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:
Jan. 03, 2006
Filed:
Sep. 07, 2001
Girish Navani, Shrewsbury, MA (US);
Barry H. Cohn, Sugar Land, TX (US);
Michael P. Evans, Cambridge, MA (US);
Donald A. Dietrich, Wenham, MA (US);
Michael D. Allen, Houston, TX (US);
Charles C. Moore, Hopkinton, MA (US);
Linus Hakimattar, Southborough, MA (US);
Stephen J. Doyle, Southborough, MA (US);
Wayne C. Bartel, Houston, TX (US);
Nigel Johnson, Duxbury, MA (US);
Khaled Zayadine, Farnborough, GB;
Ken Rosen, Andover, MA (US);
Vladimir Mahalec, Sudbury, MA (US);
Girish Navani, Shrewsbury, MA (US);
Barry H. Cohn, Sugar Land, TX (US);
Michael P. Evans, Cambridge, MA (US);
Donald A. Dietrich, Wenham, MA (US);
Michael D. Allen, Houston, TX (US);
Charles C. Moore, Hopkinton, MA (US);
Linus Hakimattar, Southborough, MA (US);
Stephen J. Doyle, Southborough, MA (US);
Wayne C. Bartel, Houston, TX (US);
Nigel Johnson, Duxbury, MA (US);
Khaled Zayadine, Farnborough, GB;
Ken Rosen, Andover, MA (US);
Vladimir Mahalec, Sudbury, MA (US);
Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
Currently lacking are effective and accurate tools to help petroleum traders and logistics personnel to make better decisions, collaborate in real-time and negotiate deals in a private and secure environment. The present invention addresses this and other needs in the industry. In particular, the present invention provides a non-client computer resident method optimizes vessel scheduling by aggregating vessel information. At least some of the vessel information is automatically downloaded from an electronic source. The aggregated vessel information is stored in a vessel information database comprising vessel information database records. Information is obtained about a potential vessel contracting transaction. The vessel information database is searched in a real-time manner to match the potential vessel contracting transaction to at least one of the vessel information database records such that the vessel contracting transaction is optimized. At least one of the optimized vessel contracting transactions is then reported. Optimization factors used to produce the optimized vessel contracting transactions include lowest cost and fastest delivery.