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:
May. 13, 2014
Filed:
Oct. 31, 2007
Virind S. Gujral, Baden, PA (US);
Tim Jackovic, Mt. Lebanon, PA (US);
Greg S. Anderson, Cranberry Township, PA (US);
Dan V. Pedersen, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
William D. Rupp, Mt. Lebanon, PA (US);
Chad Adams, Coraopolis, PA (US);
Virind S. Gujral, Baden, PA (US);
Tim Jackovic, Mt. Lebanon, PA (US);
Greg S. Anderson, Cranberry Township, PA (US);
Dan V. Pedersen, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
William D. Rupp, Mt. Lebanon, PA (US);
Chad Adams, Coraopolis, PA (US);
Ariba, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
An auction methodology wherein the auction competition among the bidders is generated by allowing each bidder to bid for non-price bid parameters (e.g., lead time, labor rate, contract length, etc.) in addition to the price of the lot on auction. Such a multi-parameter bidding provides the buyer (i.e., the auction requester) with more diverse information when selecting the winning bidder. The buyer and each bidder participating in the electronic auction may receive a real-time feedback of the bidding activity including details on bids placed for price and non-price parameters, which allows each bidder to adjust or modify one or more of its own bids (for price and non-price bid parameters) to effectively compete in the auction. The bidding software nullifies the effect of each bidder's bids for the non-price parameters on that bidder's bid for the price parameter by multiplying the value of the bid for each non-price parameter by the number zero (0) and also locks the bid values initially received for the non-price parameters to avoid affecting their values when lot price is changed during bidding. Such zero-weighting and locking helps the buyer objectively determine the optimal bid for the lot on auction.