Method and system for bidding in electronic auctions using flexible bidder-determined line-item guidelines
First Claim
1. A method to control line-item aspects in an eletronic auction, comprising the steps of:
- (a) receiving initial line item bids for individual line items in a lot of products, at least one of said initial line item bids including a locked portion and an unlocked portion;
(b) calculating an initial lot bid price using said initial line item bids;
(c) receiving an adjustment to the total bid for a lot;
(d) calculating line item price adjustments using said lot bid adjustment, wherein line item price adjustments are made on a pro rata basis to the unlocked portions of said initial line item bids; and
(e) calculating an updated lot bid price using said line item adjustments.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for conducting electronic auctions is described. A dynamic lot closing extension feature avoids collisions in closing times of multiple lots by dynamically extending the closing time of a subsequent lot if a preceding lot'"'"'s closing time is extended to be too close to the subsequent lot'"'"'s then-currently scheduled closing time. Scheduled closing times can be extended with a flexible overtime feature, in which the properties of the event triggering the extension and the duration of the overtime period(s) can be tailored to a particular auction, particular lots of products within an auction, and to the particular time within an auction process. The bidding status of a lot can be set to a “pending” status after the nominal closing time for submission of bids to allow bidders to alert the auction coordinator of technical problems in submission of bids. This allows the possibility for a lot to be return to open status for further bidding by all bidders. The auction may be paused by the auction coordinator to correct technical, market and miscellaneous problems that may arise during the course of an auction. Individual bid ceilings can be set for each bidder so that they are required to bid lower than certain thresholds determined in advance of the auction. Failsafe error detection is performed to prevent erroneous bids from entering the auction. The auction coordinator has the ability to override any erroneous bids that are entered to prevent prejudice to the auction.
431 Citations
49 Claims
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1. A method to control line-item aspects in an eletronic auction, comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving initial line item bids for individual line items in a lot of products, at least one of said initial line item bids including a locked portion and an unlocked portion;
(b) calculating an initial lot bid price using said initial line item bids;
(c) receiving an adjustment to the total bid for a lot;
(d) calculating line item price adjustments using said lot bid adjustment, wherein line item price adjustments are made on a pro rata basis to the unlocked portions of said initial line item bids; and
(e) calculating an updated lot bid price using said line item adjustments. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer program product for enabling a processor in a computer system to control line-item aspects in an electronic auction, said computer program product comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium for causing an application program to execute on the computer system, said computer readable program code means comprising a first computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to receive initial line item bids for individual line items in a lot of products, at least one of said initial line item bids including a locked portion and an unlocked portion;
a second computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to calculate an initial lot bid price using said initial line item bids;
a third computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to receive a lot bid adjustment;
a fourth computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to calculate line item price adjustments using said lot bid adjustment, wherein line item price adjustments are made on a pro rata basis to the unlocked portions of said initial line item bids; and
a fifth computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to calculate an updated lot bid prices using said line item adjustments. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method to control line-item aspects in electronic auction, comprising the steps of:
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(a) defining a flexible line item decision rule, said flexible line item decision rule being created to accommodate a pre-auction bidding strategy relating to one or more aspects of a line item portion of a bid for a lot of products;
(b) receiving information specifying a bid for a lot of products, said bid including a plurality of line item portions for corresponding line items in said lot of products;
(c) receiving information specifying an adjustment to one or more aspects of said bid for said lot of products;
(d) analyzing said adjustment to said one or more aspects of said bid for said lot of products based on said flexible line item decision rule to determine a corresponding adjustment to one or more aspects of one or more line item portions of said bid; and
(e) effecting said corresponding adjustment to said one or more aspects of said one or more line item portions of said bid based upon the analysis of step (d). - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A system to control line-item aspects in an electronic auction, comprising:
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means for receiving initial line item bids for individual line items in a lot of products, at least one of said initial line item bids including a locked portion and an unlocked portion;
means for calculating an initial lot bid price using said initial line item bids;
means for receiving an adjustment to the total bid for a lot;
means for calculating line item price adjustments using said lot bid adjustment, wherein line item price adjustments are made on a pro rata basis to the unlocked portions of said initial line item bids; and
means for calculating an updated lot bid price using said line item adjustments. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system to control line-item aspects in an electronic auction, comprising:
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means for defining a flexible line item decision rule, said flexible line item decision rule being created to accommodate a pre-auction bidding strategy relating to one or more aspects of a line item portion of a bid for a lot of products;
means for receiving information specifying a bid for a lot of products, said bid including a plurality of line item portions for corresponding line items in said lot of products;
means for receiving information specifying an adjustment to one or more aspects of said bid for said lot of products;
means for analyzing said adjustment to said one or more aspects of said bid for said lot of products based on said flexible line item decision rule to determine a corresponding adjustment to one or more aspects of one or more line item portions of said bid; and
means for effecting said corresponding adjustment to said one or more aspects of said one or more line item portions of said bid. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A computer program product for enabling a processor in a computer system to control line-item aspects in electronic auction, said computer program product comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium for causing an application program to execute on the computer system, said computer readable program code means comprising a first computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to define a flexible line item decision rule, said flexible line item decision rule being created to accommodate a pre-auction bidding strategy relating to one or more aspects of a line item portion of a bid for a lot of products;
a second computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to receive information specifying a bid for a lot of products, said bid including a plurality of line item portions for corresponding line items in said lot of products;
a third computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to analyze said adjustment to said one or more aspects of said bid for said lot of products based on said flexible line item decision rule to determine a corresponding adjustment to one or more aspects of one or more line item portions of said bid; and
a fourth computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to effect said corresponding adjustment to said one or more aspects of said one or more line item portions of said bid. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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34. A method to control line-item aspects in an electronic auction, comprising:
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defining a lot having a first line-item, a second line-item and a lot price, with each line-item having a line-item price comprising a first portion and a second portion;
receiving a request to modify said lot price; and
modifying a first portion of each line-item price on a pro-rated basis in accordance with said request. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. A method to control line-item aspects in an electronic auction, comprising:
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defining a lot having a first line-item, a second line-item, and a lot aspect, with each of said line-items having a line-item aspect comprising a first portion and a second portion;
receiving a request to modify said lot aspect; and
modifying a first portion of each line-item aspect on a pro-rated basis in accordance with said request. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A machine-readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to control line-item aspects in an electronic auction, by performing:
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defining a lot having a first lineitem, a second line-item and a lot price, with each line-item having a line-item price comprising a first portion and a second portion;
receiving a request to modify said lot price; and
modifying a first portion of each line-item price on a pro-rated basis in accordance with said request. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
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45. A machine-readable medium to control line-item aspects in an electronic auction, comprising:
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defining a lot having a first line-item, a second line-item, and a lot aspect, with each of said line-items having a lineitem aspect comprising a first portion and a second portion;
receiving a request to modify said lot aspect; and
modifying a first portion of each lineitem aspect on a pro-rated basis in accordance with said request. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49)
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Specification