Multi-party electronic transactions
First Claim
1. A method for transacting multi-party electronic commerce over a network, comprising:
- creating a plurality of atomic offers associated with a plurality of suppliers;
creating a plurality of hierarchical offers based on the plurality of atomic offers, the plurality of hierarchical offers including;
at least one first-level offer including at least a first one of the plurality of atomic offers, andat least one second-level offer including the first-level offer and at least a second one of the plurality of atomic offers not included within the first-level offer,creating at least one counter offer associated with a consumer;
storing the plurality of atomic offers, the plurality of hierarchical offers and the counter offer in a computer memory;
matching the counter offer to one of the plurality of hierarchical offers to create a zero-sum offer; and
closing the zero-sum offer,wherein the first one of the plurality of atomic offers is an atomic offer for a first good or service, and the second one of the plurality of atomic offers is an atomic offer for a second good or service different from the first good or service.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system is provided for facilitating the closure of a multi-party transaction consisting of multiple offers. In this system, atomic offers are generated by or on behalf of parties that produce or provide basic goods or services or other things of value. A broker, supplier, dealer, purchaser or other party may aggregate multiple offers (including atomic offers and other aggregated offers) to form a multi-party offer. Offers may be initiated by buyers as well as sellers and, when a buyer'"'"'s and a seller'"'"'s offers match (e.g., on price and/or other terms), a zero-sum offer is generated and the multi-party transaction can be closed. Closing a transaction involves a first stage in which payment of the agreed-upon funds and shipment of goods/services are authorized. More particularly, the availability of the funds and the goods/services are verified. In a second phase the funds are committed and the goods/services are obligated by being held for shipment or performance. Finally, the funds are remitted to each supplier, broker and other intermediary that provided value after shipment and or delivery are verified. Advantageously, closure of the transaction allows collective settling of all the offers included in the transaction rather than requiring each to be settled separately.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for transacting multi-party electronic commerce over a network, comprising:
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creating a plurality of atomic offers associated with a plurality of suppliers; creating a plurality of hierarchical offers based on the plurality of atomic offers, the plurality of hierarchical offers including; at least one first-level offer including at least a first one of the plurality of atomic offers, and at least one second-level offer including the first-level offer and at least a second one of the plurality of atomic offers not included within the first-level offer, creating at least one counter offer associated with a consumer; storing the plurality of atomic offers, the plurality of hierarchical offers and the counter offer in a computer memory; matching the counter offer to one of the plurality of hierarchical offers to create a zero-sum offer; and closing the zero-sum offer, wherein the first one of the plurality of atomic offers is an atomic offer for a first good or service, and the second one of the plurality of atomic offers is an atomic offer for a second good or service different from the first good or service. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer readable medium including instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to perform a method for transacting multi-party electronic commerce over a network, the method comprising:
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creating a plurality of atomic offers associated with a plurality of suppliers; creating a plurality of hierarchical offers based on the plurality of atomic offers, the plurality of hierarchical offers including; at least one first-level offer including at least a first one of the plurality of atomic offers, and at least one second-level offer including the first-level offer and at least a second one of the plurality of atomic offers not included within the first-level offer; creating at least one counter offer associated with a consumer; storing the plurality of atomic offers, the plurality of hierarchical offers and the counter offer in a memory; matching the counter offer to one of the plurality of hierarchical offers to create a zero-sum offer; and closing the zero-sum offer, wherein the first one of the plurality of atomic offers is an atomic offer for a first good or service, and the second one of the plurality of atomic offers is an atomic offer for a second good or service different from the first good or service. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for transacting multi-party electronic commerce over a network, comprising:
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an offer processing server, having a memory and coupled to a network, adapted to; create a plurality of atomic offers associated with a plurality of suppliers, create a plurality of hierarchical offers based on the plurality of atomic offers, the plurality of hierarchical offers including; at least one first-level offer including at least a first one of the plurality of atomic offers, and at least one second-level offer including the first-level offer and at least a second one of the plurality of atomic offers not included within the first-level offer, create at least one counter offer associated with a consumer, store the plurality of atomic offers, the plurality of hierarchical offers and the counter offer in the memory, match the counter offer to one of the plurality of hierarchical offers to create a zero-sum offer, and close the zero-sum offer; wherein the first one of the plurality of atomic offers is an atomic offer for a first good or service, and the second one of the plurality of atomic offers is an atomic offer for a second good or service different from the first good or service; a payment server, coupled to the network, to exchange payments between the consumer and the plurality of suppliers; and a fulfillment server, coupled to the network, to exchange messages associated with the zero-sum offer between the consumer and the plurality of suppliers. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification