171 results about "Electronic markets" patented technology

Utilization of the E-Metro Community and Personal Information Agents assure an effective and comprehensive agent-rule based command and control of informational assets in a networked computer environment. The concerns of informational privacy and informational self-determination are addressed squarely by the invention affording persons and entities a trusted means to author, secure, search, process, and exchange personal and / or confidential information in a networked computer environment. The formation of trusted electronic communities wherein members command and control their digital persona, exchanging or brokering for value the trusted utility of their informational assets is made possible by the invention. The present invention provides for the trusted utilization of personal data in electronic markets, providing both communities and individuals aggregate and individual rule-based control of the processing of their personal data.

The present invention provides an internet based or locally hosted business to business full service secure commercial electronic marketplace which facilitates transactions between suppliers and buyers. The system transforms the suppliers' content into generic content and enables the suppliers to review, correct and update the supplier content. The system distributes the content back to the supplier and to selected buyers in a generic and usable format across multiple forums. The system further provides multiple levels of sourcing for the suppliers and buyers including a private on-contract sourcing level, a, private off-contract sourcing level, a private index off-contract sourcing level, a private supplier or seller sourcing level, a public buyer sourcing level, and content distribution for buy side sourcing levels, supply side sourcing levels, multi-buyer exchanges and multi-supplier exchanges.

An Internet-based consumer product brand marketing communication system which enables manufacturers, retailers and their respective agents, and consumers to carryout product-related functions along the demand side of the retail chain. A central RDBMS (i.e. data warehouse) stores a central database of consumer product related information resource files (IRFs) each IRF being indexed with a Universal Product Number (UPN) assigned thereto by the manufacturer of the consumer product, or its designated agent, which relates to the consumer product. A first subsystem enables a manufacturer's marketing, brand and / or product managers to create and manage a local RDBMS containing UPN-indexed IRFs related to the consumer products of the manufacturer being offered for sale in both physical and / or electronic marketplaces, and periodically transport the local RDBMS of UPN-indexed IRFs to the central RDBMS by electronic data transport techniques. The local RDBMS of UPN-indexed IRFs is selected by the manufacturer's marketing, brand and / or product managers so as to create a desired brand image for each the consumer product of the manufacturer. A second subsystem enables consumers to access one or more UPN-indexed IRFs in the central RDBMS, to request and obtain information about a manufacturer's consumer product so as to make informed / educated purchases along the demand side of the retail chain. A third subsystem enables manufacturers and their advertising and marketing agents to access one or more UPN-indexed IRFs in the central RDBMS to display consumer product advertisements to consumers, at or near the point of purchase or sale within both physical and / or electronic retail shopping environments so as to project the desired brand image to consumers. A fourth subsystem enables retailers and their marketing and promotional agents to access one or more UPN-indexed IRFs in the central RDBMS, to promote consumer products to consumers, at or near the point of purchase or sale within both physical and / or electronic retail shopping environments so as to promote the sale of such products in inventory.

A method and system for providing integrated credit derivative brokerage services, the method or system including or using a credit trading arrangement, a credit trade capture arrangement, a trade management service arrangement to process trade data for the credit trading arrangement and the credit trade capture arrangement, and a central repository arrangement to store market data and shared reference data.

An Internet-based consumer product marketing, merchandising and education / information system which enables manufacturers, their agents, retailers and their agents, and consumers to carryout product-related functions along the demand side of the retail chain. A central UPN / TM / PD / URL RDBMS stores a central database of UPN / TM / PD / URL links. A first subsystem enables a manufacturer's marketing, brand and / or product managers to create and manage a local database of UPN / TM / PD / URL links related to the consumer products of the manufacturer being offered for sale in both physical and / or electronic marketplaces, and periodically transport local database of UPN / TM / PD / URL links to central UPN / TM / PD / URL RDBMS by electronic data interchange techniques. The local database of UPN / TM / PD / URL links is managed within a local UPN / TM / PD / URL RDBMS, and selected by the manufacturer's marketing, brand and / or product managers so as to create a desired brand image for each consumer product of the manufacturer. A second subsystem enables consumers to access one or more UPN / TM / PD / URL links in central UPN / TM / PD / URL RDBMS, to request and obtain information about a manufacturer's consumer product so as to make informed / educated purchases along the demand side of the retail chain. A third subsystem enables manufacturers and their advertising and marketing agents to access one or more UPN / TM / PD / URL links in central UPN / TM / PD / URL RDBMS, to display consumer product advertisements to consumers, at or near the point of purchase or sale within both physical and / or electronic retail shopping environments so as to project the desired brand image to consumers. A fourth subsystem enables retailers and their marketing and promotional agents to access one or more UPN / TM / PD / URL links in central UPN / TM / PD / URL RDBMS, to promote consumer products to consumers, at or near the point of purchase or sale within both physical and / or electronic retail shopping environments so as to promote the sale of such products in inventory.

An automated consumer to business electronic marketplace system is presented, wherein various aspects of user status, user behavior or operation of a vehicle associated with user are monitored and reported to an electronic marketplace. Suppliers of insurance products and other suppliers of automobile or personal products or services may offer users prices for products or services based on the data reported. The system may further allow the user to choose monitoring and reporting options based on discounts offered for certain reporting options.

An automotive consumer to business electronic marketplace system is presented, wherein various aspects of vehicle operation, driver status or driver behavior are monitored and reported to an electronic marketplace. Suppliers of insurance products and other suppliers of automobile products or services may offer vehicle owners prices for products or services based on the data reported. The system may further allow the driver to choose monitoring and reporting options based on discounts offered for certain reporting options.

The invention is a system, method and computer software application for electronic currency trading exchange. It creates a centralized electronic marketplace for currency trading in which a central processing server automatically matches buy and sell orders for a plurality of currency pairs, and where trades registration, clearing and settlement are centrally performed. The invention further provides a method of presentation of foreign exchange currency buy / sell orders and executed trades data displayed by means of graphical user interfaces for showing buy / sell orders prices for all price levels and executed trades prices and volumes. Government central banks, commercial banks and selected brokers-dealers worldwide will participate in trading as Exchange Members of the trading exchange thus enabling them to trade with each other on one centralized currency trading marketplace. Other brokers-dealers and individual traders will trade on the exchange by establishing business relations and signing special agreements with Exchange Members. Exchange Members and other exchange traders will receive a computer software application with an Orders graphic user interface for sending buy and sell orders to the disclosed system. Trades will be created by matching the orders, they will be registered on the on the system's central processing server and then will be transferred for clearing and settlement. Trades details will be disseminated to Exchange Members and then further to their clients and correspondents.

An efficient system for implementing an electronic market. The system includes a first mechanism for defining a set of attributes and associated descriptor variables involved in market transactions. Importance values are assigned to the descriptor variables by the first mechanism. A second mechanism computes match scores for the market transactions based on the importance values. A third mechanism employs the match scores to clear the electronic market. In the specific embodiment, the first mechanism includes an administrator interface, which allows an administrator to define the descriptor variables. A configurator communicates with the administrator interface and allows the administrator to assign a first set importance values to corresponding descriptor variables. The first set importance values includes default importance values or importance values assigned to the descriptor variables by a seller seeking to transact with a buyer via the electronic market. The administrator interface allows an administrator to configure a user interface of the market to allow market participants to assign a second set of importance values to different descriptor variables. The second set of importance values includes buyer and seller importance values. The descriptor variables and associated descriptor importance values may be continuous or discrete. A matching engine computes the match scores for market transactions based on a predetermined evaluation method specified via the administrator interface and based on a unique match score computation method.

A method and system for buying and selling services online includes a process for custom services, a commodity process and a collaborative workspace on a website. The process for custom services includes the posting by a buyer of specific criteria for a desired service, the bidding by a seller to perform the service, and the selection of a seller by the buyer. The commodity process includes the posting by a seller of a service offering, the posting by the buyer of requirements for the purchase of the service offering, and the purchase of a service offering by the buyer. The commodity process may also include an optimization process that provides the buyer with an optimized list of service offerings. The collaborative workspace includes communication tools, a file structure, workbenches and project management tools used by the buyer and seller for facilitating the setup, development and release of one or more services.

A method for managing electronic trading is provided. In an electronic market having trade matching rules, a plurality of first orders each associated with an account are received. A contra order is also received at the electronic market. For each of one or more first orders, it is electronically determined whether that order is a related first order by determining whether the account associated with that order has a particular relationship with the particular account associated with the contra order. Without intentionally introduced delay, one or more particular first orders, including one or more related first orders, are electronically determined to trade with the contra order based at least on the trade matching rules and the determination of related first orders. One or more trades between the one or more particular first orders and the contra order are automatically executed.

