Method and system for handling disruptions in the management of electronic auctions
First Claim
1. A method to control bid status in an electronic auction, comprising the steps of:
- (a) offering a lot, defined at least in part by a buyer, to a plurality of potential sellers, said lot having at least one product;
(b) defining a closing time for said lot before which bids for said lot are to be submitted by potential sellers;
(c) setting a bidding status for said lot to a first status indicating that the buyer will accept bids from potential sellers of said lot;
(d) determining whether an auction pausing event has occurred;
(e) if an auction pausing event has occurred, changing said bidding status for said lot from said first status to a paused status indicating that the buyer will not accept bids from the potential sellers on said lot and that all existing bids for said lot are preserved;
(f) altering said closing time for said lot during said paused status for said lot; and
(g) changing said bidding status for said lot from said paused status to said first status once said auction pausing event has been corrected.
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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.
116 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method to control bid status in an electronic auction, comprising the steps of:
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(a) offering a lot, defined at least in part by a buyer, to a plurality of potential sellers, said lot having at least one product;
(b) defining a closing time for said lot before which bids for said lot are to be submitted by potential sellers;
(c) setting a bidding status for said lot to a first status indicating that the buyer will accept bids from potential sellers of said lot;
(d) determining whether an auction pausing event has occurred;
(e) if an auction pausing event has occurred, changing said bidding status for said lot from said first status to a paused status indicating that the buyer will not accept bids from the potential sellers on said lot and that all existing bids for said lot are preserved;
(f) altering said closing time for said lot during said paused status for said lot; and
(g) changing said bidding status for said lot from said paused status to said first status once said auction pausing event has been corrected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method to control bid status in an electronic auction, comprising the steps of:
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(a) offering a plurality of lots, defined at least in part by a buyer, to a plurality of potential sellers, each of said plurality of lots having at least one product;
(b) defining an opening and a closing time for each of said plurality of lots;
(c) setting it bidding status for at least one of said plurality of lots to a first status indicating that the buyer will accept bids from potential sellers of said lot;
(d) determining whether an auction pausing event has occurred;
(e) if an auction pausing event has occurred, changing said bidding status for at least one of said plurality of lots to a paused status indicating that the buyer will not accept bids from the potential sellers on said lot and that any existing bids for said lot are preserved;
(f) altering at least one of said opening time and said closing time for at least one of said plurality of lots during said paused status for said lot; and
(g) changing said bidding status for said lot from said paused status to a second status once said auction pausing event has been corrected. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system to control bid status in an electronic auction, comprising:
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means for offering a lot, defined at least in part by a buyer, to a plurality of potential sellers, said lot having at least one product;
means for defining a closing time for said lot before which bids for said lot are to be submitted by potential sellers;
means for setting a bidding status for said lot to a first status indicating that the buyer will accept bids from potential sellers of said lot;
means for determining whether an auction pausing event has occurred;
means for changing said bidding status for said lot from said first status to a paused status indicating that the buyer will not accept bids from the potential sellers on said lot and that all existing bids for said lot are preserved if an auction pausing event has occurred;
means for altering said closing time for said lot during said paused status for said lot;
means for changing said bidding status for said lot from said paused status to said first status once said auction pausing event has been corrected. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A computer program product for enabling a processor in a computer system to control bid status 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 offer a lot, defined at least in part by a buyer, to a plurality of potential sellers, said lot having at least one product;
a second computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to define a closing time for said lot before which bids for said lot are to be submitted by potential sellers;
a third computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to set a bidding status for said lot to a first status indicating that the buyer will accept bids from potential sellers of said lot;
a fourth computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to determine whether an auction pausing event has occurred, a fifth computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to change said bidding status for said lot from said first status to a paused status indicating that the buyer will not accept bids from the potential sellers on said lot and that all existing bids for said lot are preserved;
a sixth computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to alter said closing time for said lot during said paused status for said lot; and
a seventh computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to change said bidding status for said lot from said paused status to said first status once said auction pausing event has been corrected. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A system to control bid status in an electronic auction, comprising:
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means for offering a plurality of lots, defined at least in part by a buyer, to a plurality of potential sellers, each of said plurality of lots having at least one product;
means for defining an opening and a closing time for each of said plurality of lots;
means for setting a bidding status for at least one of said plurality of lots to a first status indicating that the buyer will accept bids from potential sellers of said lot;
means for determining whether an auction pausing event has occurred;
paused status indicating that the buyer will not accept bids from the potential sellers on said lot and that any existing bids for said lot are preserved if an auction pausing event has occurred;
means for altering at least one of said opening time and said closing time for at least one of said plurality of lots during said paused status for said lot; and
means for changing said bidding status for said lot from said paused status to a second status once said auction pausing event has been corrected. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer program product for enabling a processor in a computer system to control bid status im an electronic auction, said computer product a 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 offer a plurality of lots, defined at least in part by a buyer, to a plurality of potential sellers, each of said plurality of lots having at least one product;
a second computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to define an opening and a closing time for each of said plurality of lots;
a third computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to set a bidding status for at least one of said plurality of lots to a first status indicating that the buyer will accept bids from potential sellers of said lot;
a fourth computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to determine whether an auction pausing event has occurred;
a fifth computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to change said bidding status for at least one of said plurality of lots to a paused status indicating that the buyer will not accept bids from the potential sellers on said lot and that any existing bids for said lot are preserved if an auction pausing event has occurred;
a sixth computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to alter at least one of said opening time and said closing time for at least one of said plurality of lots during said paused status for said lot; and
a seventh computer readable program code means for enabling the computer system to change said bidding status for said lot from said paused status to a second status once said auction pausing event has been corrected. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification