Document negotiation

• US 20020188638A1
• Filed: 06/08/2001
• Published: 12/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: BeachFire Co.
• Original Assignee: BeachFire Co.
• Inventors: Hamscher, Walter
• Application Number:
  US09/877,694
• Publication Number:
  US 20020188638A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/530
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Capturing and storing the process of negotiating an agreement between individuals at different enterprises is done using computers and various communication network protocols.

Claims

1. A method comprising

enabling a party to a negotiation to create a document containing text, typed data, and formulas configured to generate optional texts,

enabling a party to the negotiation to manipulate the document as a hierarchically structured set of containers, and permitting a party to view protected portions of the document only upon presentation of a cipher key associated with those portions.

6. The method of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, also including

transmitting a state and history of the negotiation from user to user using a network communication protocol.

7. The method of claim 6 in which the protocol includes e-mail, client-server file transfer, or peer-to-peer file transfer.

2. A method comprising

enabling a party to a negotiation to create a document containing text, typed data, and formulas configured to generate optional texts,

enabling a party to the negotiation to manipulate the document as a hierarchically structured set of containers, and

maintaining a version history of portions of the document sufficient to enable a user to view and display changes between successive versions of the document.

3. A method comprising

enabling a party to a negotiation to create a document containing text, typed data, and formulas configured to generate optional texts,

enabling a party to the negotiation to add annotations to the document, and

maintaining a version history of portions of the document sufficient to enable a user to view and display changes between successive versions of the document.

4. A method comprising

enabling a party to a negotiation to create a document containing text, typed data, and formulas configured to generate optional texts,

enabling a party to the negotiation to manipulate the document as a hierarchically structured set of containers,

permitting a party to view protected portions of the document only upon presentation of a cipher key associated with those portions, and

maintaining a version history of portions of the document sufficient to enable a user to view and display changes between successive versions of the document.

5. A method comprising

enabling a party to the negotiation to create a document containing text, typed data, and formulas configured to generate optional texts,

enabling a party to the negotiation to manipulate the document as a hierarchically structured set of containers,

enabling a party to a negotiation to add annotations to the document,

permitting a party to view protected portions of the document only upon presentation of a cipher key associated with those portions, and maintaining a version history of portions of the document sufficient to enable a user to view and display changes between successive versions of the document.

8. Apparatus comprising a medium on which are stored

data structures capable of configuring a machine to enable a negotiation of a document, the data structures comprising

linked discrete elements, each of the linked elements having value binding and formula features,

each of the elements being linked into a hierarchical structure,

each of the linked elements having annotation features,

the data structures being expressed in a serialized data format that represents content of the linked discrete elements encrypted separately for each group of users able to access parts of the document,

the content of linked discrete elements being associated with a version history capable of configuring a machine to render complete document versions, and

software capable of configuring the machine to enable a user to create the document, edit the document by adding new versions, attach messages, add, remove and change the access rights of users with respect to individual document elements, compare and merge documents, and purge version histories.