Computerized dispute resolution system and method
DCFirst Claim
1. A computer executable method for dispute resolution, operative to control a computer and stored on at least one computer readable medium, the method when executed comprising:
- a) receiving a plurality of demands from a first party for a claim;
b) receiving a plurality of settlement offers from a second party for the claim;
c) preventing disclosure of the demands to the second party, and preventing disclosure of the settlement offers to the first party;
d) calculating differences between the demands and the settlement offers in rounds, each of the differences being calculated in a round using one demand and one settlement offer, the one demand and the one settlement offer being unequal in value;
e) determining whether any of the differences fall within at least one predetermined criterion;
f) if any of the differences fall within the at least one predetermined criterion, transmitting a message to the first party and the second party that the claim is resolved; and
g) if the differences do not fall within the at least one predetermined criterion, transmitting a message that the claim has not been resolved.
9 Assignments
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computerized system for automated dispute resolution through an Intranet website via the Internet or other communications linkage for communicating and processing a series of demands to satisfy a claim made by or on behalf of a claimant or other person involved in a dispute with at least one other person, such as a defendant, his or her insurer, or other sponsor, and a series of offers to settle the claim through at least one central processing unit including operation system software for controlling the central processing unit is disclosed. Preferably the system also allows for the collection, processing and dissemination of settlement data generated from the settlement through the operation of the system for use by sponsors and claimants in establishing the settlement value of future cases. Also disclosed is a method for communicating and processing a series of demands and a series of offers through the system.
337 Citations
200 Claims
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1. A computer executable method for dispute resolution, operative to control a computer and stored on at least one computer readable medium, the method when executed comprising:
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a) receiving a plurality of demands from a first party for a claim;
b) receiving a plurality of settlement offers from a second party for the claim;
c) preventing disclosure of the demands to the second party, and preventing disclosure of the settlement offers to the first party;
d) calculating differences between the demands and the settlement offers in rounds, each of the differences being calculated in a round using one demand and one settlement offer, the one demand and the one settlement offer being unequal in value;
e) determining whether any of the differences fall within at least one predetermined criterion;
f) if any of the differences fall within the at least one predetermined criterion, transmitting a message to the first party and the second party that the claim is resolved; and
g) if the differences do not fall within the at least one predetermined criterion, transmitting a message that the claim has not been resolved. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
limiting the plurality of settlement offers which may be received to a maximum of three.
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5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
allowing one of the parties to specify a maximum number of rounds.
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6. The method of claim 1 wherein d), e), f) and g) are performed after receiving less than a maximum specified number of the plurality of demands.
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7. The method of claim 1 wherein all settlement offers are received before any of the demands are received.
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8. An automated method of settling a dispute between at least two parties using monetary demands and settlement offers, comprising:
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receiving an engagement request from a first party to engage an automated dispute resolution system, for a claim, and to be bound by a resolution of the claim transmitted from the automated dispute resolution system;
receiving an engagement indication from a second party to engage the automated dispute resolution system for the claim;
receiving a series of at least three monetary demands from the first party;
receiving a series of at least three settlement offers from the second party;
maintaining inaccessibility of the monetary demands from the second party;
maintaining inaccessibility of the settlements offers from the first party;
comparing a first demand of the series of monetary demands with a first settlement offer in a first round to determine if a first difference between the first monetary demand and the first settlement offer is within a predetermined guideline;
if, in the first round, the first difference is within the predetermined guideline, transmitting a successful dispute resolution notification to the first party and the second party;
if, in the first round, the first difference is not within the predetermined guideline, comparing a second demand of the series of monetary demands with a second settlement offer in a second round to determine if a second difference between the second monetary demand and the second settlement offer is within the predetermined guideline;
if, in the second round, the second difference is within the predetermined guideline, transmitting a successful dispute resolution notification to the first party and the second party;
if, in the second round, the second difference is not within the predetermined guideline, comparing a third demand of the series monetary demands with a third settlement offer in a third round to determine if a third difference between the third monetary demand and the third settlement offer is within the predetermined guideline; and
if, in the third round, the third difference is within the predetermined guideline, transmitting a successful dispute resolution notification to the first party and the second party. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
generating a settlement value notification including a settlement amount to be paid to the first party by the second party.
