System and method for implementing electronic markets
First Claim
1. A system for implementing an electronic market comprising:
- first means for defining a set of attributes and associated descriptor variables involved in market transactions and assigning importance values to said descriptor variables;
second means for computing match scores for said market transactions based on quality of the match for each of the attributes and importance values associated with each of the attributes; and
third means for clearing said electronic market in accordance with said match scores.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
An efficient system for implementing an electronic market. The system includes a first mechanism for defining a set of attributes and associated descriptor variables involved in market transactions. Importance values are assigned to the descriptor variables by the first mechanism. A second mechanism computes match scores for the market transactions based on the importance values. A third mechanism employs the match scores to clear the electronic market. In the specific embodiment, the first mechanism includes an administrator interface, which allows an administrator to define the descriptor variables. A configurator communicates with the administrator interface and allows the administrator to assign a first set importance values to corresponding descriptor variables. The first set importance values includes default importance values or importance values assigned to the descriptor variables by a seller seeking to transact with a buyer via the electronic market. The administrator interface allows an administrator to configure a user interface of the market to allow market participants to assign a second set of importance values to different descriptor variables. The second set of importance values includes buyer and seller importance values. The descriptor variables and associated descriptor importance values may be continuous or discrete. A matching engine computes the match scores for market transactions based on a predetermined evaluation method specified via the administrator interface and based on a unique match score computation method.
135 Citations
59 Claims
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1. A system for implementing an electronic market comprising:
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first means for defining a set of attributes and associated descriptor variables involved in market transactions and assigning importance values to said descriptor variables;
second means for computing match scores for said market transactions based on quality of the match for each of the attributes and importance values associated with each of the attributes; and
third means for clearing said electronic market in accordance with said match scores. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A system for generating an e-commerce website comprising:
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first means for indicating products and/or services to be sold via said e-commerce website;
second means for providing a list of attributes associated with said products and/or services;
third means for selectively associating weights with said attributes; and
fourth means for automatically generating an e-commerce website in accordance with said products and/or services, said list of attributes, and said weights. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A matching system comprising:
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first means for receiving one or more inputs;
second means for selectively weighting said one or more inputs via a continuous weight and providing one or more weighted inputs in response thereto; and
third means for accessing data in accordance with said one or more weighted inputs. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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40. A matching system for implementing a transaction in accordance with preferences or match criteria comprising:
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first means for receiving preferences or match criteria as input;
second means for ranking said preferences or match criteria according to importance and providing ranked criteria in response thereto; and
third means for accessing data in accordance with said ranked criteria.
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41. An electronic market for implementing a transaction between a first entity and a second entity system:
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first means for individually valuing relative preferences of characteristics associated with said second entity relative to said first entity and providing preference values in response thereto and second means for searching a database having information pertaining to plural second entities and returning a matched result pairing said first entity with said second entity selected from said plural second entities based on said preference values; and
third means for clearing said electronic market according to said matched result. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43)
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44. An e-commerce market comprising:
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first means for ranking preferences of attributes associated with a product or service based on user input and providing ranked preferences in response thereto;
second means for searching a database of said products or services and returning one or more matched results based on said ranked preferences; and
third means for clearing said market according to said matched results. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. An electronic market comprising:
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first means for receiving one or more inputs;
second means for selectively weighting said one or more inputs via a continuous weight and providing one or more weighted inputs in response thereto; and
third means for accessing data in accordance with a match score computed by a mapping function, said match score representative of the quality of a match between said data and said one or more weighted inputs; and
fourth means for clearing said electronic market in accordance with said match score and data. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53)
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54. A system for matching user preferences with a product or service comprising:
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user interface for specifying relative preferences of attributes associated with said product or service by ranking said preferences via input from one or more users and means for searching a database of said products or services and returning one or more matched results based on said relative preferences. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A method for implementing an electronic market comprising the steps of:
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defining a set of attributes and associated descriptor variables involved in market transactions and assigning importance values to said descriptor variables;
computing match scores for said market transactions based on said importance values; and
clearing said electronic market in accordance with said match scores.
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Specification