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:
Dec. 02, 2008
Filed:
Oct. 20, 1999
Thomas Churchill, Palo Alto, CA (US);
John Patrick Connelly, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Eric Boyd, Campbell, CA (US);
Venkat Panchapakesan, Fremont, CA (US);
Seth Godin, Hastings on Hudson, NY (US);
Henry Hyunsuk Sohn, Palo Alto, CA (US);
David Conway, Mountain View, CA (US);
Thomas Churchill, Palo Alto, CA (US);
John Patrick Connelly, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Eric Boyd, Campbell, CA (US);
Venkat Panchapakesan, Fremont, CA (US);
Seth Godin, Hastings on Hudson, NY (US);
Henry Hyunsuk Sohn, Palo Alto, CA (US);
David Conway, Mountain View, CA (US);
Yahoo! Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
An electronic auction system known as the Yahoo! Auction System provides functionality that permits users to conduct auction transactions with various payment units, such as incentive points and credit points, as well as money. Points can be earned in a variety of ways and redeemed via online auctions. The Yahoo! Auction System includes a web server, a messaging server, a database server, and various databases including an account database for storing information about account balance, expiration date for each point or group of points, and redemption information. The Yahoo! Auction System provides different auction formats, such as Standard Auction, Dutch Auction, Progressive Auction, Buy-or-Bid Auction, and Declining Bid Auction. The Yahoo! Auction System reserves the bid amount associated any new valid bid in the bidder's account and unreserves those bid amounts that were previously reserved but are no longer the winning bid or otherwise displaced from the top bid positions.