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11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
calculating the settlement amount using at least the monetary demand from the round in which the successful dispute resolution notification is transmitted.
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12. The method of claim 11 wherein the calculating also uses the settlement offer.
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13. The method of claim 8 wherein, if, in any of the first, second or third rounds, the successful dispute resolution notification is transmitted, the method further comprises:
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calculating a payment value for the claim from a pair of values used in the round for which the successful dispute resolution notification is transmitted; and
storing the payment value in an engaging party accessible database.
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14. The method of claim 8 wherein in the first round the first difference is not within the predetermined guideline, the method further comprising:
rendering the first monetary demand and the first settlement offer unavailable to the automated dispute resolution system for the second round.
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15. The method of claim 14 wherein in the second round the second difference is not within the predetermined guideline, the method further comprising:
rendering the second monetary demand and the second settlement offer unavailable to the automated dispute resolution system for the third round.
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16. The method of claim 15 wherein in the third round the third difference is not within the predetermined guideline, the method further comprising:
rendering the third monetary demand and the third settlement offer unavailable to the automated dispute resolution system.
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17. The method of claim 10 wherein the settlement amount is a median of one demand and one settlement offer. 0
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18. The method of claim 10 wherein the settlement amount is equal to an amount specified by one demand.
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19. The method of claim 8 wherein the predetermined guideline is that a single settlement offer and a single demand differ from each other by less than a fixed amount.
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20. The method of claim 19 wherein the fixed amount is $5,000.
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21. The method of claim 19 wherein the fixed amount is a calculated amount representing a percentage of one of the single settlement offer or the single demand.
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22. The method of claim 8 wherein the specified condition is that a single settlement offer is within a predetermined percentage of a single demand.
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23. The method of claim 22 wherein the predetermined percentage is 70%.
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24. The method of claim 23 wherein the predetermined percentage is 80%.
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25. The method of claim 8 wherein one of the series of three monetary demands is received before one of the series of three settlement offers.
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26. The method of claim 8 wherein one of the series of three settlement offers is received before one of the series of three monetary demands.
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27. A dispute resolution method for resolving a claim between two adverse parties in rounds, the method comprising:
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testing a pair of non-equal values in one of at least two rounds, one value in the pair submitted by one of the two adverse parties for the claim; and
calculating a binding settlement payment of an amount at least equal to a lower of the pair of the non-equal values, when a settlement determination algorithm used in the testing is satisfied by the pair of the non-equal values. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
limiting the settlement payment to the greater of the pair of non-equal values.
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29. The method of claim 27 further comprising:
receiving at least a value of the pair of non-equal values on a weekend day.
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30. The method of claim 27 further comprising:
receiving at least a value of the pair of non-equal values at a time other than between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on a weekday.
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31. The method of claim 27 further comprising:
storing the amount correlated to case specific information in a database.
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32. A method of operating a dispute resolution system comprising:
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receiving a plurality of values from each of a first and second party to a dispute, at least one of the plurality of values having been received via an internet connection;
matching, on a one for one basis, values from the first party and values from the second party to create a plurality of pairs without disclosing either the first party'"'"'s values to the second party or the second party'"'"'s values to the first party;
analyzing pairs in accordance with a preset formula such that if, when analyzed, a pair meets at least one specified criterion, the system will report to the first and second parties that a settlement is reached. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
when the at least one specified criterion is met, calculating a settlement value using at least a part of the pair.
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34. The method of claim 33 wherein the calculating comprises:
determining a median value for the pair.
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35. The method of claim 32 further comprising:
allowing the first party to make a selection of the preset formula.
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36. The method of claim 32 further comprising:
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prior to the receiving, requiring one of the first or second parties to make a selection of the preset formula; and
requiring another of the first or second parties to agree to the selection.
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37. The method of claim 32 further including:
receiving a sponsor identification number for the dispute and case description information.
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38. The method of claim 32 further including:
receiving information representing a venue for the dispute.
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39. The method of claim 32 further including:
receiving information representing a court for the dispute.
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40. A method comprising:
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registering a first entity in an automated dispute resolution system with respect to a case involving a claim;
following registration, receiving a case identifier and at least two monetary submissions from the first entity;
associating at least one proposed settlement amount submitted by a second entity with respect to the claim with at least one of the at least two monetary submissions;
processing a proposed settlement amount and one of the at least two monetary submissions in accordance with a specified algorithm to obtain a result; and
notifying the first entity that a settlement of the claim has been reached and of a payment amount, when the result meets a criterion agreed to by the first entity, without ever informing the first entity of the at least one proposed settlement amount. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
permanently discarding the at least one proposed settlement amount and the one of the at least two monetary submissions when the settlement has been reached.
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42. The method of claim 40 further comprising:
storing case related information for the settlement and the payment amount in the automated dispute resolution system for tabulation.
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43. A dispute settlement method comprising:
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receiving offers and demands with respect to a claim, each of the offers having been received via a password protected communication linkage and having an associated sequence number, and each of the demands having an associated sequence number;
matching offers against demands based upon a correspondence between the sequence numbers;
testing matched offers and demands against an algorithm;
generating a result in response to a testing of an offer and a demand; and
automatically reporting the result, without disclosing the offer or demand. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
discarding the offer and the demand.
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45. The method of claim 43 wherein, when the result is a settlement, the method further comprises:
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calculating a settlement amount according to a preestablished formula; and
reporting the settlement amount.
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46. The method of claim 43 further comprising:
obtaining an agreement from a claimant to participate in an indirect settlement negotiation using an on-line dispute settlement system and, when the result indicates a settlement, to be legally bound to settle the claim for an amount specified by the on-line dispute settlement system.
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47. The method of claim 43 further comprising:
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obtaining an agreement from a sponsor to participate in an indirect settlement negotiation;
generating an exposure amount using an offer submitted by the sponsor; and
informing the sponsor of the exposure amount.
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48. The method of claim 46 further comprising:
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generating a potential settlement gain amount using a demand; and
informing the claimant of the settlement gain amount.
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49. A method comprising:
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agreeing to at least one criterion which, when applied by a dispute resolution system to values and satisfied, will result in a settlement of a claim against a party for a payment amount specified by the dispute resolution system, the payment amount being derived from at least one of the values;
submitting a plurality of monetary values to the dispute resolution system via a security protected on line interface, which will be analyzed by the dispute resolution system using the at least one criterion without revealing any of the monetary values to the party;
receiving an indication that the at least one criterion is satisfied by an unrevealed value from the party and at least one of the plurality of monetary values; and
receiving a notification of the payment amount for the claim. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
receiving a message that the at least one criterion has not been satisfied for one unrevealed value for the party and one monetary value.
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51. The method of claim 49 wherein the payment amount is at least one of the plurality of monetary values.
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52. The method of claim 49 wherein the payment amount is greater than the at least one of the plurality of monetary values.
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53. The method of claim 49 further including:
logging in to the dispute resolution system through the internet.
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54. The method of claim 49 further including:
providing claim specific identification information.
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55. The method of claim 49 further including:
providing attorney contact information for the claim.
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56. The method of claim 54 further including:
tabulating the claim specific information.
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57. The method of claim 49 further including:
accessing the dispute resolution system using a web browser.
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58. The method of claim 49 further including:
submitting a plurality of cases to the dispute resolution system, the claim relating to one of the plurality of cases.
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59. A method comprising steps, stored in an automated dispute resolution system including a processor and storage, for dispute resolution, the method comprising:
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a step of executing a first program module, written in a markup language, for receiveing values submitted by a party via the internet, the values representing a series of proposed amounts for which a claim would be settled;
a step of executing a program object, written in an object oriented programming language, for sequentially comparing individual proposed amounts of the series of proposed amounts against individual proposed counter amounts of a series of proposed counter amounts, all of the proposed counter amounts being unavailable to the party, in order to determine if a difference between and of the sequentially compared individual proposed amounts and counter amounts is within a specified range and for generating a settlement indication if the difference is within the specified range; and
a step of executing a second program module for informing the party that the claim is settled by a payment of a calculated amount. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
a step for calculating a settlement amount according to a specified formula using an individual proposed amount as an input for the specified formula for specifying a payment to be made in settlement of the claim.
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61. The method of claim 59 further including:
a step for calculating a settlement amount according to a specified formula using an individual proposed counter amount as an input for the specified formula for specifying a payment to be made in settlement of the claim.
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62. The method of claim 59 further including:
a step for calculating a settlement amount according to a specified formula using both an individual proposed amount and an individual proposed counter amount as an input for the specified formula for specifying a payment to be made in settlement of the claim.
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63. The method of claim 59 further including:
a step for logging the party in.
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64. The method of claim 59 further including:
a step for collecting and processing settlement data using the processor.
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65. The method of claim 59 further including:
a step for checking administration authorization to enable an administrator to add a sponsor into the automated dispute resolution system.
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66. A method comprising:
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receiving a submission of a case from a sponsor;
receiving an agreement to at least one criterion which, if satisfied, would result in a binding settlement of the case;
generating a message for communication to a representative of a claimant involved in the case which invites the representative to participate in an automated dispute resolution negotiation for the case;
receiving a responsive agreement from the representative to participate and to be bound by the automated dispute resolution negotiation, if the at least one criterion is satisfied by demands submitted by the representative and correlated offers submitted by the sponsor;
receiving at least two demands submitted by the representative and an offer submitted by the sponsor, within a specified limited time period;
comparing one of the demands and the offer in a round of at least two rounds to determine if the at least one criterion is satisfied; and
if the at least one criterion is satisfied, generating an indication that the case is settled for a payment amount. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70)
requiring entry of a dispute identification number prior to receiving the demand and the offer.
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68. The method of claim 66 further comprising:
storing the payment amount for future retrieval.
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69. The method of claim 66 further comprising:
calculating the payment amount as a median of the one demand and the offer.
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70. The method of claim 66 further comprising:
calculating the payment amount as a value between the demand and the offer.
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71. A method comprising:
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receiving first signals including data representing a series of monetary amounts for a claim from a first entity;
preparing the first signals for automated testing against an algorithm by a dispute resolution system in conjunction with information from a second entity, the second entity being adverse to the first entity with respect to the claim;
receiving a response signal indicating that a test of one of the series of monetary amounts caused a settlement condition in the dispute resolution system;
forwarding a message including data representing a settlement amount, in response to the settlement condition, for ultimate delivery to the first entity. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
receiving second signals including the information from the second entity, the information having data representing at least one proposed settlement amount for the claim.
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73. The method of claim 71 wherein the first entity is one of a claimant, a representative of a claimant, or an attorney for the claimant.
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74. The method of claim 73 wherein the second entity is one of an insurer, a claims adjuster, an attorney for an insurer, a sponsor, a sponsor administrator, a system administrator, or an agent of a self-insured organization.
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75. The method of claim 71 wherein the first entity is one of an insurer, a claims adjuster, an attorney for an insurer, a sponsor, a sponsor administrator, a system administrator, or an agent of a self-insured organization.
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76. The method of claim 71 further including:
forwarding cookie data sent by the dispute resolution system for storage on a hard drive associated with either the first or second entity usable by the dispute resolution system to track usage by the first or second entity.
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77. A method of claim 76 further including:
receiving third signals from the dispute resolution system for forwarding to a computer associated with either the first or the second entity which, when received, would cause the computer to retrieve the cookie data from the hard drive and send it to the dispute resolution system.
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78. A method comprising:
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a) receiving first signals over a communications linkage from an insurer, the signals including data communicated for temporary storage, the data representing two values usable as offers to settle a claim, one of the two values being greater than the other of the two values;
b) sending a request to a claimant to submit demands representing different monetary amounts for which the claimant would settle the claim, without revealing any of the offers to the claimant;
c) receiving second signals representing a response from the claimant, the signals including a monetary demand;
d) comparing the monetary demand with a first of the offers and, if the comparison is within specified guidelines, informing the claimant, via transmitted information displayable on a web browser, that the claim will be settled for a specified amount that is calculated using at least the demand, otherwise, prompting the claimant to submit a new demand. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80, 81, 82)
if the comparison is within specified guidelines, informing the insurer by mail that the claim will be settled for the specified amount.
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80. The method of claim 78 further comprising:
prior to receiving the first signals, providing access to tabulated information from a plurality of settled cases.
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81. The method of claim 78 further comprising:
tabulating case specific information from a plurality of settled cases for which specified amounts were calculated, so that the case specific information is accessible according to categories.
