System and method for facilitating a request for proposal process
First Claim
1. A method for auctioning a request for proposal for group health insurance comprising the steps of:
- generating the request for proposal, said request identifying one or more insurance products;
providing a plurality of insurance carriers access to the request for proposal; and
receiving at least one bid, each of said at least one bid relating to the request for proposal and received from one of the plurality of insurance carriers.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A software client can be used to prepare a complex request for proposal (RFP) that can include multiple bidding tiers, composite items and that can be fulfilled with non-conforming bids. The RFP is distributed to a number of bidders who submit bid quotes or alternative items. The amount of details disclosed to other bidders regarding the bids is selectable by the user. Revised bids are accepted for a predetermined time period, or until a threshold condition is reached, at which time the bids are compared and assessed to determine a winning bid. Once a winning bid is determined and a contract awarded, payment and settlement of the terms of the RFP can be monitored and tracked. A central computerized system, such as a web site, provides the data collection, data storage, data manipulation, connectivity functions, and messaging protocols used by the participants in the RFP marketing process.
102 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method for auctioning a request for proposal for group health insurance comprising the steps of:
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generating the request for proposal, said request identifying one or more insurance products;
providing a plurality of insurance carriers access to the request for proposal; and
receiving at least one bid, each of said at least one bid relating to the request for proposal and received from one of the plurality of insurance carriers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 38, 39, 40)
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17. A system for providing an electronic marketplace for an insurance related request for proposal, said system comprising:
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an interactive request for proposal builder configured to generate the request for proposal, said request for proposal identifying one or more insurance products. a first memory configured to store the request for proposal and further configured to limit access to the request for proposal to only a select plurality of insurance carriers;
a second memory configured to store one or more bids relating to the request for proposal received from at least one of the select plurality of insurance carriers, and further configured to permit the select plurality of insurance carriers to view at least a portion of the stored one or more bids. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer readable medium bearing instructions for auctioning a request for proposal for group health insurance, said instructions being arranged to cause one or more processors upon execution thereof to perform the steps of:
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generating the request for proposal, said request identifying one or more insurance products;
providing a plurality of insurance carriers access to the request for proposal; and
receiving at least one bid, each of said at least one bid relating to the request for proposal and received from one of the plurality of insurance carriers. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. A method for auctioning a request for proposal, comprising the steps of:
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receiving from a client one or more item descriptions;
generating the request for proposal based on the item descriptions;
providing access to the request for proposal to a plurality of bidders; and
receiving one or more bids relating to the request for proposal from at least one of the plurality of bidders, wherein at least one of the one or more bids comprises sub-bids, each of said sub-bid related to only one of the one or more item descriptions. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A method for auctioning a request for proposal, comprising the steps of:
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receiving from a client one or more item descriptions;
generating the request for proposal based on the item descriptions;
providing access to the request for proposal to a plurality of bidders; and
receiving none or more bids relating to the request for proposal from at least one of the plurality of bidders; and
receiving one or more non-conforming bids relating to the request for proposal from at least one of the plurality of bidders, wherein each non-conforming bid comprises a price and at least one alternative item different from the one or more item descriptions. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. A method for auctioning a request for proposal, comprising the steps of:
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receiving one or more item descriptions and a plurality of pricing tiers;
receiving a formula for evaluating bids;
generating the request for proposal based on the item descriptions and the plurality of pricing tiers;
providing access to the request for proposal to a plurality of bidders; and
receiving one or more bids relating to the request for proposal from at least one of the plurality of bidders, wherein each bid comprises associated sub-bids corresponding to each of the plurality of pricing tiers. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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34. A method for auctioning a request for proposal, comprising the steps of:
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receiving from a client one or more item descriptions;
generating the request for proposal based on the item descriptions, said request for proposal comprising a plurality of bid units;
providing access to the request for proposal to a plurality of bidders; and
receiving one or more bids relating to the request for proposal from at least one of the plurality of bidders, wherein at least one of the one or more bids comprises a quote conditioned on a combination of the bid-units ultimately being awarded to a sender of the quote. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A method for auctioning a request for proposal, comprising the steps of:
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receiving from a client one or more item descriptions;
generating the request for proposal based on the item descriptions;
providing access to the request for proposal to a plurality of bidders;
receiving one or more bids relating to the request for proposal from at least one of the plurality of bidders; and
receiving extrinsic information relating to one or more of the plurality of bidders. - View Dependent Claims (37)
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Specification