Method and system for virtual sealed-bid competitions held over a communications network
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Abstract
A computer-implemental method of transacting a sealed bid competition has deadline-assurance process which in part upholds the integrity of the sealed bid competition. In a sealed bid competition, a buyer originates a “request for bid” communication that specifies bid items as well as includes a parameter of deadline. Participating vendors respond with “response” communications that contain substantive content presumptively responsive to the “request for bid” communication. The object of a sealed bid competition is to keep everyone, including especially the buyer, blind to the bid responses of everyone else until after the deadline. The deadline-integrity process has the buyer either precluded from access to the “response” communications until the deadline or else has the buyer'"'"'s activity with accessing the “response” communications is logged so that such log record can thereafter disclose if the buyer voluntarily restrained itself from accessing the “response” communications until after the deadline.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1-21. -21. (canceled)
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22. A method of transacting a sealed bid competition over the Internet, comprising the steps of:
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providing a requester that is intending to hold a sealed bid competition with computer-implemented means for originating a “
request for bid”
communication that includes bid data as well as a parameter of deadline;
providing a plurality of vendors with access to the “
request for bid”
communication by means of the Internet;
providing those vendors which choose to respond by the deadline with computer-implemented means for responding with “
response”
communications containing substantive content presumptively responsive to the “
request for bid”
communication;
providing a data storage device and a computer-implemented process for writing data to the storage device in a form which is substantially un-editable by the requester;
providing the requester with a computer-implemented opening process to open the “
response”
communications including the substantive content thereof, without computer-implemented restraint thereto and without requester'"'"'s discretion being subject to the control of any other party, whereby the requester'"'"'s voluntary restraint is relied upon to assure requester doesn'"'"'t open the substantive content until some time determined from the deadline;
providing the buyer with computer-implemented means for originating an informal message and utilities for broadcast transmission of, during the time period between origination of the “
request for bid”
communication and accessing the substantive content of any vendor'"'"'s “
response”
communication, such informal message to all of the plurality of vendors whose respective contact data was known or otherwise supplied to the buyer previous to the instance of the broadcast transmission; and
providing a computer-implemented log process that operates automatically with the computer-implemented opening process that writes data comprising a log record to the storage device in the form that is substantially un-editable by the requester automatically with the requester'"'"'s use of the computer-implemented opening process such that the requester'"'"'s activity with opening at least the substantive content of the “
response”
communications is logged so that such log record can be audited after-the-fact to disclose if the requester voluntarily restrained itself from opening at least the substantive content of the “
response”
communications until the lapse of the some time determined from the deadline. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification