Method for configuring and conducting exchanges over a network

• US 20010042041A1
• Filed: 03/28/2001
• Published: 11/15/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: @TheMoment, Inc.
• Original Assignee: @TheMoment, Inc.
• Inventors: Gokhale, Makarand R., Mount, John Arnold, Eldridge, Lonnie Jackson, Moshal, David Clive, Lenz, Michael Ames
• Application Number:
  US09/821,706
• Publication Number:
  US 20010042041A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A plurality of exchanges are conducted over a network between a set of sellers and a set of bidders. The set of sellers includes at least a first seller on a first terminal coupled to the network. The set of bidders includes at least a first bidder on a second terminal coupled to the network. Each exchange is conducted to determine a transactional value of an item. A plurality of parameters are identified with each of the plurality of requests to configure the exchange according to a combination of instructions.

Claims

1. A method for conducting a plurality of electronic exchanges over a network, each exchange being conducted between a set of sellers and a set of bidders, the set of sellers including at least a first seller on a first terminal coupled to the network, the set of bidders including at least a first bidder on a second terminal coupled to the network, each exchange being conducted to determine a transactional value of an item, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests, each request being made to initiate one of the plurality of exchanges;

identifying a plurality of parameters selected with each of the plurality of requests;

identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests, for each exchange, the instruction set determining whether the set of sellers are to make ask offers for the set of bidders, and whether the set of bidders are to make bid offers for the set of sellers; and

conducting each of the plurality of exchanges according to the instruction set determined by the plurality of parameters to determine the transactional value of the item for each exchange.

2. The method of

claim 1

, wherein for each exchange, identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests includes identifying a first instruction set determining whether an initial offer for the item is to be an ask offer or a bid offer, and whether one or more subsequent offers to the initial offer are to each be a subsequent ask offer or a subsequent bid offer.

3. The method of

claim 1

, wherein identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests includes identifying the first instruction set designating that only bid offers are to be accepted, that only ask offers are to be accepted, or that a combination of ask offers and bid offers are to be accepted.

4. The method of

claim 3

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, identifying a first instruction set designating that ask offers and bid offers are to be made independently until one of the ask offers is selected as a match for one of the bid offers.

5. The method of

claim 3

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, identifying a first instruction set designating that ask offers and bid offers are to be made in response to other offers.

6. The method of

claim 3

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests includes designating the transactional value of the item for each exchange upon an ask offer being acceptable by one of the bidders in the set of bidders.

7. The method of

claim 3

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests includes designating the transactional value of the item for each exchange upon an ask offer being selected to match one of the bid offers.

8. The method of

claim 6

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, designating the transactional value of the item for the exchange as being the ask offer that is acceptable by one of the bidders in the set of bidders.

9. The method of

claim 6

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, designating the transactional value of the item for the exchange as being a submitted ask offer other than the ask offer that is acceptable by one of the bidders in the set of bidders.

10. The method of

claim 6

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, designating the transactional value of the item to be less than the ask offer that is acceptable by one of the bidders in the set of bidders.

11. The method of

claim 6

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, designating the transactional value of the item to be greater than the ask offer that is acceptable by one of the bidders in the set of bidders.

12. The method of

claim 3

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests includes designating the transactional value of the item for each exchange upon a bid offer being accepted by one of the sellers in the set of sellers.

13. The method of

claim 3

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests includes designating the transactional value of the item for each exchange upon a bid offer being selected to match one of the ask offers.

14. The method of

claim 12

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, designating the transactional value of the item for the exchange as being the bid offer that is acceptable by one of the sellers in the set of sellers.

15. The method of

claim 12

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, designating the transactional value of the item for the exchange as being a submitted bid offer other than the bid offer that is acceptable by one of the sellers in the set of sellers.

16. The method of

claim 15

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, designating the transactional value of the item for the exchange as being a submitted bid offer that is less than the bid offer that is acceptable by one of the sellers in the set of sellers.

17. The method of

claim 16

, wherein for one or more of the plurality of exchanges, designating the transactional value of the item for the exchange as being a submitted bid offer that is greater than the bid offer that is acceptable by one of the sellers in the set of sellers.

18. The method of

claim 3

, further comprising identifying the first instruction set specifying whether the set of sellers sequentially enter a plurality of ask offers until at least one of the bidders in the set of bidders accepts the ask offer.

19. The method of

claim 18

, further comprising identifying the first instruction set specifying whether the plurality of ask offers sequentially entered by the set of sellers are to decrease in value until at least one of the bidders in the set of bidders accepts one of the ask offers sequentially entered.

20. The method of

claim 18

, further comprising identifying the first instruction set specifying whether the plurality of ask offers sequentially entered by the set of sellers are to increase in value until at least one of the bidders in the set of bidders accepts one of the ask offers sequentially entered.

21. The method of

claim 17

, wherein at least one of the bidders in the set of bidders accepts one of the ask offers by signaling a bid offer that matches the acceptable ask offer.

22. The method of

claim 1

, wherein the instruction set comprises a combination of instructions, each of the instructions being interchangeable amongst a plurality of instruction sets.

23. The method of

claim 22

, wherein conducting each of the exchanges includes concurrently conducting each of the exchanges according to the instruction set identified by the selected parameters for that exchange.

24. The method of

claim 23

, wherein conducting the first exchange according to the first instruction set includes designating the first offer and all subsequent offers for the first exchange to be made from the set of sellers, wherein conducting the second exchange according to the second instruction set includes designating the first offer and all subsequent offers for the second exchange to be made from the set of bidders.

25. The method of

claim 24

, wherein conducting each of the plurality of exchanges includes conducting a third exchange according to a third instruction set, the third instruction set designating that the transactional value of the item is to be equal to an offer submitted by one of either the set of sellers or the set of bidders and acceptable to the other of the set of sellers or the set of bidders.

26. The method of

claim 25

, wherein the third instruction set designates that the transactional value of the item is to be less than the acceptable offer.

27. The method of

claim 22

, wherein conducting the plurality of exchanges includes conducting ten or more exchanges concurrently, at least three of the plurality of exchanges being conducted according to one of at least three combinations of instructions.

28. The method of

claim 1

, wherein identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests further comprises, for at least one of the plurality of exchanges, identifying a first instruction in the first instruction set from one of the selected parameters designating a time period for initiation of a match state.

29. The method of

claim 1

, wherein identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests further comprises, for at least one of the plurality of exchanges, identifying a first instruction in the first instruction set from one of the selected parameters indicating a sequence for receiving ask offers, a sequence for receiving bid offers, or a sequence for receiving a combination of ask offers and bid offers.

30. The method of

claim 29

, wherein identifying an instruction set based on parameters selected with each of the plurality of requests includes designating an ask period in which each ask offer can be replaced by another ask offer, and designating a bid period in which each bid offer can be replaced by another bid offer.

31. The method of

claim 30

, further comprising identifying an instruction from one of the selected parameters to designate the ask period to be greater than or less than the bid period.

32. The method of

claim 1

, further comprising identifying a size of the set of sellers based on the plurality of parameters.

33. The method of

claim 1

, further comprising identifying a size of the set of bidders based on the plurality of parameters.

35. The method of

claim 27

, wherein designating from the plurality of parameters a permissible origination for each of the offers includes designating an origination for an initial offer in the plurality of offers as being from the set of sellers.

36. The method of

claim 35

, wherein designating from the plurality of parameters a permissible origination for each of the offers includes designating an origination for a subsequent offer to the initial offer as being from the set of bidders.

37. The method of

claim 35

, wherein designating from the plurality of parameters a permissible origination for each of the offers includes designating an origination for a subsequent offer to the initial offer as being from the set of sellers.