A multi-participant financial transaction with no downside risks that results in a net profit for all participants when the transaction is accomplished according to certain required steps, including the step of having simultaneously closings in escrow. A multi-step approach to issuing and selling custom-designed, specially engineered and underwritten securities or bank instruments is also described.

A promotional marketing method for an electronic marketplace, wherein a user gains exclusive, limited access to the marketplace upon purchase of a membership item. Systems and methods for assigning a virtual prize to a buyer within an electronic marketplace. Systems and methods for creating a product line of collectibles and shipping materials based on a theme established from an image of a graphic.

Broadly, the invention provides an Electronic Marketplace Solution (EMS) which may be embodied, in part or in whole, as a method, system or computer readable medium of instructions. The invention provides a business to business Internet portal serving companies operating within the convenience marketplace. In one embodiment, the invention is an Internet portal which assists: Independent Convenience Retailers through the provision of a single system to sell, buy and pay for goods / services and manage their business more effectively; Organised Convenience Groups, by providing them access to improved network management, the ability to ensure compliance and the ability to reduce costs; FMCG Manufacturers in the areas of secondary supply chain efficiencies, by improved business intelligence and direct access to Convenience Retailers; Wholesalers / Logistics Providers, for reduced costs and improved efficiency and enabling them to expand their customer base; and / or Service Providers, by enabling them to more efficiently reach a large target market.

A method and system for buying and selling services online includes a process for custom services, a commodity process and a collaborative workspace on a website. The process for custom services includes the posting by a buyer of specific criteria for a desired service, the bidding by a seller to preform the service, and the selection of a seller by the buyer. The commodity process includes the posting by a seller of a service offering, the posting by the buyer of requirements for the purchase of the service offering, and the purchase of a service offering by the buyer. The commodity process may also include an optimization process that provides the buyer with an optimized list of service offerings. The collaborative workspace includes communication tools, a file structure, workbenches and project management tools used by the buyer and seller for facilitating the setup, development and release of one or more services.

Processing natural language user inputs into a more formal, machine-readable, structured query representation used for making an item recommendation. Analyses of user inputs are coordinated via a knowledge graph constructed from categories, attributes, and attribute values describing relatively frequently occurring prior interactions of various users with an electronic marketplace. The knowledge graph has directed edges each with a score value based on: the conditional probabilities of category / attribute / attribute value interactions calculated from user behavioral patterns, associations between user queries and structured data based on historical buyer behavioral patterns in the marketplace, metadata from items made available for purchase by sellers used to better define buyers' requirements, and / or world knowledge of weather, locations / places, occasions, and item recipients that map to inventory-related data, for generating relevant prompts for further user input. The knowledge graph may be dynamically updated during a multi-turn interactive dialog.

The current invention is a Sports Fantasy Game based on the internet where each Sports Figure is broken into fantasy shares and then offered and traded like securities in a continuous auction and call market auction format. Players compete for prizes by assembling the largest portfolio of shares and collecting the most dividends or payouts (dividends) based on shares they own when the Sports Figure gets points or completes specific tasks in the actual game.

Utilization of the E-Metro Community and Personal Information Agents assure an effective and comprehensive agent-rule based command and control of informational assets in a networked computer environment. The concerns of informational privacy and informational self-determination are addressed squarely by the invention affording persons and entities a trusted means to author, secure, search, process, and exchange personal and / or confidential information in a networked computer environment. The formation of trusted electronic communities wherein members command and control their digital persona, exchanging or brokering for value the trusted utility of their informational assets is made possible by the invention. The present invention provides for the trusted utilization of personal data in electronic markets, providing both communities and individuals aggregate and individual rule-based control of the processing of their personal data.

The present invention relates to a method of monitoring, aggregation and presentation of prices listed for products in multiple electronic marketplaces. Specifically, the present invention allows for stock-like monitoring of product prices over a time period and across multiple electronic marketplaces. The resulting display of product price trends provides potential buyers and sellers with insight into the fair value of a product and the power to make their buying or selling decisions.

Systems and methods for transforming formal and informal natural language user inputs into a more formal, machine-readable, structured representation of a search query. In one scenario, a processed sequence of user inputs and machine-generated prompts for further data from a user in a multi-turn interactive dialog improves the efficiency and accuracy of automated searches for the most relevant items available for purchase in an electronic marketplace. Analysis of user inputs may discern user intent, user input type, a dominant object of user interest, item categories, item attributes, attribute values, and item recipients. Other inputs considered may include dialog context, item inventory-related information, and external knowledge to improve inference of user intent from user input. Different types of analyses of the inputs each yield results that are interpreted in aggregate and coordinated via a knowledge graph based on past users' interactions with the electronic marketplace and / or inventory-related data.

