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:
Aug. 27, 2013
Filed:
Mar. 06, 2007
VU Nguyen, Hillsborough, CA (US);
Anselm P. Baird-smith, San Jose, CA (US);
William A. Alvarado, Menlo Park, CA (US);
John P. Cogan, Houston, TX (US);
Carole K. Alvarado, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Vu Nguyen, Hillsborough, CA (US);
Anselm P. Baird-Smith, San Jose, CA (US);
William A. Alvarado, Menlo Park, CA (US);
John P. Cogan, Houston, TX (US);
Carole K. Alvarado, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
Articles such as compact discs or electronic files are traded among a plurality of members who are registered in a common community. Each member has an account including a trading credit balance and a mailing address. A user interface is provided that allows a member to enter articles that the member owns and is willing to trade and articles that the member wants to own. The user interface also receives article trading instruction messages. An administration computer hosts the plurality of members and facilitates article trades among the members. The administration computer identifies matches between owned and wanted articles. A priority algorithm is used to select the member who will receive the article if there is more than one member who wants an article that another member owns and is willing to trade. The priority algorithm is based in part on a member score that is a function of the relative value of the articles that a member owns and sends to another member compared to the relative value of the articles that the member wants and receives from another member, the relative value of the articles being determined by a demand for the article compared to a supply for the article among the members.