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82. The method of claim 81 wherein the categories include at least one of:
a court, a venue, an attorney, a settlement payment amount, and a sponsor.
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83. A method of automated on-line dispute resolution comprising:
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maintaining an interface to the internet through which a claimant can submit demands for a claim to a dispute resolution system and receive indications therefrom such that, when the claimant submits multiple demands via the interface to the dispute resolution system and the dispute resolution system pairs the multiple demands with offers of settlement for the claim on a one-to-one basis, a comparison will be performed in accordance with at least one criterion and the claimant will be provided with either a positive or negative indication, via the interface, as to whether or not the at least one criterion is satisfied for a pair. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86)
forwarding received information, via the interface, for display to the claimant including a settlement value supplied by the dispute resolution system calculated when the at least one criterion is satisfied.
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85. The method of claim 83 further comprising:
hosting the dispute resolution system.
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86. The method of claim 83 further comprising:
storing a processor executable program which, when executed, performs the comparison and provides the claimant with the either positive or negative indication for the claim.
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87. A system comprising:
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a first value, selected from at least two values submitted on line by a first entity;
a second value submitted on line by a second entity, the first value being inaccessable to the second entity and the second value being inaccesssible to the first entity, the first value and the second value bien different in magnitude from each other;
a proxy including an input, an output and a computer executable program, the program being structured to, when executing, accept a pair of values from adverse entities via the input and return a result indicator to the proxy based upon a mathematical comparison of the pair of values in a round of at least two rounds, the program being further structured to provide a payment value for the clim to at least one of the adverse entities via the output when the result indicator indicates that at least one of the adverse entities via the output when the result indicator indicates that at least one predetermined criterion is satisfied for one of the at least two rounds. - View Dependent Claims (88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130)
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122. The system of cliam 121 wherein the formula is a median of the pair of values which caused the at least one predetermined criterion to be satisfied.
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131. A dispute resolution application stored on at least one computer accessible storage medium for execution by a processor comprising:
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a plurality of modules which, when executed by the processor;
accepts and compares paired monetary values submitted by two entities adverse to each other with respect to a claim, discards the paired monetary values which differ from each other by more than a specified range, calculates a settlement amount to be paid by one entity to another entity if a pair of the monetary values differ from each other within the specified range based upon the pair and then discards the pair, and provides the settlement amount for delivery to the two entities.
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132. A method of automated dispute resolution in a system with at least one central processing unit comprising:
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(a) introducing into the central processing unit, information corresponding to a series of rounds of demands to satisfy a claim received from a first party for a dispute without disclosure of the demands to any parties adverse to the first party in the dispute;
(b) introducing into the central processing unit, information corresponding to a series of rounds of offers to settle the claim received from a second party, adverse to the first party, for the dispute without disclosure of the offers to any parties adverse to the second party in the dispute;
(c) steps (a) and (b) occuring in any order;
(d) comparing the information corresponding to the series of demands and the series of offers on a round-by-round basis in accordance with preestablished conditions;
(e) determining, using the central processing unit, if a settlement of the dispute is caused by a demand and an offer in a round by meeting the preestablished conditions;
(f) if the demand and the offer in the round cause the settlement, calculating a settlement payment equal to one of;
(i) a first amount, calculated in accordance with a first preestablished formula, of the offer in the round is less than the demand and within a preestablished percentage of the demand in the same round, or (ii) the demand, if the offer in the round is the same as or greater than the demand, or (iii) a second amount, calculated in accordance with a second preestablished formula, if the offer is not within the preestablished percentage of the demand in all individual rounds but the difference between a particular offer and a corresponding demand is less than a preestablished amount;
(g) permanently deleting the series of demands and the series of offers when either none of the series of demands and series of offers meet the preestablished conditions of the settlement payment has been calculated; and
(h) communicating either failure to settle message, when none of the series of demands and series of offers meet the preestablished conditions and every difference between individual unsuccessful offers and corresponding demands is greater that a preetablished amount, or a settlement message inluding the settlement payment, when the preestablished conditions are met or the offer is not within the preestablished percentage of the demand in all rounds but the difference between the particular offer and the corresponding demand is less than the preestablished amount.