34. A method for conducting a plurality of electronic exchanges over a network, each exchange being conducted between a set of sellers and a set of bidders, the set of sellers including at least a first seller on a first terminal coupled to the network, the set of bidders including at least a first bidder on a second terminal coupled to the network, each exchange being conducted to determine a transactional value of an item, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests, each request being made to initiate one of the plurality of exchanges in which a plurality of offers are used to determine the transactional value;

identifying a plurality of parameters selected by the first seller or the first bidder for each of the plurality of exchanges;

for each of the plurality of exchanges;

designating from the plurality of parameters a permissible origination for each offer in a plurality of offers as being from at least one of the set of sellers or from at least one of the set of bidders;

designating from the plurality of parameters a permissible origination for responding to at least one of the plurality of offers as being from one of the set of sellers or from at least one of the set of bidders;

receiving the plurality of offers, each offer being received from the origination designated for that offer; and

providing each of the plurality of offers to the origination designated for responding to that offer.

38. The method of

claim 34

, further comprising providing each of the plurality of offers to the origination designated for responding to that offer until the origination for responding to one of the plurality of offers signals a communication for accepting that offer.

39. The method of

claim 38

, further comprising determining the transactional value of the item using the offer accepted by the communication.

40. The method of

claim 39

, wherein determining the transactional value of the item includes using a value of the offer accepted by the communication as the transactional value of the item.

41. The method of

claim 39

, wherein determining the transactional value of the item includes using a value of a submitted offer in the plurality of offers as the transactional value, the submitted offer being different than the accepted offer.

42. The method of

claim 41

, wherein determining the transactional value of the item includes averaging a value of a submitted offer other than the accepted offer with a value of the accepted offer to determine the transactional value.

43. The method of

claim 42

, wherein determining the transactional value of the item includes averaging a value of a submitted bid offer with a submitted ask offer, wherein one of the submitted bid offer and the submitted ask offer is the accepted offer.

44. The method of

claim 41

, wherein determining the transactional value of the item includes using a value of an offer submitted previous to or after the accepted offer.

45. The method of

claim 41

, wherein the transactional value is less than the accepted offer.

46. The method of

claim 34

, wherein the origination for each of the offers in the plurality of offers is from one or more of sellers in the set of sellers.

47. The method of

claim 34

, wherein the origination for each of the offers in the plurality of offers is from one of the bidders in the set of bidders.

48. The method of

claim 34

, further comprising designating from the plurality of parameters a sequence for the plurality of offers according to a value for each offer.

49. The method of

claim 48

, further comprising designating the sequence of offers so that the value of each sequential offer in the plurality of offers increases.

50. The method of

claim 48

, further comprising designating the sequence of offers so that the value of each sequential offer in the plurality of offers decreases.

51. A method for conducting a plurality of electronic exchanges over a network, each exchange being conducted between a set of sellers and a set of bidders, the set of sellers including at least a first seller on a first terminal coupled to the network, the set of bidders including at least a first bidder on a second terminal coupled to the network, each exchange being conducted to determine a transactional value of an item, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests, each request being made to initiate one of the plurality of exchanges;

identifying a plurality of parameters selected by the first seller or the first bidder for each of the plurality of exchanges being initiated by one of the plurality of requests;

for each of the plurality of exchanges;

receiving a sequence of offers comprising at least a first offer from at least one of the set of sellers and the set of bidders; and

for each offer in the sequence of offers, designating from the plurality of parameters a direction of increase of decrease for a value of a subsequent offer relative to a value of that offer in the sequence of offers.

52. The method of

claim 51

, wherein for each offer in the sequence of offers, designating from the plurality of parameters an origination for each offer in the sequence of offers as being from the set of sellers or from the set of bidders.

53. The method of

claim 51

, wherein for each offer in the sequence of offers, designating from the plurality of parameters a size for the set of sellers.

54. The method of

claim 51

, wherein for each offer in the sequence of offers, designating from the plurality of parameters a size for the set of bidders.

55. The method of

claim 51

, wherein for each offer in the sequence of offers, designating from the plurality of parameters a time period for conducting a match state in which the transactional value of the item is determined from the sequence of offers.

56. A method for conducting a plurality of electronic exchanges over a network, each exchange being conducted between a plurality of traders, each trader on a terminal coupled to the network, each exchange being conducted to determine a transactional value of an item, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests, each request being made to initiate one of the plurality of exchanges;

identifying a plurality of parameters selected with each of the plurality of requests;

identifying an instruction set for each exchange based on the parameters selected with each of the requests, for each exchange, the instruction set designating a size of a set of sellers in the plurality of traders and a size of a set of bidders in the set of bidders; and

conducting each of the plurality of exchanges according to an instruction set determined by the plurality of parameters to determine the transactional value of the item for each exchange.

