System and method for providing private demand-driven pricing

• US 8,725,651 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2006
• Issued: 05/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Staddon, Jessica Nicola, Kissner, Lea
• Primary Examiner(s): Kalinowski, Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): DEGA, MURALI K
• Application Number:
  US11/592,078
• Publication Number:
  US 20080114682A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,750 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1- 79
• US Class Current: 705/64
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A system and method for providing private demand-driven pricing for fixed cost digital goods are described. An encrypted price of identically-priced digital goods is additively perturbed. The digital goods are stored in a database by a seller system and an approximate revenue maximizing price for the digital goods has not been realized. A purchasing decision about one of the digital goods based upon the additively-perturbed price is sent to the seller system without revealing the particular digital good. A conditionally disclosed symmetric key is received in return under which the digital goods in the database have been encrypted. The purchaser system and seller system engage in symmetric private information retrieval on the database. The purchaser system decrypts the digital good purchased with the symmetric key. The seller system privately updates the encrypted price of the digital goods to close on the approximate revenue maximizing price whenever a purchase is made.

Claims

1. A computerized online system for private fixed cost digital goods pricing, comprising:

an e-commerce server with a processor and a memory configured to execute code, comprising;

a database to store an encrypted price of identically-priced digital goods offered for sale on an online vendor system;

a pricing module to adjust the stored encrypted price by a constant to determine a target price;

a seller module to update the original stored encrypted price of the digital good with the adjusted encrypted price, wherein said updated encrypted price is not known to the seller module and approaches the target price; and

an encryption module to homomorphically encrypt the adjusted encrypted price to create a homomorphically encrypted price; and

a purchaser client with a processor and memory to execute code to provide to the online vendor system purchasing decision information about a particular digital good at the homomorphically encrypted price regardless of whether the decision is to purchase the particular digital good, wherein the purchasing decision information does not include the identity of the particular digital good.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the original stored encrypted price is additively adjusted to create the adjusted encrypted price.

3. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a symmetric key under which the digital goods are encrypted by partially homomorphic encryption and symmetric encryption, wherein the symmetric key is disclosed to the purchaser system on the condition that the purchasing decision information includes a decision to purchase the particular digital good.

4. A system according to claim 2, wherein the additively-adjusted price is provided without revealing the particular digital good and the nature of the purchasing decision.

5. A method for private fixed cost digital goods pricing, comprising the steps of:

offering for sale on an online vendor system a plurality of digital goods with an identical price;

encrypting the price;

storing the encrypted price on a database;

determining a target price by adjusting the stored encrypted price by a constant;

homomorphically encrypting the adjusted encrypted price to create a homomorphically encrypted price;

providing to the online vendor system purchasing decision information about a particular digital good at the homomorphically encrypted price regardless of whether the decision is to purchase the particular digital good, wherein the purchasing decision information does not include the identity of the particular digital good; and

updating the original stored encrypted price of the digital goods with the adjusted encrypted price, wherein said updated encrypted price is not known to the online vendor system and approaches the target price,

wherein all the steps are executed on a suitably programmed computer.

6. A method according to claim 5, further comprising:

additively adjusting the original stored encrypted price to create the adjusted encrypted price.

7. A method according to claim 5, further comprising:

encrypting the digital goods under a symmetric key;

disclosing the symmetric key on the condition that the purchasing decision information includes a decision to purchase the particular digital good; and

retrieving the encrypted digital good by applying the symmetric key within a partially homomorphic encryption and symmetric encryption.

8. A method according to claim 6, wherein the additively-adjusted price is provided without revealing the particular digital good and the nature of the purchasing decision.

9. A computerized online system for providing private demand-driven pricing for fixed cost digital goods, comprising:

an e-commerce server with a processor and a memory configured to execute code, comprising;

a database to store an encrypted price of identically-priced digital goods offered for sale on an online vendor system that has been additively-adjusted, wherein a target price has not been realized;

a pricing module to decrypt the digital good purchased by applying the symmetric key to a partially homomorphic encryption metric encryption;

an encryption module to homomorphically encrypt the additively-adjusted price to create a homomorphically encrypted price; and

a seller system module to update the original encrypted price of the digital goods, wherein said encrypted price is not known to the seller system module and approaches the target price whenever a purchase is made; and

a purchaser client with a processor and a memory to execute code, comprising;

a purchasing module to send to the online vendor system purchasing decision information about one of the digital goods at the homomorphically encrypted price regardless of whether the decision is to purchase one of the digital goods, wherein the purchasing decision information does not include the identity of the particular digital good, and to receive in return, on the condition that the purchasing decision information includes a decision to purchase the digital good, a symmetric key under which the digital goods in the database have been encrypted.

10. A system according to claim 9, wherein the seller system determines a new balance of an account held by the purchaser client comprising a homomorphic encryption of a current balance debited by the additively-adjusted price of the digital goods.

11. A method for providing private demand-driven pricing for fixed cost digital goods, comprising the steps of:

additively adjusting an encrypted price of identically-priced digital goods that are stored in a database by a seller system, wherein a target price has not been realized;

homomorphically encrypting the additively-adjusted price to create a homomorphically encrypted price;

sending purchasing decision information about one of the digital goods at the homomorphically encrypted price regardless of whether the decision is to purchase one of the digital goods from a purchaser system to the seller system, wherein the purchasing decision information does not include the identity of the particular digital good;

receiving in return, on the condition that the purchasing decision information includes a decision to purchase the digital good, a symmetric key under which the digital goods in the database have been encrypted;

decrypting the digital good purchased by applying the symmetric key to a partially homomorphic encryption and symmetric encryption; and

updating the encrypted price of the digital goods, wherein said encrypted price is not known to the seller system and approaches the target price whenever a purchase is made,

wherein all the steps are executed on a suitably programmed computer.

12. A method according to claim 11, further comprising:

determining a new balance of an account held by the purchaser system comprising a homomorphic encryption of a current balance debited by the additively-adjusted price of the digital goods.