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133. A system for automated dispute resolution comprising:
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a processor for processing demands and offers;
means for introducing to the processor, via a communications linkage, information identifying a dispute, a series of demands to satisfy a claim made by or on behalf of a person involved in the dispute, and a series of offers to settle the claim by an entity adverse to the person for the claim;
memory means, accessible by the processor, for storing the information identifying the dispute and for temporarily storing the series of demands to satisfy the claim and the series of offers to settle the claim for use by the processor in a series of rounds without disclosure of the series of demands to the adverse entity or series of offers to the person;
comparison means, in communicating relationship with the processor, for receiving and comparing one of the series of demands and one of the series of offers, against each other on a round-by-round basis, in accordance with preestablished conditions until either all of the series of demands and series of offers have been exhausted or a settlement is indicated for a demand and an offer in a round, such that, if the settlement is indicated the claim is settled for;
(a) an amount, in accordance with a first preestablished formula, if the offer in the round in which the preestablished condition is met is less than the demand and within a preestablished percentage of the demand in the round, (b) the demand, if the offer in any round is the same as or greater than the demand, and (c) an amount in accordance with a second preestablished formula, if the offer is not within the preestablished condition in all rounds but the difference between a particular offer and a corresponding demand is less than a preestablished amount;
means for permanently inhibiting a reuse of an unsuccessful demand, or unsuccessful offer, by the comparison means in a subsequent round; and
means for communicating a result of the comparison to the person and the entity. - View Dependent Claims (134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141)
means for generating voice messages through a telephone linkage for guiding a user in a use of the system.
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139. The system of claim 133 further comprising:
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security means for preventing an access of the system until provision to the system of at least one of;
a) a case identification number identifying the dispute, b) a security code corresponding to the dispute, or c) an administrator code for the person or the entity.
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140. The system of claim 133 further comprising
time keeping means for associating an entry time with at least a first of the series of demands to satisfy the claim and at least a first of the series of offers to settle the claim. -
141. The system of claim 133 wherein all of the series of demands and the series of offers are received by the system at different times.
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142. A computerized system for automated dispute resolution through a communications linkage for communicating and processing a series of demands to satisfy a claim made by or on behalf of a person involoved in a dispute with at least on other person and a series of offers to settle the claim through at least one central processing unit including operating system software for controlling the central processing unit, means for introducing information into the central processing unit corresponding to the identification of the dispute and the persons involved in the dispute, memory means for storing the information corresponding to the identification of the dispute and the persons involved in the dispute, means for introducing by or on behalf of a first person involved in the dispute against whom a claim is made information into the central processing unit corresponding to a series of rounds to settle a claim without disclosure of the offers to other persons involved in the dispute, means for introducing by or on behalf of a second person involved in the dispute information into the central processing unit corresponding to a series of rounds of demands to satisfy the claim without disclosure of the demands to other persons involved in the dispute, comparison means for comparing the information corresponding to the series of demands and the series of offers on a round-by-round basis in accordance with preestablished conditions including
(a) that the claim is settled for an amount in accordance with a first preestablished formula if the offer in any round is less than the demand and within a preestablished percentage of the demand in the same round; -
(b) that the claim is settled for the demand amount if the offer in any round is the same as or greater than the demand; and
(c) that the claim is not settled if the offer is not within the preestablished percentage of the demand in all rounds unless the difference between the offer and demand is less than a preestablished amount in which case the claim is settled for an amount, in accordance with a second preestablished formula, means for permanently deleting the demand and the offer in each round that does not result in a settlement upon comparison of the demand and the offer in said round based upon said preestablished conditions, and means for communicating to the first and second persons or representatives thereof the results of the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151)
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152. A method comprising:
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receiving a submission of a case from a sponsor;
receiving an agreement to at least one criterion which, if satisfied, would result in a binding settlement of the case;
generating a message for communication to a representative of a claimant involoved in the case which invites the representative to participate in an automated dispute resolution negotiation for the case;
receiving a responsive agreement from the representiative to participate and to be bound by the automated dipute resolution negotiation, if the at least on critireon is satisfied by demands submitted by the representative and correlated offers submittec by the sponsor;
receiveing a demand submitted by the representative and at least two offers submitted by the sponsor, within a specified limited time period;
comparing the demand and one of the offers in a round of at least two rounds to determine if the at least one criterion is satisfied; and
if the at least one criterion is satisfied, generating an indication that the case is settled for a payment amount. - View Dependent Claims (153, 154, 155)
requiring entry of a dispute identification number prior to receiving the demand and the offer.
