System and method for an automated system of record
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. An apparatus for providing an automated system of record for at least one negotiation, comprising:
- a multivariate negotiations system executing in a processor and including storage space and negotiations software, such negotiations software including an automated negotiations engine for analyzing terms, the analysis of terms comprising understanding the purpose of the terms, formatting the terms according to the purpose, and placing them into user supplied context for use by a user, the automated negotiations engine being responsive to a destination terminal for a first user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the destination terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, the automated negotiations engine also being responsive to an initiating terminal for a second user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the initiating terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, during iterative processing the automated negotiations engine recognizing the users at the destination terminal and the initiating terminal as negotiators and recognizing one of the users as a deciding entity, such automated negotiations engine further recognizing any changes in the terms and storing in the storage space the terms each terminal proposes, and recognizing the terminal to which proposed terms are being sent as the indicated terminal, and sending terms to the indicated terminal, the automated negotiations engine indicating any changes in the terms until a set of terms is acted upon in a final manner by the deciding entity;
a contract authority for assigning a unique identifier to such a negotiation;
a security function for validating that the terms stored by the automated negotiations engine for such a negotiation identified by the unique identifier have appropriate access controls and privilege safeguards.
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Abstract
An automated system of record creates and administers a sponsored community for participants. Participants use an automated negotiations engine for iterative, multivariate negotiations that stores each set of terms at each iteration to form a system of record. The automated negotiations engine can also be used to propose and negotiate specifications, prototypes and implementations of other systems. An active contract feature informs the results of such negotiations, by incorporating predefined templates to track activity related to the concluded negotiation. The system implements a higher level of security by validating activities against the originally negotiated terms. A contract authority assigns a unique identifier to each transaction to track activities against the transaction for analysis and reporting. A multiple repository enables users to maintain the non-repudiation data for transactions in which they participate at user designated locations. Participants can also use process mining to measure the effectiveness of processes.
139 Citations
97 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing an automated system of record for at least one negotiation, comprising:
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a multivariate negotiations system executing in a processor and including storage space and negotiations software, such negotiations software including an automated negotiations engine for analyzing terms, the analysis of terms comprising understanding the purpose of the terms, formatting the terms according to the purpose, and placing them into user supplied context for use by a user, the automated negotiations engine being responsive to a destination terminal for a first user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the destination terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, the automated negotiations engine also being responsive to an initiating terminal for a second user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the initiating terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, during iterative processing the automated negotiations engine recognizing the users at the destination terminal and the initiating terminal as negotiators and recognizing one of the users as a deciding entity, such automated negotiations engine further recognizing any changes in the terms and storing in the storage space the terms each terminal proposes, and recognizing the terminal to which proposed terms are being sent as the indicated terminal, and sending terms to the indicated terminal, the automated negotiations engine indicating any changes in the terms until a set of terms is acted upon in a final manner by the deciding entity;
a contract authority for assigning a unique identifier to such a negotiation;
a security function for validating that the terms stored by the automated negotiations engine for such a negotiation identified by the unique identifier have appropriate access controls and privilege safeguards. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18)
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9. A method for providing an automated system of record for at least one negotiation, comprising the steps of:
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operating a multivariate negotiations system including storage space and negotiations software, such negotiations software including an automated negotiations engine for analyzing terms, the analysis of terms comprising understanding the purpose of the terms, formatting the terms according to the purpose, and placing them into user supplied context for use by a user, the automated negotiations engine being responsive to a destination terminal for a first user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the destination terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, the automated negotiations engine also being responsive to an initiating terminal for a second user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the initiating terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, during iterative processing the automated negotiations engine recognizing the users at the destination terminal and the initiating terminal as negotiators and recognizing one of the users as a deciding entity, such automated negotiations engine further recognizing any changes in the terms and storing in the storage space the terms each terminal proposes, and recognizing the terminal to which proposed terms are being sent as the indicated terminal, and sending terms to the indicated terminal, the automated negotiations engine indicating any changes in the terms until a set of terms is acted upon in a final manner by the deciding entity;
assigning a unique identifier, through a contact authority, to such a negotiation;
validating, through a security function, that the terms stored by the automated negotiations engine for such a negotiation identified by the unique identifier have appropriate access controls and privilege safeguards. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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17. An apparatus for providing an automated system of record for at least one negotiation so that the automated system of record can be stored in multiple repositories, comprising:
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a multivariate negotiations system including storage space and negotiations software, such negotiations software executing in a processor and including an automated negotiations engine for analyzing terms, the analysis of terms comprising understanding the purpose of the terms, formatting the terms according to the purpose, and placing them into user supplied context for use by a user, the automated negotiations engine being responsive to a destination terminal for a first user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the destination terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, the automated negotiations engine also being responsive to an initiating terminal for a second user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the initiating terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, during iterative processing the automated negotiations engine recognizing the users at the destination terminal and the initiating terminal as negotiators and recognizing one of the users as a deciding entity, such automated negotiations engine further recognizing any changes in the terms and storing in the storage space the terms each terminal proposes, and recognizing the terminal to which proposed terms are being sent as the indicated terminal, and sending terms to the indicated terminal, the automated negotiations engine indicating any changes in the terms until a set of terms is acted upon in a final manner by the deciding entity;
a contract authority for assigning a unique identifier to such a negotiation; and
a multiple repository manager for propagating data into multiple repositories using the unique identifier and for managing any updates which may apply to the multiple repositories. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 22)
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21. A method for providing an automated system of record for at least one negotiation so that the automated system of record can be stored in multiple repositories, comprising the steps of:
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operating a multivariate negotiations system including storage space and negotiations software, such negotiations software including an automated negotiations engine for analyzing terms, the analysis of terms comprising understanding the purpose of the terms, formatting the terms according to the purpose, and placing them into user supplied context for use by a user, the automated negotiations engine being responsive to a destination terminal for a first user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the destination terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, the automated negotiations engine also being responsive to an initiating terminal for a second user communicating with the multivariate negotiations system, the initiating terminal including software for sending and receiving terms along a communications path which flows through the multivariate negotiations system, during iterative processing the automated negotiations engine recognizing the users at the destination terminal and the initiating terminal as negotiators and recognizing one of the users as a deciding entity, such automated negotiations engine further recognizing any changes in the terms and storing in the storage space the terms each terminal proposes, and recognizing the terminal to which proposed terms are being sent as the indicated terminal, and sending terms to the indicated terminal, the automated negotiations engine indicating any changes in the terms until a set of terms is acted upon in a final manner by the deciding entity;
assigning, through a contract authority, a unique identifier to such a negotiation; and
propagating data, through a multiple repository manager, into multiple repositories using the unique identifier and managing any updates which may apply to the multiple repositories. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. An apparatus for providing an automated system of record for automatically processing at least one negotiation between first and second users who are communicating over a network to each other negotiation terms that include a plurality of variables, comprising:
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a contract authority for assigning a unique identifier to such a negotiation;
a security program for validating that the terms stored for such a negotiation identified by the unique identifier have appropriate access controls and privilege safeguards; and
negotiations software executing in a processor and configured to process such a negotiation by;
responding to and recognizing the first and second users as negotiators, designating one of the users as a deciding entity;
receiving a negotiation term from one of the users;
analyzing the negotiation term to understand its purpose;
formatting the negotiation term according to the understood purpose;
placing the formatted negotiation term into a context supplied by at least one of the users;
indicating a detected change in a negotiation term to at least one of the users;
sending the negotiation term to one of the users;
storing the negotiation term; and
repeating the above processing until a signal is received from the deciding entity to stop negotiations. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for providing an automated system of record for automatically processing at least one negotiation between first and second users who are communicating over a network to each other negotiation terms that include a plurality of variables, comprising the steps of:
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assigning a unique identifier, through a contact authority, to such a negotiation;
validating, through a security program, that the terms stored for such a negotiation identified by the unique identifier have appropriate access controls and privilege safeguards;
responding to and recognizing the first and second users as negotiators;
designating one of the users as a deciding entity;
receiving a negotiation term from one of the users;
analyzing the negotiation term to understand its purpose;
formatting the negotiation term according to the understood purpose;
placing the formatted negotiation term into a context supplied by at least one of the users;
indicating a detected change in a negotiation term to at least one of the users;
sending the negotiation term to one of the users;
storing the negotiation term; and
repeating the above steps until a signal is received from the deciding entity to stop negotiations. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. An apparatus for storing in multiple repositories an automated system of record for automatically processing at least one negotiation between first and second users who are communicating over a network to each other negotiation terms that include a plurality of variables, comprising:
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a contract authority for assigning a unique identifier to such a negotiation;
a multiple repository manager for propagating data into multiple repositories using the unique identifier and for managing any updates which may apply to the multiple repositories; and
negotiations software executing in a processor and configured to process such a negotiation by;
responding to and recognizing the first and second users as negotiators, designating one of the users as a deciding entity;
receiving a negotiation term from one of the users;
analyzing the negotiation term to understand its purpose;
formatting the negotiation term according to the understood purpose;
placing the formatted negotiation term into a context supplied by at least one of the users;
indicating a detected change in a negotiation term to at least one of the users;
sending the negotiation term to one of the users;
storing the negotiation term; and
