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:
Feb. 18, 2014
Filed:
Mar. 15, 2012
Hua Liu, Fairport, NY (US);
Tong Sun, Penfield, NY (US);
Xerox Corporation, Norwalk, CT (US);
Abstract
Methods and systems for selecting a service provider are disclosed. Information pertaining to print service providers, including associated user and general reputation scores, are received. Each user reputation score identifies a user's perception of a print service provider's reputation. Each general reputation score identifies a general strength of the print service provider's reputation. A first set of providers is selected based on a threshold user reputation score. A second set of providers is selected (pseudo-)randomly. A trust score is determined for each provider in the first and second sets based on the associated user and general reputation scores. One or more negotiation providers are selected from the first and second sets based on the associated trust scores. One or more of the user and general reputation scores are updated for negotiation providers based on a quality of service provided or an offer provided to or by the negotiation provider.