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154. The method of claim 152 further comprising:
storing the payment amount for future retrieval.
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155. The method of claim 152 further comprising:
calculating the payment amount as a median of demand and the offer.
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156. A system comprising:
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a first value, submitted on line by a first entity;
a second value, selected from at least two values submitted on line by a second entity, the first and second entities being adverse to each other wit respect to a claim, the first value being inaccessible to the second entity and the second value being inaccessible to the first entity, the first value and the second value being different in magnitude from each other;
a proxy including an input, an output and a computer executable program, the program being structured to, when executing, accept a pair of values from adverse entities via the input and return a result indicator to the proxy based upon a mathematical comparison of the pair of values in a round of at least two rounds, the program being further structured to provide a payment value for the claim to at least one of the adverse entities via the output when the result indicator indicates that at least one predetermined criterion is satisfied for one of the at least two rounds. - View Dependent Claims (157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200)
claim specific data indicative of a geographic area.
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178. The system of claim 157 further including a time indicator which, when exceeded, will cause the proxy to take a predetermined action with regard to at least one of the first or second values.
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179. The system of claim 178 wherein, the predetermined action is a discarding of the at least one of the first or second values.
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180. The system of claim 178 wherein the first and second values are withdrawable and the predetermined action prevents a withdrawal of one of the first or second values.
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181. The system of claim 157 further including an entity accessible detail log including a correlation of payment values and claim specific information.
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182. The system of claim 181 wherein the entity accessible detail log is written in a markup language.
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183. The system of claim 156 further including an exposure calculator.
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184. The system of claim 183 wherein the exposure calculator is written in an object oriented programming language.
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185. The system of claim 184 wherein the object oriented programming language includes JAVAScript.
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186. The system of claim 156 wherein the first value is one of a plurality of sequentially submitted first values and the second value is one of a plurality of sequentially submitted second values, all of the sequentially submitted vlaues being inaccessible to the entity that did not submit them, and wherein the program is further sturctured to utilize another of the plurality of sequentially submitted first values, specified by the first entity, in place of the first value and another of the plurality of sequentially submitted second values, specified by the second entity, in place of the second value when the result indicator indicates that the at least one predetermined criterion is not satisfied for the first and second values.
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187. The system of claim 186 wherein each of the plurality of first values is submitted by the first entity according to a specified order.
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188. The system of claim 156 further including a program execution limit which provides a limit on a number of times the proxy will accept the pair of values.
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189. The system of claim 188 wherein the program execution limit is three.
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190. The system of claim 186 wherein the plurality of first values submitted by the first entity is two.
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191. The system of claim 156 further including a payment calculator which, when the at least one predetermined criterion has been satisfied, will calculate, in accordance with a formula, a monetary amount to be paid by one entity to the other to settle the claim.
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192. The system of claim 191 wherein the formula is a median of the pair of values which caused the at least one predetermined criterion to be satisfied.
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193. The system of claim 191 wherein the formula is the greater of the pair of values which caused the at least one predetermined criterion to be satisfied.
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194. The system of claim 186 further including an entity searchable database including data relating to settled claims.
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195. The system of claim 194 wherein the data includes geographic information for each settled claim.
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196. The system of claim 194 wherein the data includes a monetary amount for each settled claim.
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197. The system of claim 194 wherein the system further includes a communication link over which the entity searchable database can be accessed by an entity prior to submitting an offer or a demand.
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198. The system of claim 186 wherein the first plurality of values are demands from a claimant.
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199. The system of claim 186 wherein the first plurality of values are offers from an insurer.
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200. The system of claim 156 wherein the first value is one of a plurality of sequentially submitted first values and the second value is one of a plurality of sequentially submitted second values, all of the sequentially submitted values being inaccessible to the entity that did not submit them, and wherein an acceptance of a pair of values by the program along with the returning of the result indicator constitutes a round.
Specification