SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A COMMODITY CONTRACTS MARKET USING A SECURE DISTRIBUTED TRANSACTION LEDGER

• US 20160260171A1
• Filed: 07/17/2015
• Published: 09/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Ford, Daniel A., Narayanan, Rajesh
• Granted Patent: US 10,592,985 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/223 based on the use of peer-to-peer networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/389 Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/42 Confirmation, e.g. check or permission by the legal debtor of payment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 2220/00 Business processing using cryptography postage metering system using cryptography G06Q2250/05
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 2220/10 Usage protection of distributed data files
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

Aspects of the present invention provide systems and methods that solved the problems of how to participate in a marketplace exchange without using a centralized intermediary. In embodiments, a secure distributed transaction ledger may be used as an integration framework that supports communications between parties, the transfer of funds from one party to another party, and the ability to for the provisioning or transfer of deliverables by a seller to a buyer or for the benefit of a buyer. In embodiments, a buyer, a seller, and an escrow entity have defined functions that facilitate transactions and help build in more trust into the marketplace.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for a computing device participating as a seller, the method comprising:

connecting to one or more nodes of a distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains a block chain, the block chain comprising a cryptographically linked sets of data blocks;

obtaining at least part of the block chain;

examining one or more of the data blocks of the block chain for a message relevant to the seller;

responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message; and

responsive to not identifying a relevant message within a specified time period;

determining whether any deliverables are ready for their intended recipients; and

responsive to determining that a deliverable is ready for its intended recipient;

sending the deliverable to the intended recipient; and

sending a “

funds payout request”

message to an escrow entity via the block chain, the “

funds payout request”

message requesting payment of funds for sending the deliverable to the intended recipient according to an agreement.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the step of responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message comprises:

identifying the relevant message as a “

proposal broadcast”

message comprising one or more terms from a buyer;

determining whether one or more terms in the “

proposal broadcast”

message are acceptable to the seller;

responsive to the one or more terms in the “

proposal broadcast”

message being acceptable, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

proposal accepted”

message to be included in the block chain, the “

proposal accepted”

message intended for the buyer; and

responsive to the one or more terms in the “

proposal broadcast”

message not being acceptable, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

proposal counteroffer”

message intended for the buyer, which is to be included in the block chain, the “

proposal counteroffer”

message comprising a proposed change to the one or more terms that were not acceptable to the seller.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 further comprising:

determining whether the buyer is an acceptable party to the seller.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 wherein the step of determining whether the buyer is an acceptable party to the seller comprises:

examining data related to one or more prior agreements involving the buyer, the one or more prior agreements being recorded in the block chain.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the step of responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message comprises:

identifying the relevant message as a “

proposal counteroffer”

message comprising one or more terms from a buyer;

determining whether one or more terms in the “

proposal counteroffer”

message are acceptable to the seller;

responsive to the one or more terms in the “

proposal counteroffer”

message being acceptable, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

proposal accepted”

message to be included in the block chain, the “

proposal accepted”

message intended for the buyer; and

responsive to the one or more terms in the “

proposal broadcast”

message not being acceptable;

deciding whether to continue negotiations with the buyer;

responsive to deciding not to continue negotiations with the buyer, taking no action to advance negotiations; and

responsive to deciding to continue negotiations with the buyer, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

proposal counteroffer”

message intended for the buyer, which is to be included in the block chain, the “

proposal counteroffer”

message comprising a proposed change to the one or more terms that were not acceptable to the seller.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the step of responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message comprises:

identifying the relevant message as a “

proposal accepted”

message from a buyer; and

responsive to the “

proposal accepted”

message from a buyer resulting in an agreement with the buyer and the seller being formed, waiting for a “

funds in escrow”

message from an escrow entity delivered via the block chain, the “

funds in escrow”

message indicated that the escrow entity has in escrow an appropriate amount due under the agreement.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a “

funds in escrow”

message;

sending a deliverable as defined in the agreement to an intended recipient; and

sending a “

funds payout request”

message to the escrow entity via the block chain, the “

funds payout request”

message requesting payment of funds for sending the deliverable to the intended recipient according to the agreement.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the escrow entity performs its operations programmatically as part of maintenance of the block chain by the distributed peer-to-peer network.

9. A computer-implemented method for a computing device participating as a buyer, the method comprising:

connecting to one or more nodes of a distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains a block chain, the block chain comprising a cryptographically linked sets of data blocks;

obtaining at least part of the block chain;

examining one or more of the data blocks of the block chain for a message relevant to the buyer;

responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message; and

responsive to not identifying a relevant message within a specified time period;

for each outstanding proposal, updating the proposals status; and

responsive to a contract completion timeout period for an agreement having been reached and a seller associated with the agreement having not completed performance under the agreement within the contract completion timeout period, sending a “

buyer rejection”

message to an escrow entity via the block chain, the “

buyer rejection”

message requesting the escrow entity to pay funds in escrow under the agreement to a third party and not the seller.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the step of responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message comprises:

identifying the relevant message as a “

proposal broadcast”

message comprising one or more terms from a seller;

determining whether one or more terms in the “

proposal broadcast”

message are acceptable to the buyer;

responsive to the one or more terms in the “

proposal broadcast”

message being acceptable, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

proposal accepted”

message to be included in the block chain, the “

proposal accepted”

message intended for the seller; and

responsive to the one or more terms in the “

proposal broadcast”

message not being acceptable, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

proposal counteroffer”

message intended for the seller, which is to be included in the block chain, the “