57. The method of

claim 56

, further comprising identifying the instruction set designating the size of the set of sellers to be larger than the size of the set of bidders.

58. The method of

claim 56

, further comprising identifying the instruction set designating the size of the sellers to be of an order of magnitude of the size of the bidders.

59. The method of

claim 57

, further comprising identifying the instruction set designating the size of the set of sellers to be a plurality of sellers, and the size of the set of bidders to be a single bidder.

60. The method of

claim 56

, further comprising identifying the instruction set designating the size of the set of bidders to be larger than the size of the set of sellers.

61. The method of

claim 60

, further comprising identifying the instruction set designating the size of the bidders to be an order of magnitude larger than the size of the sellers.

62. The method of

claim 60

, further comprising designating the size of the sellers to be a single seller.

63. A method for conducting a plurality of electronic exchanges over a network, each exchange being conducted between a plurality of traders, the plurality of traders comprising a set of sellers and a set of bidders, each of the plurality of traders being on a terminal coupled to the network, each exchange being conducted to determine a transactional value of an item, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests, each request being made by one of the plurality of traders to initiate one of the plurality of exchanges;

identifying a plurality of parameters selected by at least one of the plurality of traders for each of the plurality of exchanges;

for each of the plurality of exchanges;

designating from the plurality of parameters a permissible size for the set of sellers and a permissible size for the set of bidders;

receiving the plurality offers from the traders; and

determining the transactional value of the item for each of the exchanges using the plurality of offers received for each of the exchanges.

64. The method of

claim 63

, further comprising designating from the plurality of parameters an origination for each of a plurality of offers as being from the set of sellers or from the set of bidders.

65. The method of

claim 64

, further comprising receiving the plurality of offers according to the origination determined by the plurality of parameters.

66. The method of

claim 65

, wherein determining the transactional value of the item includes matching an ask offer in the plurality of offers originating from the set of sellers to a bid offer in the plurality of offers originating from the set of bidders.

67. The method of

claim 63

, further comprising designating from the plurality of parameters the permissible size for the set of sellers as being less than the permissible size for the set of bidders.

68. The method of

claim 64

, further comprising designating the origination for each of the plurality of offers as being either entirely from the set of sellers or from the set of bidders.

69. The method of

claim 64

, further comprising designating the origination for each of the plurality of offers for each exchange as being one of ask offers from the set of sellers, or bid offers from the set of bidders, and then matching one of the ask offers with one of the bid offers to determine the transactional value of the item for each exchange.

70. A method for conducting a plurality of electronic exchanges over a network, each exchange being conducted between a plurality of traders, the plurality of traders comprising a set of sellers and a set of bidders, each of the plurality of traders being on a terminal coupled to the network, each exchange being conducted to determine a transactional value of an item, the method comprising

receiving a plurality of requests, each request being made by one of the plurality of traders to initiate one of the plurality of exchanges;

identifying a plurality of parameters selected by at least one of the plurality of traders for each of the plurality of exchanges;

for each of the plurality of exchanges;

designating a settlement criteria for selecting an offer in a plurality of offers in determining the transactional value of the item;

receiving the plurality of offers; and

determining the transactional value of the item for that exchange using the selected offer from the plurality of offers.

71. The method of

claim 70

, wherein designating the settlement criteria includes using an acceptable offer as the transactional value.

72. The method of

claim 71

, further comprising using the settlement criteria to select a bid offer from the set of bidders as matching an ask offer from the set of sellers.

73. The method of

claim 71

, further comprising using the settlement criteria to select an ask offer from the set of sellers as matching a bid offer from the set of bidders.

74. The method of

claim 70

, further comprising for at least some of the plurality of exchanges, designating an origination for each of the plurality of offers as being from either the set of sellers or the set of bidders.

75. The method of

claim 74

, further comprising permitting the set of sellers and the set of bidders to both submit a plurality of offers.

76. The method of

claim 75

, wherein designating the settlement criteria includes identifying one of the offers submitted by one of the set of sellers having a value that matches a value of one of the offers submitted by one of the set of bidders.

77. The method of

claim 75

, wherein designating the settlement criteria includes identifying one of the offers submitted by one of the set of sellers having a value that is closest to a value of one of the offers submitted by one of the set of bidders.

78. The method of

claim 75

, wherein designating the settlement criteria includes identifying one of the offers submitted by one of the set of bidders having a value that matches a value of one of the offers submitted by one of the set of sellers.

79. The method of

claim 75

, wherein designating the settlement criteria includes identifying one of the offers submitted by one of the set of bidders having a value that is closest to a value of one of the offers submitted by one of the set of sellers.

80. The method of

claim 70

, wherein for each exchange, designating the settlement criteria includes designating a threshold value, and determining the transactional value includes identifying selected offers that have values matching the threshold value.

81. The method of

claim 80

, wherein determining selected offers in the plurality of offers includes identifying offers having values that are less than the threshold value.

82. The method of

claim 80

, wherein determining selected offers in the plurality of offers includes identifying offers having values that are closest to the threshold value.

83. The method of

claim 80

, wherein for each exchange, determining selected offers in the plurality of offers includes identifying offers having values that are greater than the threshold value.

84. A method for determining a transactional value of an item offered for exchange by a first trader for a second trader, the first trader being on a first terminal coupled to a network, the second trader being on a second terminal coupled to the network, the method comprising:

identifying a plurality of parameters selected by at least one of the first trader and the second trader;

causing at least one of the first trader and the second trader to submit a first offer over the network;

determining if the first offer is acceptable by the other of the first trader and the second trader;

until the first offer is accepted, signaling at least one of the first trader and the second trader to enter a subsequent offer that is to replace the first offer; and

wherein a first parameter in the plurality of parameters determines if the first offer is to be made by the first trader or the second trader, and a second parameter in the plurality of parameters determines if the second offer is to be made by the first trader or the second trade.

85. The method of

claim 84

, wherein a third parameter in the plurality of parameters determines if the proposed value is to be equal to the transactional value when the open offer is accepted.

86. The method of

claim 85

, wherein a fourth parameter in the plurality of parameters determines if the subsequent value is to increase or decrease from the proposed value.

87. The method of

claim 86

, wherein a fourth parameter in the plurality of parameters designates a duration of time for the subsequent offer to be entered.

88. The method of

claim 86

, wherein a fourth parameter in the plurality of parameters designates a size for a first set of traders comprising the first trader, each of the first set of traders offering the item for exchange to the second trader.

89. The method of

claim 88

, wherein a fifth parameter in the plurality of parameters designates a size for a second set of traders comprising the second trader, each of the second set of traders being offered the item for exchange by the first set of traders.

90. A method for determining a transactional value of an item offered for exchange by a first trader for a second trader, the first trader being on a first terminal coupled to a network, the second trader being on a second terminal coupled to the network, the method comprising:

receiving a first signal to initiate an exchange by at least one of the first trader and the second trader;

identifying a first plurality of parameters from the first signal;

determining a first combination of instructions for conducting the exchange based on the first plurality of parameters;

conducting the exchange according to the first combination of instructions;

then

receiving a second signal to alter the combination of instructions;

then

identifying a second plurality of parameters based on the second signal;

then

determining a second combination of instructions for conducting the exchange based on the second plurality of parameters; and

then

conducting the exchange according to the second combination of instructions.

91. The method of

claim 90

, wherein determining a second combination of instructions includes identifying a first instruction that is in only one of the first combination of instructions or the second combination of instructions.

92. The method of

claim 91

, wherein conducting the exchange according to the first combination of instructions includes receiving a first offer from the first trader or the second trader.

93. The method of

claim 91

, further comprising identifying the transactional value of the item using an offer received when conducting the exchange according to the second combination of instructions.

94. The method of

claim 91

, wherein the first combination of instructions specify a first settlement policy for determining the transactional value of the item, and the second combination of instructions specify a second settlement policy for determining the transactional value of the item, the second settlement policy being different than the first settlement policy.