Method, System and Apparatus for Matching Sellers to a Buyer Over a Network and for Managing Related Information
First Claim
1. A method for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and one of a number of sellers, the transaction related to a project specified by the buyer, the method comprising:
- identifying a set of sellers stored in a database;
for each processing cycle over a number of processing cycles, selecting sellers from the set for classification as sellers of a particular type; and
automatically enabling at least one action carried out by the sellers of the particular type.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved system and method for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and one of a number of sellers is provided. The transaction is related to a project specified by the buyer. A set of sellers are identified from a database. A flow control process operates over a number of processing cycles. In each processing cycle, the flow control process selects sellers from the set for classification as sellers of a particular type (“Invited Sellers”). The system automatically enables at least one action carried out by the sellers of the particular type. The duration of the processing cycles preferably varies over the processing cycles and is derived from a time period specified by the buyer as well as a predetermined constant that results in exponential reduction of the process cycle durations. The number of sellers selected for classification as sellers of a particular type preferably varies over processing cycles and depends upon a number of offers that are submitted by sellers of the particular type and received by the buyer. In the initial processing cycle, the number of sellers selected for classification as sellers of a particular type depends on a number of offers the buyer wishes to receive as dictated by input from the buyer. In the preferred embodiment, the at least one action enabled by the process includes: i) the sellers of the particular type submitting offers and information related to the offers and storing the offers and related information (such as multimedia files) in a database for access by the buyer; ii) the sellers of the particular type accessing detailed information related to the offer; iii) communication between the sellers of the particular type and the buyer; iv) automatic notification to the sellers of the particular type of their classification to the particular type; and/or v) automatic notification to the buyer of the sellers of the particular type.
118 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and one of a number of sellers, the transaction related to a project specified by the buyer, the method comprising:
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identifying a set of sellers stored in a database;
for each processing cycle over a number of processing cycles, selecting sellers from the set for classification as sellers of a particular type; and
automatically enabling at least one action carried out by the sellers of the particular type. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and one of a number of sellers, the transaction related to a project, the system comprising:
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means for interacting with a buyer over a communication network to specify a project and storing data related to the project in a database;
means for interacting with a number of sellers over the communication network and storing data related to the sellers in the database;
logic that performs an automated process for identifying a set of sellers stored in a database;
logic that operates of over a number of processing cycles, wherein in each processing cycle, the logic selects sellers from the set for classification as sellers of a particular type; and
logic that automatically enables at least one action carried out by the sellers of the particular type. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. An application server, operably coupled to the Internet, for facilitating a transaction between a buyer and one of a number of sellers, the transaction related to a project, the application server comprising:
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a database;
means for interacting with a buyer computer system over a communication network to specify a project and storing data related to the project in the database;
means for interacting with a number of seller computer systems over the communication network and storing data related to the sellers in the database;
logic that performs an automated process for identifying a set of sellers stored in a database;
logic that operates of over a number of processing cycles, wherein in each processing cycle, the logic selects sellers from the set for classification as sellers of a particular type; and
logic that automatically enables at least one action carried out by the sellers of the particular type.
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Specification