proposal counteroffer”

message comprising a proposed change to the one or more terms that were not acceptable to the buyer.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 further comprising:

determining whether the seller is an acceptable party to the buyer.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein the step of determining whether the seller is an acceptable party to the buyer comprises:

examining data related to one or more prior agreements involving the seller, the one or more prior agreements being recorded in the block chain.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the step of responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message comprises:

identifying the relevant message as a “

proposal counteroffer”

message comprising one or more terms from a seller;

determining whether one or more terms in the “

proposal counteroffer”

message are acceptable to the buyer;

responsive to the one or more terms in the “

proposal counteroffer”

message being acceptable, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

proposal accepted”

message to be included in the block chain, the “

proposal accepted”

message intended for the seller; and

responsive to the one or more terms in the “

proposal broadcast”

message not being acceptable;

deciding whether to continue negotiations with the seller;

responsive to deciding not to continue negotiations with the seller, taking no action to advance negotiations; and

responsive to deciding to continue negotiations with the seller, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

proposal counteroffer”

message intended for the seller, which is to be included in the block chain, the “

proposal counteroffer”

message comprising a proposed change to the one or more terms that were not acceptable to the buyer.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the step of responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message comprises:

identifying the relevant message as a “

proposal accepted”

message from a seller; and

responsive to the “

proposal accepted”

message from a seller resulting in an agreement with the buyer and the seller being formed, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

transfer funds”

message intended for the escrow entity and instructs the escrow entity to transfer an amount in the agreement to an escrow account.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 further comprising:

responsive to receiving a virtual good or performance of a service as part of an agreement between a seller and the buyer;

determining whether the virtual good or the performance of the service is acceptable;

responsive to the virtual good or the performance of the service being acceptable, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

release funds”

message intended for the escrow entity that holds in an escrow account an amount due to the seller under the agreement and the “

release funds”

message instructs the escrow entity to transfer the escrow amount to an account of the seller; and

responsive to the virtual good or the performance of the service not being acceptable, submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

buyer rejection”

message intended for the escrow entity, the “

buyer rejection”

message requesting the escrow entity to pay funds in escrow under the agreement to a third party and not the seller.

16. A computer-implemented method for a computing device participating as an escrow entity in a virtual marketplace, the method comprising:

connecting to one or more nodes of a distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains a block chain, the block chain comprising a cryptographically linked sets of data blocks;

obtaining at least part of the block chain;

examining one or more of the data blocks of the block chain for a message relevant to the escrow entity; and

responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message; and

responsive to not identifying a relevant message within a specified time period;

identify whether a “

funds payout request”

message from a seller has been received and an escrow payout request time period associated with the “

funds payout request”

has elapsed, the “

funds payout request”

message being associated with an agreement with a buyer and an escrowed fund that represents an amount due to the seller upon satisfactorily delivering a deliverable to the buyer according to the agreement; and

responsive to identify a “

funds payout request”

message from a seller that has been received and the escrow payout request time period associated with the “

funds payout request”

has elapsed;

responsive to determining that a “

buyer rejection”

message from the buyer was received, if not already completed, transferring the escrowed funds to a third party and notifying the seller that the buyer has rejected the deliverable and the escrow funds were transferred to a third party and not to the seller; and

responsive to determining that a “

buyer rejection”

message from the buyer was not received, if not already completed, transferring the escrowed funds to the seller.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 wherein the step of responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message comprises:

identifying the relevant message as a “

transfer funds”

message from a buyer, the “

transfer funds”

message being associated with an agreement between the buyer and a seller and comprises an amount to be transferred from the buyer to an escrow account and also comprises an escrow payout request time period before which a seller cannot receive a transfer from the escrow account without express permission from the buyer;

transferring the amount from the buyer to the escrow account;

recording the escrow payout request time period; and

submitting, to one or more nodes of the distributed peer-to-peer network that maintains the block chain, a “

funds in escrow”

message intended for the seller, which is to be included in the block chain, the “

funds in escrow”

message acting to alert the seller to commence performance under the agreement between the buyer and the seller.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 wherein the step of responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message comprises:

identifying the relevant message as a “

release funds”

message from the buyer; and

transferring the amount from the escrow account to the seller.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 wherein the step of responsive to identifying a relevant message within a specified time period, executing one or more instructions related to the relevant message comprises:

identifying the relevant message as a “

buyer rejection”

message from the buyer, which indicates that the buyer has not timely received the deliverable from the seller or was not satisfied with the deliverable;

transferring the amount from the escrow account to a third party; and

notifying the seller that the amount in the escrow account was transferred to a third party and will not be transferred to the seller.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 further comprising:

identifying the relevant message as a “

funds payout request”

message from the seller, which indicates that the seller is alleging to have completed or sent the deliverable under the agreement;

responsive to the a “

funds payout request”

message being received on or after the escrow payout request time period for the agreement and responsive to the amount already not having been transferred to the seller under the agreement, transferring the amount from the escrow account to the seller;

responsive to the a “

funds payout request”

message not being received on or after the escrow payout request time period for the agreement;

responsive to the buyer having sent a “

buyer rejection”

message for this agreement, if not already completed;

transferring the amount from the escrow account to a third party; and

notifying the seller that the amount in the escrow account was transferred to a third party and will not be transferred to the seller; and

responsive to the buyer not having sent a “

buyer rejection”

message for this agreement, recording the “

funds payout request”

message from the seller for future evaluation to determine whether payout is proper.