System and methods for electronic commerce using personal and business networks

Abstract From the Canadian patent

Electronic commerce over a publicly accessible computer network such as the Internet (51) is facilitated and leveraged by a computer system (30) that forms a community of computer user parties (53) based on personal and business connections of the parties involved. Personal connections (303) are created between users by invitation and mutual acceptance. Business connections (301) are created between users when a transaction takes place between those users. Users search (205) to perform any one or more of a variety of actions such as to purchase products, browse (207) departments and categories for purchasing products, or explore the connections (221 241) between the parties involved …