Marketplaces for on-line contract negotiation, formation, and price and availability querying
First Claim
1. A method of forming an on-line contract between a buyer and a seller for the purchase of goods, comprising:
- the buyer requesting a requisition check on desired goods and generating an electronic requisition check message;
the seller receiving the electronic requisition check message;
the seller determining the ability to fulfill the requisition check on the desired goods requested by the buyer;
the seller generating an electronic requisition check response reflecting the ability of the seller to fulfill the requisition check on the desired goods;
the buyer generating an order based on the response to the requisition check on the desired goods;
the seller receiving the order and generating an order response, the order response containing an indication of the seller'"'"'s acceptance of the order.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An on-line marketplace enables negotiation and formation of a contract between a buyer and seller. Through a requisition check, buyers are able to check the price and/or availability of goods with one or more sellers. After knowing price and availability, the buyers send orders for desired goods to the sellers through the marketplace and enter into a legally binding contract upon acceptance. The terms and conditions of the contract are determined from any prior agreement, from country-specific terms on the marketplace for the supplier, from technical disclaimers for data on the goods, and from any agreed upon modifications. The marketplace permits automation and expedition in the ordering process by automatically submitting orders upon confirmation of the requisition check and by automatically accepting orders. The marketplace offers full integration with customers'"'"' ERP systems and also offers a simpler integration involving data transfer from the customer'"'"'s system, such as file transfer called UltraLite.
-
Citations
36 Claims
-
1. A method of forming an on-line contract between a buyer and a seller for the purchase of goods, comprising:
-
the buyer requesting a requisition check on desired goods and generating an electronic requisition check message;
the seller receiving the electronic requisition check message;
the seller determining the ability to fulfill the requisition check on the desired goods requested by the buyer;
the seller generating an electronic requisition check response reflecting the ability of the seller to fulfill the requisition check on the desired goods;
the buyer generating an order based on the response to the requisition check on the desired goods;
the seller receiving the order and generating an order response, the order response containing an indication of the seller'"'"'s acceptance of the order. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method of enabling an on-line contract to be created between a buyer and a seller for the purchase of goods through an on-line marketplace, comprising:
-
receiving a price and availability check message from a buyer at the on-line marketplace, the price and availability check message requesting information from a seller on the availability and price of desired goods from the seller;
forwarding the price and availability check message from the on-line marketplace to the seller associated with the desired goods;
receiving a price and availability response at the on-line marketplace from the seller reflecting the availability of the desired goods requested by the buyer;
forwarding the price and availability response from the on-line marketplace to the buyer;
receiving an order from the buyer for the desired goods at the on-line marketplace, the order identifying the availability and price of the desired goods;
forwarding the order from the on-line marketplace to the seller;
receiving an order response from the seller at the on-line marketplace, the order response containing an indication of the seller'"'"'s acceptance of the order. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method of enabling sourcing of goods from a seller to a buyer through an online marketplace, comprising:
-
receiving a selection of desired goods from the buyer at the on-line marketplace;
receiving a request for a quote from the buyer at the on-line marketplace, the request for the quote seeking the quote for the seller to source the desired goods to the buyer;
forwarding the request for the quote from the on-line marketplace to the seller;
receiving a response to the request for quote from the seller at the on-line marketplace, the response from the seller providing the quote for the seller to source the desired goods to the buyer;
generating at the on-line marketplace terms of a master agreement between the buyer and seller;
forecasting at the on-line marketplace demand by the seller for the desired goods; and
facilitating at the on-line marketplace orders dictated by the terms of the master agreement. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
-
-
27. A method of forming an on-line contract between a buyer and a seller, comprising:
-
providing an on-line marketplace for the sale of goods from the seller to the buyer;
receiving an order for goods from the buyer, the order specifying a country where the goods will be shipped;
providing terms and conditions from the seller governing transactions in a plurality of countries;
linking, with the order, the terms and conditions from the seller for the country where the goods will be shipped as specified in the order;
providing an opportunity for the buyer to review the terms and conditions from the seller for the country where the goods will be shipped; and
receiving acceptance of the order from the seller;
wherein receiving the order from the buyer constitutes an offer under the on-line contract and receiving the acceptance results in the forming of the on-line contract.
-
Specification