System and method for constraining depletion amount in a defined time frame
First Claim
1. A method for constraining a consumer'"'"'s ability to take delivery of a price protected commodity, comprising:
- presenting to a consumer a price protection contract for the purchase of a commodity, wherein the price protection contract specifies a locale and at least one lock price, quantity or delivery time frame such that commodity may be purchased at the lock price at one of a plurality of locations within the locale;
setting up an account associated with the price protection contract for the consumer at a price protection system accessible by the consumer over a network via one or more computing devices;
associating a virtual reserve of the price protected commodity with the account; and
specifying a time frame during which all or a predetermined portion of the virtual reserve is to be depleted, wherein the time frame comprises a plurality of time segments and each of the plurality of time segments is associated with a predefined quantity of the virtual reserve of the price protected commodity that is to be depleted correspondingly.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments disclosed herein provide price protection on commodity purchases in which a consumer can select, accept, or otherwise agree to a depletion constraint on the consumption of the commodity thus purchased. Based on the agreed depletion constraint, a provider may adjust terms and/or the price of the price protection. In some embodiments, the depletion constraint can be time-based, quantity-based, value-based, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the depletion constraint can be linear. In some embodiments, a consumer may be required to purchase a certain amount of the commodity during a specified time frame. In some embodiments, the provider of the price protection may receive a payment from the consumer when the retail price of the commodity at the time of the purchase is below a specified floor price. In some embodiments, the commodity is motor fuel.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for constraining a consumer'"'"'s ability to take delivery of a price protected commodity, comprising:
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presenting to a consumer a price protection contract for the purchase of a commodity, wherein the price protection contract specifies a locale and at least one lock price, quantity or delivery time frame such that commodity may be purchased at the lock price at one of a plurality of locations within the locale; setting up an account associated with the price protection contract for the consumer at a price protection system accessible by the consumer over a network via one or more computing devices; associating a virtual reserve of the price protected commodity with the account; and specifying a time frame during which all or a predetermined portion of the virtual reserve is to be depleted, wherein the time frame comprises a plurality of time segments and each of the plurality of time segments is associated with a predefined quantity of the virtual reserve of the price protected commodity that is to be depleted correspondingly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for constraining a consumer'"'"'s ability to take delivery of a price protected commodity, comprising:
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a processor and a computer memory storing instructions executable by the processor to; present to a consumer a price protection contract for the purchase of a commodity, wherein the price protection contract specifies a locale and at least one lock price, quantity or delivery time frame such that the commodity may be purchased at the lock price at one of a plurality of locations within the locale; set up an account associated with the price protection contract for the consumer at the system which is accessible by the consumer over a network; associate a virtual reserve of the price protected commodity with the account; and specify a time frame during which all or a predetermined portion of the virtual reserve is to be depleted, wherein the time frame comprises a plurality of time segments and each of the plurality of time segments is associated with a predefined quantity of the virtual reserve of the price protected commodity that is to be depleted correspondingly. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for constraining a consumer'"'"'s ability to take delivery of a price protected commodity within a locale, comprising:
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determining a plurality of depletion constraints based on volume, weight, mass, quantity, amount, time, currency, locale or a combination thereof; presenting a plurality of retail commodity price protection products to the consumer at a price protection system accessible by the consumer over a network via one or more computing devices, wherein each of the plurality of retail commodity price protection products is associated with at least one of the plurality of depletion constraints such that if the retail price of the commodity goes above the lock price in the locale, the consumer may purchase the commodity at the lock price at one of a plurality of locations within the locale; specifying a time frame during which a predefined portion of a virtual reserve of the price protected commodity is to be depleted in accordance with the at least one of the plurality of depletion constraints; and charging the consumer at a retail price for any amount depleted during the time frame over the predefined portion of the virtual reserve of the price protected commodity. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification