Internet and wireless integrated virtual presence
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A server operating a website with discrete transactional webpages identifies subject matter for a sales contract between a merchant and an inquiring party. The website is provided with an augment logon procedure for potential inquiring parties, be they offerees or offerors to a contractual relationship. As part of the logon information of the inquiring party, at least one—a preferably a plurality—of direct contact routes from the server to the offeree and/or offeror is solicited. These direct contract routes can included landline, cell phone, pager, or other direct computer to computer communication. The inquiring party initially contacts the server and identifies the subject matter of the proposed contract, for example an airline trip, the sale of an electronics item such as a TV, or a restaurant reservation and at least one other parameter required for the consummation of a contract. This information is communicated to the merchant. The merchant either accepts or rejects the proposed contract parameter and communicates this fact to the server. The server then makes direct contact to the inquiring party with indexing occurring through the provided direct contract routes until actual contact is attained to the inquiring party. During the contract formation, direct server to inquiring party contact is repeated until an actual contact is established, enabling the virtual presence of the inquiring party for a sufficient interval to establish a contract.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1-38. -38. (canceled)
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39. A method of managing bidding in a computer-facilitated auction, the method comprising:
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determining a first ending time for ending bidding in the computer-facilitated auction;
determining a first time period by which the first ending time of the computer-facilitated auction will be extended upon receipt of a bid within a second time prior to the first ending time;
receiving a bid within the second time period; and
in response to receiving the bid within the second time period, extending the first ending time by the first time period; and
ending the computer-facilitated auction after the first ending time when no bids have been received for a time period equal to at least the first time period. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A computing system configured for managing an auction, the computing system comprising:
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means for determining a first ending time for ending bidding in the computer-facilitated auction;
means for determining a first time period by which the first ending time of the computer-facilitated auction will be extended upon receipt of a bid within a second time prior to the first ending time;
means for receiving a bid within the second time period; and
means in response to receiving the bid within the second time period, for extending the first ending time by the first time period; and
means for ending the computer-facilitated auction after the first ending time when no bids have been received for a time equal to at least the first time period.
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Specification