the member item comprises at least a plurality of item bundles, a particular bundle of the plurality of item bundles including at least the parent item.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the relationship between the parent item and the member item further comprises selecting a parameter based at least in part on the item type of the member item, and wherein the match between the first data structure and the second data structure is determined based at least in part on the parameter.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the item type indicates that the member item combines a plurality of items comprising the parent item into a bundle, wherein the parameter comprises an identifier, and wherein the match between the first data structure and the second data structure indicates that the first data structure and the second data structure comprise the identifier.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the identifier comprises at least one of a universal product code (UPC), a unique identification number, a title, or an attribute of the parent item.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the item type indicates that the member item comprises a generic version of the parent item, wherein the parameter comprises an attribute of the parent item, and wherein the match between the first data structure and the second data structure indicates that the first data structure and the second data structure comprise the attribute.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the item type indicates that the member item comprises a replacement part for a portion of the parent item, wherein the parameter comprises a description of the portion of the parent item, and wherein the description determines the match between the first data structure and the second data structure.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a first network document based at least in part on the first data structure and a second network document based at least in part on the second data structure, wherein determining the relationship between the parent item and the member item comprises:
tracking a usage history of item recipients, the usage history associated with browsing the first network document and the second network document at the electronic marketplace;
determining, based at least in part on the usage history, that the second network document is browsed sequentially after the first network document at a frequency that exceeds a threshold; and
setting the relationship type as a family relationship, wherein the parent item is a parent item and the member item is a member item.

10. A system, comprising:
a memory that stores computer-executable instructions; and
a processor configured to access the memory and to execute the computer-executable instructions to collectively at least:
generate a data model for describing a plurality of items and relationships between the plurality of items, the data model comprising a first data structure corresponding to a parent item of the plurality of items, the data model comprising a second data structure corresponding to a member item of the plurality of items, the first data structure describing the parent item and the relationship type with the member item and identifying the second data structure, the second data structure describing the member item and the relationship type with the parent item and identifying the first data structure, the data model generated by at least:
identifying an item type of the member item based at least in part on the second data structure,
analyzing, based at least in part on the item type, the first data structure and the second data structure to determine a match between the first data structure and the second data structure,
identifying the relationship type based at least in part on the match between the first data structure and the second data structure, and
adding one or more descriptions of the relationship type to the first data structure and the second data structure;

receive a first request for information about the parent item;
identify the parent item based at least in part on a match between the first request and a description of the parent item from the first data structure;
identify, from the first data structure, the member item based at least in part on a description of the relationship type with the parent item in the first data structure;
identify, from the second data structure, a description of the member item based at least in part on an identifier of the second data structure in the first data structure;
respond to the first reques

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Yalamanchi Aravind

Classifications

• G06Q30/0625 Primary

  by formulating product or service queries, e.g. using keywords or predefined options · CPC title

• G06Q30/0641

  utilising user interfaces specially adapted for shopping · CPC title

• G06Q30/0603

  Catalogue creation or management · CPC title