Systems and methods for allocating units to users in an online environment
US8392277B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 1, 2011 |
| Grant date | Mar 5, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 1, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06Q30/08
- WIPO fieldIT methods for management
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Described herein are systems and methods for allocating units to users, for example in the context of an online auction environment. In overview, the technology described herein provides for an auction process whereby a decrementing price is combined with a competitive hidden-bid process. Users participate in the auction for the purpose of obtaining a desired number of units from a stockpile of like units, such as bottles of a particular batch of wine. The users effectively have two modes of participation. The first is to purchase units at a system-defined price, which decrements at predetermined intervals. The second is to place a bid at a user-defined price, this bid being deemed as successful when the system-defined price decrements to a value of equal to or less than the user-defined price.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.