The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 22, 2003
Filed:
Sep. 04, 1997
Jay S. Walker, Ridgefield, CT (US);
Daniel E. Tedesco, Stamford, CT (US);
Andrew S. Vanluchene, Norwalk, CT (US);
James A. Jorasch, Stamford, CT (US);
T. Scott Case, Darien, CT (US);
priceline.com Incorporated, Norwalk, CT (US);
Abstract
A conditional purchase offer (CPO) management system for receiving and processing CPOs for packages of component goods or services. The package CPO management system preferably deconstructs an overall package CPO into component CPOs which are individually offered to sellers. If each component CPO of a given package CPO is accepted, the package CPO management system binds the buyer, on behalf of each of the accepting sellers, to purchase the entire package. An offer price for each component CPO is preferably calculated by initially determining the total market price of the package based on the market price of each individual component good or service within the package. The package CPO management system then calculates an offer price for each component CPO based on the total price offered by the buyer for the entire package (as adjusted by a reserved margin, if appropriate) multiplied by the ratio of the market price of the respective component CPO to the total market price of the package. As each individual component CPO is accepted by a seller, the package CPO management system preferably enters a “pre-bind” agreement with the seller, whereby the component good or service is reserved for a predefined time period to pen-nit the package CPO management system to complete the processing of the remaining active component CPOs. The package CPO management system preferably provides an optional agency feature that permits the package CPO management system to accept or reject a given component CPO on behalf of certain sellers who have delegated such authority to the package CPO management system.