Computer implemented methods and apparatus for auctions
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented system for conducting an auction of a plurality of items, at least some of said items being dissimilar, said system comprising:
- a) an auctioneer'"'"'s system and at least two user systems, the auctioneer'"'"'s system communicatively coupled to user systems;
b) said user systems including;
b1) means for receiving messages from the auctioneer'"'"'s system and for displaying said messages;
b2) means for receiving bid related information from users, andb3) means for transmitting bid information to the auctioneer'"'"'s system, said bid information including bids (Si, Pi) each comprising a set identification Si and a value parameter Pi, where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact and where the value parameter Pi specifies a value proposed by the user for the set of items identified by Si, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying at least two different items; and
c) said auctioneer'"'"'s system including;
c1) means for generating and transmitting messages to at least one of said user systems, said messages including a non-final message indicating that the auction will continue and a final message indicating that the auction has terminated;
c2) means for receiving bid information from at least one of said user systems; and
c3) decision means responsive to the bid information received from the user systems for determining whether the auction should continue or terminate, said decision means including;
c31) selecting means which selects bids to maximize a function of the value parameters Pi of the selected bids;
c32) means to initiate the generation of a non-final message to at least one user system in response to a determination to continue the auction; and
c33) means to initiate the generation of a final message to at least one user system in response to a determination to terminate the auction.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer implemented system and method of executing an auction. The system has at least two intelligent systems, one for the auctioneer and at least one for a user. The auction is conducted by the auctioneer'"'"'s system communicating with the user system(s). The auctioneer'"'"'s system receives information from the user system(s) based on bid information entered by the user(s). With this information the auctioneer'"'"'s system determines whether the auction can be concluded or not and appropriate messages are transmitted to the user(s).
75 Citations
108 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented system for conducting an auction of a plurality of items, at least some of said items being dissimilar, said system comprising:
-
a) an auctioneer'"'"'s system and at least two user systems, the auctioneer'"'"'s system communicatively coupled to user systems; b) said user systems including; b1) means for receiving messages from the auctioneer'"'"'s system and for displaying said messages; b2) means for receiving bid related information from users, and b3) means for transmitting bid information to the auctioneer'"'"'s system, said bid information including bids (Si, Pi) each comprising a set identification Si and a value parameter Pi, where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact and where the value parameter Pi specifies a value proposed by the user for the set of items identified by Si, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying at least two different items; and c) said auctioneer'"'"'s system including; c1) means for generating and transmitting messages to at least one of said user systems, said messages including a non-final message indicating that the auction will continue and a final message indicating that the auction has terminated; c2) means for receiving bid information from at least one of said user systems; and c3) decision means responsive to the bid information received from the user systems for determining whether the auction should continue or terminate, said decision means including; c31) selecting means which selects bids to maximize a function of the value parameters Pi of the selected bids; c32) means to initiate the generation of a non-final message to at least one user system in response to a determination to continue the auction; and c33) means to initiate the generation of a final message to at least one user system in response to a determination to terminate the auction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A computer-implemented system for conducting an auction of dissimilar items, including multiple instances of each of plural dissimilar items, said system comprising:
-
a) an auctioneer'"'"'s system and at least two user systems, the auctioneer'"'"'s system communicatively coupled to user systems; b) said user systems including; b1) means for receiving messages from the auctioneer'"'"'s system and for displaying said messages; b2) means for receiving bid related information from users; and b3) means for transmitting bid information to the auctioneer'"'"'s system, said bid information including bids (Si, Pi) each comprising a set identification Si and a value parameter Pi, where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact and where the value parameter Pi specifies a value proposed by the user for a set of items identified by Si, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying at least two different items; and c) said auctioneer'"'"'s system including; c1) means for generating and transmitting messages to at least one of said user systems, said messages including a non-final message indicating that the auction will continue and a final message indicating that the auction has terminated; c2) means for receiving bid information from at least one of said user systems; and c3) decision means responsive to the bid information received from the user systems for determining whether the auction should continue or terminate, said decision means including; c31) selecting means which selects bids to maximize a function of the value parameters Pi of the selected bids subject to a constraint that the sets Si identified by the selected bids are compatible; c32) means to initiate the generation of a non-final message to at least one user system in response to a determination to continue the auction; and c33) means to initiate the generation of a final message to at least one user system in response to a determination to terminate the auction. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A computer-implemented method for conducting an auction of a plurality of items among a plurality of users, at least some of said items being dissimilar, the method comprising:
-
a) receiving bid related information from users and transmitting bid information for processing by a computer, said bid information including bids (Si, Pi) each comprising a set identification Si and a value parameter Pi, where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact and where the value parameter Pi specifies a value proposed by the user for the set of items identified by Si, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying at least two different items; b) determining at said computer, in response to the bid information, whether the auction should continue or terminate, said determining including selecting bids to maximize a function of the value parameters Pi of the selected bids; c) transmitting a message indicating that the auction will continue to at least one user, in response to a determination to continue the auction; and d) transmitting a message indicating that the auction will terminate to at least one user, in response to a determination to terminate the auction. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. A computer-implemented method for conducting an auction of a plurality of items among a plurality of users, at least some of said items being dissimilar, the method comprising:
-
a) receiving bid related information from users and transmitting bid information for processing by a computer, said bid information including bids (Si, Pi) each comprising a set identification Si and a value parameter Pi, where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact and where the value parameter Pi specifies a value proposed by the user for the set of items identified by Si, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying at least two different items; b) determining at said computer, in response to the bid information, whether the auction should continue or terminate, said determining including selecting bids to maximize a function of the value parameters Pi of the selected bids subject to a constraint that the sets Si identified by the selected bids are compatible; c) transmitting a message indicating that the auction will continue to at least one user, in response to a determination to continue the auction; and d) transmitting a message indicating that the auction will terminate to at least one user, in response to a determination to terminate the auction. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
-
-
41. A system for conducting a computer-implemented auction of a plurality of items among a plurality of users, at least some of said items being dissimilar, said system comprising:
-
a) means for receiving bid information, said bid information including bids (Si, Pi) each comprising a set identification Si and a value parameter Pi, where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact and where the value parameter Pi specifies a value proposed by the user for the set of items identified by Si, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying at least two different items; b) means for transmitting signals based on the bid information for processing by a computer; and c) means at said computer for determining, based on the signals, the items to be assigned to the users, said determining means including selecting means which selects bids to maximize a function of the value parameters Pi of the selected bids. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
-
-
51. A system for conducting a computer-implemented auction of dissimilar items, including multiple instances of each of plural dissimilar items, among a plurality of users, said system comprising:
-
a) means for receiving bid information, said bid information including bids (Si, Pi) each comprising a set identification Si and a value parameter Pi, where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact and where the value parameter Pi specifies a value proposed by the user for the set of items identified by Si, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying at least two different items; b) means for transmitting signals based on the bid information for processing by a computer; and c) means at said computer for determining, based on the signals, the items to be assigned to the users, said determining means including selecting means which selects bids to maximize a function of the value parameters Pi of the selected bids subject to a constraint that the sets Si identified by the selected bids are compatible. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
-
-
61. A method for conducting a computer-implemented auction of a plurality of items among a plurality of users, at least some of said items being dissimilar, in a system including an auctioneer'"'"'s system, the method comprising:
-
a) receiving bid information from at least one of said users, said bid information including one or more bids (Si, Pi), each bid comprising a set identification Si and a value parameter Pi, where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact and where the value parameter Pi specifies a value proposed by the user for the set of items identified by Si, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying at least two different items; b) transmitting signals based on the bid information to a computer; and c) determining at said computer, based on the signals, the items to be assigned to the users, said determining including selecting bids to maximize a function of the value parameters Pi of the selected bids. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
-
-
71. A method for conducting a computer-implemented auction of dissimilar items, including multiple instances of each of plural dissimilar items, among a plurality of users, the method comprising:
-
a) receiving bid information from at least one of said users, said bid information including one or more bids (Si, Pi), each bid comprising a set identification Si and a value parameter Pi, where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact and where the value parameter Pi specifies a value proposed by the user for the set of items identified by Si, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying at least two different items; b) transmitting signals based on the bid information to a computer; and c) determining at said computer, based on the signals, the items to be assigned to the users, said determining including selecting bids to maximize a function of the value parameters Pi of the selected bids subject to a constraint that the sets Si identified by the selected bids are compatible. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
-
-
81. A computer-implemented system for conducting an auction of a plurality of types of items among a plurality of users, a plurality of each type of item being auctioned, the system comprising:
-
a) means for transmitting to users information including at least a current proposed price for each of the plurality of types of items; b) means for receiving bid related information from users and transmitting bid information for processing by a computer, said bid information including bids each comprising a set identification Si where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact at the current proposed prices, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying a set containing at least two different types of items; c) means for selecting bids to maximize a function of values of the selected bids based on the current proposed prices; d) means for determining at said computer, in response to the bid information, whether the auction should continue or terminate; and e) means for transmitting a message to users indicating that the auction will continue in response to a determination to continue the auction, said message including an updated current proposed price for at least one of the types of items. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87)
-
-
88. A computer-implemented system for conducting an auction of a plurality of types of items among a plurality of users, a plurality of each type of item being auctioned, the system comprising:
-
a) means for transmitting to users information including at least a current proposed price for each of the plurality of types of items; b) means for receiving bid related information from users and transmitting bid information for processing by a computer, said bid information including bids each comprising a set identification Si where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact at the current proposed prices, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying a set containing at least two different types of items; c) means for selecting bids to maximize a function of values of the selected bids based on the current proposed prices subject to a constraint that the sets Si identified by the selected bids are compatible; d) means for determining at said computer, in response to the bid information, whether the auction should continue or terminate; and e) means for transmitting a message to users indicating that the auction will continue in response to a determination to continue the auction, said message including an updated current proposed price for at least one of the types of items. - View Dependent Claims (89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94)
-
-
95. A computer-implemented method for conducting an auction of a plurality of types of items among a plurality of users, a plurality of each type of item being auctioned, the method comprising:
-
a) transmitting to users information including at least a current proposed price for each of the plurality of types of items; b) receiving bid related information from users and transmitting bid information for processing by a computer, said bid information including bids each comprising a set identification Si where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that a user proposes to transact at the current proposed prices, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying a set containing at least two different types of items; c) selecting bids to maximize a function of values of the selected bids based on the current proposed prices; d) determining at said computer, in response to the bid information, whether the auction should continue or terminate; and e) transmitting a message to users indicating that the auction will continue in response to a determination to continue the auction, said message including an updated current proposed price for at least one of the types of items. - View Dependent Claims (96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101)
-
-
102. A computer-implemented method for conducting an auction of a plurality of types of items among a plurality of users, a plurality of each type of item being auctioned, the method comprising:
-
a) transmitting to users information including at least a current proposed price for each of the plurality of types of items; b) receiving bid related information from at least one of said users and transmitting bid information for processing by a computer, said bid information including bids each comprising a set identification Si where the set identification Si identifies a set of items that the user proposes to transact at the current proposed prices, at least one of the bids including a set identification Si identifying a set containing at least two different types of items; c) selecting bids to maximize a function of values of the selected bids based on the current proposed prices subject to a constraint that the sets Si identified by the selected bids are compatible; d) determining at said computer, in response to the bid information, whether the auction should continue or terminate; and e) transmitting a message to users indicating that the auction will continue in response to a determination to continue the auction, said message including an updated current proposed price for at least one of the types of items. - View Dependent Claims (103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108)
-
Specification