repeating the above processing until a signal is received from the deciding entity to stop negotiations. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. A method for storing in multiple repositories an automated system of record for automatically processing at least one negotiation between first and second users who are communicating over a network to each other negotiation terms that include a plurality of variables, comprising the steps of:
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assigning, through a contract authority, a unique identifier to such a negotiation;
propagating data, through a multiple repository manager, into multiple repositories using the unique identifier and managing any updates which may apply to the multiple repositories;
responding to and recognizing the first and second users as negotiators, designating one of the users as a deciding entity;
receiving a negotiation term from one of the users;
analyzing the negotiation term to understand its purpose;
formatting the negotiation term according to the understood purpose;
placing the formatted negotiation term into a context supplied by at least one of the users;
indicating a detected change in a negotiation term to at least one of the users;
sending the negotiation term to one of the users;
storing the negotiation term; and
repeating the above until a signal is received from the deciding entity to stop negotiations. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48)
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49. An apparatus for automatically processing at least one negotiation between first and second users who are communicating over a network to each other negotiation terms that include a plurality of variables, comprising:
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negotiations software executing in a processor and configured to process the negotiation by;
responding to and recognizing the first and second users as negotiators, designating one of the users as a deciding entity;
receiving a negotiation term from one of the users;
analyzing the negotiation term to understand its purpose;
formatting the negotiation term according to the understood purpose;
placing the formatted negotiation term into a context supplied by at least one of the users;
indicating a detected change in a negotiation term to at least one of the users;
sending the negotiation term to one of the users;
storing the negotiation term; and
repeating the above processing until a signal is received from the deciding entity to stop negotiations. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A method for automatically processing negotiations between first and second users who communicate to each other negotiation terms that include a plurality of variables, the method comprising the following steps:
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establishing a communications path over a network;
responding to and recognizing the first and second users as negotiators;
designating one of the users as a deciding entity;
receiving a negotiation term from one of the users;
analyzing the negotiation term to understand its purpose;
formatting the negotiation term according to the understood purpose;
placing the formatted term into a context supplied by at least one of the users;
indicating a detected change in a negotiation term to at least one of the users;
sending the negotiation term to one of the users;
storing the negotiation term; and
repeating the above steps until a signal is received from the deciding entity to stop negotiations. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86)
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87. An apparatus for providing electronic non-repudiation for automatically processing at least one negotiation between first and second users who are communicating to each other over a secure communications path on a network negotiation terms that include a plurality of variables, comprising:
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control software executing in a processor for providing controlled access to a secure storage space;
archiving software executing in a processor for storing terms in the secure storage space;
negotiations software executing in a processor and communicating over the network and configured to process the negotiation by;
responding to and recognizing the first and second users as negotiators, designating one of the users as a deciding entity;
receiving a negotiation term from one of the users over the secure communications path;
decrypting the negotiation term;
analyzing the negotiation term to understand its purpose;
formatting the negotiation term according to the understood purpose;
placing the formatted negotiation term into a context supplied by at least one of the users;
indicating a detected change in a negotiation term to at least one of the users;
encrypting the negotiation term;
sending the negotiation term over the secure communications path to one of the users;
archiving the negotiation term in the secure storage space; and
repeating the above processing until a signal is received from the deciding entity to stop negotiations. - View Dependent Claims (88, 89, 90, 91)
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92. A method for providing electronic non-repudiation for automatically processing at least one negotiation between first and second users who are communicating to each other negotiation terms that include a plurality of variables, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a secure communications path over a network;
responding to and recognizing the first and second users as negotiators, designating one of the users as a deciding entity;
receiving a negotiation term from one of the users over the secure communications path;
decrypting the negotiation term;
analyzing the negotiation term to understand its purpose;
formatting the negotiation term according to the understood purpose;
placing the formatted negotiation term into a context supplied by at least one of the users;
indicating a detected change in a negotiation term to at least one of the users;
encrypting the negotiation term;
sending the negotiation term over the secure communications path to one of the users;
archiving the negotiation term; and
repeating the above processing until a signal is received from the deciding entity to stop negotiations. - View Dependent Claims (93, 94, 95, 96)
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97. A machine readable medium for storing a system for automatically processing at least one negotiation between first and second users who are communicating over a network to each other negotiation terms that include a plurality of variables, comprising:
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negotiations software executing in a processor and configured to process the negotiation by;
responding to and recognizing the first and second users as negotiators, designating one of the users as a deciding entity;
receiving a negotiation term from one of the users;
analyzing the negotiation term to understand its purpose;
formatting the negotiation term according to the understood purpose;
placing the formatted negotiation term into a context supplied by at least one of the users;
indicating a detected change in a negotiation term to at least one of the users;
sending the negotiation term to one of the users;
storing the negotiation term; and
repeating the above processing until a signal is received from the deciding entity to stop negotiations.
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Specification