A system and apparatus generates trading algorithms as data feeds. These data feeds are derived from market data feeds from electronic trading platforms. Functions of invention include the generation of the feeds as market microstructure analytics, trading algorithm building blocks, market behavior and risk estimates that are synchronized with underlying market data feeds. The invention incorporates utilities for agent-driven simulation of multiple electronic markets, and real-time testing and calibration of trading strategies. By delivering critical market dynamics that have not been available so far to market participants, the invention is projected to cut the cost of designing, implementing, and validating trading strategies while also increasing trading performance significantly. The invention will have an equalizing effect on trading by enabling retail investors to remain competitive with high speed traders. This equalizing effect will complement many trading platforms' initiatives for attracting retail flow to enhance their trading volumes and liquidity quality.

A system and method for turning a buyer into a prospective seller in an electronic marketplace. After the buyer enters into a binding agreement to purchase an item, the buyer is provided with an option of re-listing the purchased item for resale. The purchased item is re-listed if the buyer opts to re-list it. An ecommerce listing to sell the purchased item is automatically generated based on the previous listing. The user only needs to provide the selling price to complete the listing. The purchased item can be re-listed in the same marketplace where the item was purchased or in a different marketplace.

An exchange server communicates with advertiser, publisher, and customer computers over the Internet through cooperative software to provide an electronic market for the distribution of promotional material using installation packages for installing publisher software applications on the customer computers. By interfacing with the exchange server through the cooperative software, publishers can offer to distribute other registered parties' promotions to the publishers' customers, for specified bounties and under specified constraints, using installation packages for installing their applications on their customers' computers. Conversely, the publishers or non-publishing advertisers can accept other publishers' similar offers to promote their own products or services. The exchange server not only provides a marketplace for publishers and non-publishing advertisers to meet to make such arrangements, it also may perform accounting services for multiple fixed or custom bounty arrangements, and it may perform, or ensure through third party testing, certain certification services for the parties.

An online electronic marketplace in which carriers bid for loads tendered by shippers, and shippers purchase the most attractive transportation services. The system described herein efficiently matches loads and capacities, lowers transaction costs, and creates value through enhanced visibility to information resulting in efficient transportation and financial transactions. According to specific embodiments, the present invention combines a neutral marketplace patterned after a stock exchange, with the electronic format of an Internet auction site to create a trading system for the logistics industry.

An improved system and method for market makers of electronic marketplaces provides RFQ processes over a network in a way that shortens the time taken to run an RFQ process without sacrificing effectiveness as a trading mechanism. At the same time, buyers are allowed to research the market without actually submitting RFQs to the electronic marketplace. In this way, the accuracy the market research and the effectiveness of trading is increased by aggregating tentative and historical sell bids from multiple electronic marketplaces.

The present invention relates to a tethered digital butler consumer electronics product and method. The tethered digital butler, of a price and form factor suitable for consumer electronics markets of developed and developing countries, includes a communications and multi-media console and a wireless remote. The remote may resemble a handheld personal computer (HPC), a palm-held personal computer (PPC or PDA) or a smart phone, but has a low cost and feature set supported by the console that is novel in the consumer electronics market. In particular, this disclosure relates to combining telephone service, device control and, optionally, a fingerprint reader for easy user identification / authorization and personalization. As another option, a camera can be incorporated into the remote, thereby enabling video conferencing and other visual features. Alternatively, the remote may be packaged separately from a console and sold to interact with capabilities of a communications and console, set-top box, multi-media PC or other consumer electronics device from a different source, such as one running on a Windows, OS X or Linux platform, with or without telephone capabilities. The remote may include a media reader and remote USB port.

An electronic commerce system (10) includes a content enhancement module (47) that analyzes the product data stored in a seller database (32) using one or more rules and that identifies one or more potential errors in the product data according to the rules. The rules include one or more generic rules that apply to substantially all seller databases (32) including product data. These generic rules include one or more of the following rules: a rule indicating that a potential error exists if two products in the seller database (32) have identical product identifiers but have otherwise different product data, a rule indicating that a potential error exists if two products in the seller database (32) have different product identifiers but have otherwise identical product data, and rules indicating that a potential error exists if the values associated with particular generic product attributes have a non-numerical format.

The present invention relates to the field of online commerce. In particular it relates to the operation of electronic markets in which there are plurality of sellers.