Method for conducting an on-line bidding session with bid pooling

• US 7,277,867 B1
• Filed: 09/01/2000
• Issued: 10/02/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hanger Solutions, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Health Hero Network Incorporated (Robert Bosch GmbH)
• Inventors: Brown, David W., Brown, Stephen J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Laneau; Ronald
• Application Number:
  US09/653,664
• Time in Patent Office: 2,587 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/26, 705/27, 705 35- 44, 709/217, 709/219, 709/227, 340/825.26, 340/825.27, 340/825.3
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

The invention presents a method for conducting an on-line bidding session to accumulate a collective bid for a property. The bidding session is conducted over a computer network that includes a central computer, a number of remote computers, and communication lines connecting the remote computers to the central computer. According to the method, at least one bidding group is registered in the central computer. The bidding group can be an association, institution, or group of investors formed for the purpose of bidding together for the property. The bidding group has a total bid for the property which is tracked in the central computer. The central computer receives bids entered from the remote computers by members of the bidding group. Each bid includes an individual bid amount which is contributed to the total bid of the group to accumulate the collective bid for the property.

Claims

1. A method of conducting an on-line bidding session, comprising:

storing registered bidding groups in a computer accessible database coupled to a processor in an auction computer, each of the registered bidding groups including a list of associated bidders;

receiving bids from bidders on a plurality of remote computers;

determining a respective bidding group'"'"'s total bid by accumulating the bids received from bidders included in the respective bidding group'"'"'s list of associated bidders; and

storing the determined total bid in the database.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising creating registration records in the database, each registration record corresponding to a bidder account and including a bidder name, a bidder identification and a financial account number.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving bids from bidders includes receiving the respective bidder name and respective bidder identification from the bidders and the method further comprises:

verifying, using the processor, whether the respective bidder name and respective identification match a registration record stored in the database; and

recording a bid record in the database if the respective bidder name and the respective identification have a verified match.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining if the respective bidding group'"'"'s total bid exceeds a threshold, and if so declaring the bidding group associated with the respective total bid a winning group;

retrieving the recorded bid records associated with the respective total bid;

determining at least one bidder account that corresponds to the retrieved bid records; and

charging the at least one bidder account at least one of the bid amounts included in the bid records.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after determining the total bid associated with the respective bidding group, sending the determined total bid over a computer network to at least one remote computer of at least one bidder associated with the respective bidding group.

6. A method of conducting an auction comprising

registering a plurality of bidding groups;

receiving bids from bidders, each bid including a respective bid designation corresponding to one of the plurality of bidding groups;

associating each bid with the one of the plurality of bidding groups corresponding to the respective bid designation;

declaring a winning bidding group for the auction from the plurality of bidding groups based upon the bids associated with each bidding group; and

displaying the winning bidding group for bidders to view.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each bidding group has a corresponding total bid amount and each bid further includes a respective bid amount that is contributed to the total bid amount for the corresponding bidding group.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the winning bidding group has the largest total bid amount at the end of a bidding session of the auction.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying the total bid amount for one or more of the plurality of bidding groups.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein registering the plurality of bidding groups uses at least one central computer coupled to a network.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the network comprises the Internet.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the network comprises one or more communication lines.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising using one or more remote computers coupled to the network to receive bids.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the auction is on-line.

15. The method of claim 6, further comprising creating one or more bidder accounts.

16. The method of claim 6, wherein associating each bid with at least one of the plurality of bidding groups comprises bid pooling.

17. The method of claim 6, wherein the auction continues until a pre-defined threshold occurs.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the pre-defined threshold comprises a period of time.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the pre-defined threshold comprises a minimum bidding activity.

20. A method of conducting an auction, comprising:

registering a plurality of bidding groups;

receiving bids from bidders, each bid including a bid designation corresponding to one of the plurality bidding groups;

contributing a respective bid amount in each bid to at least one total bid amount corresponding to at least one of the plurality of bidding groups;

declaring a winning bidding group from the plurality of bidding groups; and

notifying the bidders that the winning bidding group has been declared.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the winning bidding group has the largest total bid amount at the end of the bidding session.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising using at least one central computer coupled to a network to register the plurality of bidding groups.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the network comprises the Internet.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the network comprises one or more communication lines.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising using one or more remote computers coupled to the network to receive bids.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein the auction is on-line.

27. The method of claim 20, further comprising creating one or more bidder accounts.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein contributing the respective bid amount in each bid to at least one total bid amount corresponding to at least one of the plurality of bidding groups comprises bid pooling.

29. The method of claim 20, further comprising displaying the total bid amount for one or more of the plurality of bidding groups.

30. The method of claim 20, wherein the auction continues until a pre-defined threshold occurs.

31. The methods of claim 30, wherein the pre-defined threshold is a period of time.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the pre-defined threshold is a minimum bidding activity.

33. The method of claim 20, wherein the winning bidding group is declared based upon a total bid associated with the winning bidding group exceeding a pre-defined threshold.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the pre-defined threshold comprises a minimum price for a property being auctioned.