WO2001086478A2 - Commodity brokerage system and method - Google Patents

Commodity brokerage system and method Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2001086478A2
WO2001086478A2 PCT/US2001/012031 US0112031W WO0186478A2 WO 2001086478 A2 WO2001086478 A2 WO 2001086478A2 US 0112031 W US0112031 W US 0112031W WO 0186478 A2 WO0186478 A2 WO 0186478A2
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
offer
bid
price
match
trading
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2001/012031
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
WO2001086478A8 (en
Inventor
Hanif H. Moledina
Ebrahim Moledina
Karim Moledina
Bert Von Roemer
Andrew Fones
Melissa Kenney
John Alden Mason, Iii
Christine Ingleton
Suneeth Nayak
David Payne
Richard Davis
Abhay Bagul
Malcolm Wall Morris
Original Assignee
Egreencoffee.Com,Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Egreencoffee.Com,Inc. filed Critical Egreencoffee.Com,Inc.
Priority to AU2001251591A priority Critical patent/AU2001251591A1/en
Publication of WO2001086478A2 publication Critical patent/WO2001086478A2/en
Publication of WO2001086478A8 publication Critical patent/WO2001086478A8/en

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions
    • G06Q30/08—Auctions
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q40/00—Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
    • G06Q40/04—Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Definitions

  • a buyer of a product or a commodity may be unwilling to do business with a particular vendor or seller unless there is a discount from the offered market price.
  • This business decision may also be based upon experience with the quality of the product or commodity provided, the difficulty experienced in striking a deal, other conditions that may not be apparent to the market, or other aspects of personal preference. Whatever the reason, these "relationship preferences" affect transactions in the marketplace everyday.
  • the present invention solves the problems with, and overcomes the disadvantages of, conventional systems and method for commodity brokerage.
  • the present invention provides a computer program product with computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor in a computer system to facilitate a commodity brokerage system that matches offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity.
  • the computer program logic includes: storing means for enabling the processor to receive and store an offer from a seller to sell an offer quantity of the commodity at an offer price; storing means for enabling the processor to receive and store a bid from a buyer to buy a bid quantity of the commodity at a bid price; matching means for enabling the processor to establish a price match at the bid price if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid; and matching means for enabling the processor to establish a price match at the offer price if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer.
  • the World Wide Web is based on the concept of "hypertext" and the transfer method known as HTTP.
  • HTTP is typically designed to run primarily over TCP/IP and uses the standard Internet setup, where a server issues the data and a client machine or "client browser" displays the data.
  • One format for information transfer is to create documents using HTML page, which are preferably made up of standard text as well as formatting codes which indicate how the page should be displayed. The Web client machine, reads these codes in order to display the page.
  • HTML page which are preferably made up of standard text as well as formatting codes which indicate how the page should be displayed.
  • the Web client machine reads these codes in order to display the page.
  • the hypertext conventions and related functions of the World Wide Web are described in the appendices of U.S. Patent No. 5,715,314, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.
  • processing continues to step 112 where it is determined whether a goods match can be established for the particular offer or bid.
  • the process for establishing a goods match will be explained in more detail below with respect to FIG. ID. If a goods match cannot be established, processing returns to receive additional offers and bids by way of flowchart connector 10A. If a goods match can be established, then processing continues at step 110 to establish a transaction match for the particular offer or bid. I-n this embodiment, in step 110, the transaction match is established when the quantity match, price match, and goods match correspond to the same bid and offer. Alternatively, the transaction match can be established when the goods match and the price match correspond to the same bid and offer.
  • the price match will be established at the bid price of +2 (step 146).
  • the buyer "loses" because the buyer will not know that the transaction could have been done at the lower price of +1 first offered by the seller.
  • a bid to buy at a differential price of +2 is received, and an offer to sell at a differential price of +1 is later received.
  • the offer price of +1 is less than the bid price of +2.
  • the price match will be established at the offer price of +1 (step 166). The seller "loses" because the seller will not know that the transaction could have been done at the higher price of +2 first bid by the buyer.
  • the "whoever speaks lasts, loses" feature described above implements in a meaningful and repeatable manner the negotiation tactics employed in personal transactions.
  • the exemplary transaction scenarios described in the prior paragraph replicate what would have occurred if the deal had been struck by personal transaction, hi the first scenario, the seller would not tell the buyer (who spoke last) that the seller was willing to take a lower price; rather, the seller would protect and not reveal the negotiation position that would give the party who spoke last (the buyer) a better deal. Rather, the seller would protect that negotiation position, and obtain the better deal for the seller.
  • Conventional systems do not account for the strategies that would be employed by buyers and sellers in revealing or not revealing negotiation positions to the other party.
  • the present invention solves an important problem in the art for a system and method that can replicate such negotiation tactics in a meaningful way.
  • the Quantity Range is a profile value that is specific to a seller for all transactions with that seller.
  • the Quantity Range is specific to a particular transaction, and may, for example, be a quantity specified in a particular offer or in a particular bid.
  • the Quantity Range is a profile value that is specific to a buyer for all transactions with that buyer.
  • step 128 can be carried out by determining whether the bid quantity satisfies the following equation: Offer Quantity ⁇ Bid Quantity. In such an alternate embodiment, a Quantity Range is not used.
  • the commodity is coffee
  • the offers include an offer type and an offer origin for the coffee
  • the bids include a bid type and a bid origin for the coffee.
  • the offers also include an offer grade and an offer crop year for the coffee.
  • the offer grade could include
  • service premiums increases the pool of potential matches for a particular bid or offer, thereby increasing the likelihood that a match will be found.
  • the use of service premiums normalizes what appear to be disparate offers and bids to transform them into an "apples to apples" comparison.
  • a bid item includes a bid quantity of 10 pounds of rice at $12 per pound at a delivery time position of 2000/05.
  • an offer item includes an offer quantity of 10 pounds of rice at $8 per pound at an availability time position of 2000/03.
  • the seller is offering to make the rice available before the buyer wants it delivered.
  • a storage premium could be factored into the offer price to store the rice for the two months between the availability time position (March) and the delivery time position ( May).
  • a step 214 it is determined whether the price match and the delivery match co ⁇ espond to the same bid item and offer item. Jf not, then processing continues in FIG. 2A by way of flowchart connector 20A. If the price match and the delivery match co ⁇ espond to the same bid item and offer item, then processing can continue in two ways. In one embodiment, a transaction match is established in a step 216. In another embodiment, processing continues to a step 218 to determine whether the bid quantity is within the range of the offer quantity + a quantity range. Step 218 can be carried out in the same variety of ways as described above for step 128. Jf the bid quantity does not satisfy the offer quantity equation, then processing continues in FIG. 2A by way of flowchart connector 20A. If the bid quantity does satisfy the offer quantity equation, then a quantity match is established in a step 220. Processing then continues in FIG. 2C by way of flowchart connector 20C.
  • a coffee brokerage system implements the following methodology for searching for bids to match offers and for searching for offers to match bids.
  • Bid items are stored in a bid detail a ⁇ ay that includes position, price, quantity (qty), and quantity in pounds (LB), as shown below in Table 2.
  • the quantity in pounds is computed by multiplying the number of bags by the weight in pounds of each bag.
  • “lh” refers to "first half and “2h” refers to "second half of the indicated month.
  • offer items are stored in an offer detail array in analogous fashion to that shown in Table 2.
  • Web page 400 functions as a user interface (UI) that has input controls to allow a user to select options, and a display whereby information is displayed.
  • tool bar 402 includes links to Buy, Sell, Account, Quotes, Contact Us, and Logout. It should be understood by one skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to any particular links on tool bar 402, and that other links could be used.
  • the tool bar links, as well as all of the links and "buttons" described below, function as menu items that are part of the input controls of the user interface. Activating the link to Contact Us brings up a web page display that preferably includes the name, ground address, voice telephone number, facsimile telephone number, and e-mail address for the coffee brokerage system.
  • a fee is charged to submit a trading request, i.e., to post bids and offers and have a search done to identify potential matches.
  • a trading partner selects a match, thereby indicating acceptance of the same, the trading partner will be notified of the identity of the trading partner associated with the selected match.
  • the trading partner selecting the match will be assessed another fee, a transaction fee that is preferably higher than the initial search fee.
  • the account details would preferably break down the fees to identify search fees and transaction fees.
  • the account details would also preferably provide a daily reconciliation to display the information relating to bids and offers posted, and coffee sold or bought that day.
  • a link is provided to
  • link 610 or link 640 Upon activation of link 610 or link 640, information relating to the identity of Buyer 1 of 5 would be provided to the seller, along with other information needed to complete the transaction. In a prefe ⁇ ed embodiment of the present invention, activation of link 610 or link 640 and the identification of the selected buyer would incur the higher transaction fee described above.
  • a buyer is charged the transaction fee when the buyer accepts a transaction with a seller in a manner similar to that described above for acceptance by a seller.
  • the transaction fee for a successful transaction could be split between the buyer and the seller, such as 50 /50%, or in any other desired ratio.
  • FIG. 8C would incur the initial lower search fee described above.
  • the web page illustrated in FIG. 8C provides a comparison of Contract Terms, comparing "Your Terms" (buyer) with the Seller's Terms. A comparison is also provided for Delivery Schedule between "Your Schedule” (buyer) and the Seller's Schedule.
  • the buyer has the option to "Select this offer" by activating link 810.
  • the seller could select any of matches 1 to 5 by activating the appropriate number on a Select Match link 840.
  • link 810 or link 840 information relating to the identity of Seller 1 of 5 would be provided to the buyer, along with other information needed to complete the transaction.
  • activation of link 810 or link 840 and the identification of the selected seller would incur the higher transaction fee described above. The transaction between buyer and seller would then be completed in a manner such as that described above.
  • the present invention advantageously does not reveal an identity of a trading partner associated with a matched bid or offer until the trading partner accepts a bid or offer.
  • Each trading partner has the option to specify prefe ⁇ ed trading partners, as well as deprecated trading partners as described above.
  • the match will be displayed in a manner to indicate that the match is associated with a preferred trading partner.
  • the match will be displayed in a manner to indicate that the match is associated with a deprecated trading partner.
  • Such a display can be indicated textually or through the use of color.
  • Computer system 1100 also includes a main memory 1108, preferably random access memory (RAM), and can also include a secondary memory 1110.
  • Secondary memory 1110 can include, for example, a hard disk drive 1112 and/or a removable storage drive 1114, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc.
  • Removable storage drive 1114 reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 1118 in a well known manner.
  • Removable storage unit 1118 represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storage drive 1114.
  • removable storage unit 1118 includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data.
  • Computer system 1100 can also include a communications interface 1124.
  • Communications interface 1124 allows software and data to be transfe ⁇ ed between computer system 1100 and external devices.
  • Examples of communications interface 1124 can include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, etc.
  • Software and data transfe ⁇ ed via communications interface 1124 are in the form of signals 1126 that can be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by communications interface 1124.
  • Signals 1126 are provided to communications interface via a channel 1128.
  • Channel 1128 carries signals 1126 and can be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link and other communications channels.
  • computer program medium and “computer usable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as removable storage device 1118, a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 1112, and signals 1126. These computer program products are means for providing software to computer system 1100.

Abstract

System and method for commodity brokerage to match offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity. The method is carried out in a manner to increase the likelihood of outcomes that would occur through personal transactions. A partner premium is used to quantify a business relationship between trading partners. The trading partner that is last in time to a transaction loses th e right to a better deal for that transaction. The present invention is preferably carried out as an electronic brokerage system, implemented over a public network such as the Internet.

Description

Commodity Brokerage System and Method
Background of the Invention
Copyright Notice
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce transactions. More particularly, the present invention relates to electronic commerce transactions for commodity brokerage. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to electronic commerce transactions for coffee brokerage.
Related Art
Public networks such as the Internet are becoming the world's new market place. The number of people and businesses that have access to the Internet is growing rapidly.
Businesses are increasingly interested in selling and marketing products and services over the Internet, particularly via the World Wide Web ("WWW"). However, the systems and methods currently existing for commodity brokerage and exchange have numerous drawbacks, as will be explained below. A computerized quotation system and method is disclosed and described in U.S.
Patent No. 5,758,328 to Giovannoli ("the '328 patent"). The system of the '328 patent provides a computerized network and method for matching a request for quotation (RFQ) with vendors. Filter conditions determine which vendors or sellers receive a particular buyer's RFQ. The filter conditions may include geographical location, quantity, language spoken, currency, and special conditions of sale. As with many other conventional computerized transaction and sale systems, the use of filter conditions has the effect of decreasing the pool of prospective parties (buyers or sellers) for the transaction by eliminating those that do not satisfy the filter conditions. Although the use of filter conditions has the beneficial effect of ensuring that the vendor receiving the RFQ meets the needs of the buyer, it has the detrimental effect of decreasing the number of potential vendors who could meet the needs of the buyer, and decreasing the likelihood that a suitable match will be found. An electronic commodity exchange for coffee is presently operating at a website having the address www.comdaq.net. The ComDAQ.Net site enables traders to buy and sell physical coffee on-line at a fixed price or at a differential against the relative futures market. Dealing is conducted anonymously. However, prior to commencement of dealing, trading firms are required to specify which counterparts are acceptable, along with a list of terms under which they have agreed to deal with them. As with the filter conditions, such terms have the effect of reducing the likelihood that a suitable match will be found.
Another conventional computerized system and method for exchange of commodities is disclosed and described in U.S. Patent No. 5,873,071 to Ferstenberg et al. ("the '071 patent"). The '071 patent provides a computerized system and method for the intermediated exchange of commodities, including intangible or tangible commodities. Electronic "E- Agents" represent a participant's exchange goals. An electronic intermediary is provided through which the E- Agents conduct electronic negotiations to an intermediated exchange. The electronic intermediary "crosses" and "allocates" the "buys" with the "sells". The electronic intermediary presents each E- Agent with an initial offer that is constructed by allocating to each E- Agent a share of the total of all the offers to sell or to buy the commodity. The goals of the electronic intermediary are "fairness" and maximum exchange based upon quantity.
A significant drawback of the system described in the '071 patent, and other conventional systems such as ComDAQ.Net, is the fact that it does not take into account the real world importance of the personal aspects of a business relationship. Business entities or other trading partners that have a long standing business relationship may be willing to make what appear to be irrational deals just to do business with each other. For example, a buyer of a product or a commodity may be willing to pay more than the offered market price to buy products from a particular vendor or seller. This business decision may be based upon experience with the quality of the product or commodity provided, the ease with which deals can be struck, other conditions that may not be apparent to the market, or other aspects of personal preference. Alternatively, a buyer of a product or a commodity may be unwilling to do business with a particular vendor or seller unless there is a discount from the offered market price. This business decision may also be based upon experience with the quality of the product or commodity provided, the difficulty experienced in striking a deal, other conditions that may not be apparent to the market, or other aspects of personal preference. Whatever the reason, these "relationship preferences" affect transactions in the marketplace everyday.
Another significant drawback of the system described in the '071 patent, and other conventional systems such as ComDAQ.Net, is the fact that these systems do not replicate the negotiation tactics employed in personal transactions. Such conventional systems do not account for the strategies that would be employed by buyers and sellers in revealing or not revealing negotiation positions to the other party.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a system and method that can replicate such negotiation tactics in a meaningful way. There is also a particular need in the art for a system and method that can factor the relationship preferences into the transaction, and quantify in direction and strength the relationship preferences of one trading partner for other trading partners. Such a system and method would increase the likelihood of computerized transactions that reflect a deal that would have been made through personal transactions. There is also a need in the art to overcome the detrimental effects of using filter conditions and special terms to increase the universe of potential parties suitable for a particular transaction, thereby increasing the likelihood that a suitable party will be found. Summary of the Invention
The present invention solves the problems with, and overcomes the disadvantages of, conventional systems and method for commodity brokerage.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method for matching offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity is provided. The method includes: receiving an offer from a seller to sell an offer quantity of the commodity at an offer price; receiving a bid from a buyer to buy a bid quantity of the commodity at a bid price; and wherein, if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid, then establishing a price match at the bid price; wherein, if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer, then establishing a price match at the offer price.
In another aspect of the present invention, another method for matching offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity is provided. Such a method includes: creating a bid item of a buyer to buy the commodity, the bid item comprising a bid quantity and a bid price; creating an offer item of a seller to sell the commodity, the offer item comprising an offer quantity and an offer price; and establishing a price match when the bid price is greater than or equal to the sum of the offer price and a partner premium, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative or zero monetary value established by the buyer associated with the bid price for the seller associated with the offer price.
In still a further aspect of the present invention, yet another method for matching offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity is provided. Such a method includes: creating a bid item of a buyer to buy the commodity, the bid item comprising a bid quantity and a bid price; creating an offer item of a seller to sell the commodity, the offer item comprising an offer quantity and an offer price; and establishing a price match when the bid price is greater than or equal to the sum of the offer price, a partner premium, and a service premium, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative or zero monetary value established by the buyer associated with the bid price for the seller associated with the offer price, and the service premium is a monetary value associated with a service to be performed in conjunction with the sale of the commodity.
In yet a further aspect of the present invention, a brokerage method for coffee is provided. In one aspect the coffee brokerage method includes: receiving over a network a plurality of trading requests, each trading request being associated with and received from one of a plurality of trading partners, wherein each trading request comprises at least one of a bid to buy a bid quantity of coffee at a bid price for delivery at a delivery time position, and an offer to sell an offer quantity of coffee at an offer price for delivery at an availability time position; and processing each trading request to determine if a price match can be established; wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid, then establishing a price match at the bid price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price; wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer, then establishing a price match at the offer price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price. I yet another aspect, the present invention provides a brokerage system for coffee. In one aspect such a system includes a memory device that contains information relating to a plurality of trading requests. Each trading request is associated with and received from one of a plurality of trading partners. Each trading request is preferably either a bid to buy a bid quantity of coffee at a bid price for delivery at a delivery time position, or an offer to sell an offer quantity of coffee at an offer price for delivery at an availability time position. The system also includes a processor in communication with the memory device. The processor is configured for: processing each trading request to determine if a price match can be established; wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid, then establishing a price match at the bid price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price, wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer, then establishing a price match at the offer price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price. In still a further aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product has computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor in a computer system to facilitate a brokerage system for coffee. The computer program logic includes: storing means for enabling the processor to receive and store a plurality of trading requests, each trading request being associated with and received from one of a plurality of trading partners, wherein each trading request comprises at least one of a bid to buy a bid quantity of coffee at a bid price for delivery at a delivery time position, and an offer to sell an offer quantity of coffee at an offer price for delivery at an availability time position; matching means for enabling the processor to process each trading request to establish a price match at the bid price if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price; and matching means for enabling the processor to process each trading request to establish a price match at the offer price if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a computer program product with computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor in a computer system to facilitate a commodity brokerage system that matches offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity. The computer program logic includes: storing means for enabling the processor to receive and store an offer from a seller to sell an offer quantity of the commodity at an offer price; storing means for enabling the processor to receive and store a bid from a buyer to buy a bid quantity of the commodity at a bid price; matching means for enabling the processor to establish a price match at the bid price if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid; and matching means for enabling the processor to establish a price match at the offer price if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer. In still a further aspect, the present invention provides a computer program product with computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor in a computer system to facilitate a commodity brokerage system that matches offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity. The computer program logic includes: creating means for enabling the processor to create a bid item of a buyer to buy the commodity, the bid item comprising a bid quantity and a bid price; creating means for enabling the processor to create an offer item of a seller to sell the commodity, the offer item comprising an offer quantity and an offer price; and matching means for enabling the processor to establish a price match when the bid price is greater than or equal to the sum of the offer price and a partner premium, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative or zero monetary value established by the buyer associated with the bid price for the seller associated with the offer price. hi yet a further aspect, the present invention provides a network-based system for implementing a coffee brokerage service. The system includes a server computer hosting the coffee brokerage service that is accessible via client computers to a plurality of trading partners. The server computer provides a user interface (UI) that includes input controls whereby a user selects options, and a display whereby information is displayed. The input controls include a set of menu items including, but not limited to, a bid to buy coffee and an offer to sell coffee. The bid menu item preferably includes a custom bid menu item, a spread bid menu item, and a spot bid menu item. The offer menu item preferably includes a custom offer menu item, a spread offer menu item, and a spot offer menu item. The coffee- brokerage service is available via a network to match bids and offers posted by the plurality of trading partners. The network can be a public network or a non-public network.
Features and Advantages The system and method of the present invention are particularly advantageous because they provide a systematic way for quantifying the relationship preferences of trading partners. Each trading partner can specify the direction and strength of their relationship preference with other trading partners. In this manner, the present invention increases the likelihood of computerized transactions that reflect a deal that would have been made through a personal transaction.
A feature of the present invention is quantifying relationship preferences through use of a partner premium that is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it increases the pool or universe of potential matches (bids or offers) for a transaction by "normalizing" transactions to a common basis for the transaction criteria. The present invention advantageously allows trading partners to make trading requests in units of currency, quantity, etc. that is customary for that trading partner. The system of the present invention advantageously converts all units to a common basis for comparison and matching purposes, and then presents the results to the trading partner in the preferred customary units.
Another feature of the present invention is the ability to normalize transactions to increase the pool of potential matches through the use of service premiums. A service premium is a monetary value associated with a service to be performed in conjunction with the sale of the commodity. Service premiums normalize what appear to be disparate bids and offers to transform them into an "apples to apples" comparison.
Still another advantage of the present invention is its ability to more accurately reflect outcomes achieved by personal transaction. A feature of the present invention is the "whoever speaks lasts, loses" feature whereby the trading partner that is last in time to a transaction loses the right to a better deal for that transaction.
Yet another feature of the present invention is that it provides a system and method for complete electronic commerce ("E-Commerce") transactions and solutions for a commodity brokerage system via the World Wide Web ("WWW"), including facilities for signing up new trading partners through an interactive online process. Brief Description of the Drawings
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the features, advantages, and principles of the invention. In the figures, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. The left most digit(s) of a reference number indicates the figure in which the reference number first appears.
FIGS. 1A-1D show a flowchart of one embodiment of a brokerage method of the present invention;
FIGS. 2A-2C show a flowchart of another embodiment of a brokerage method of the present invention;
FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of a commodity brokerage system of the present invention;
FIG. 4A shows one embodiment of a web page for a trading partner of a coffee brokerage system of the present invention; FIG. 4B shows one embodiment of a web page for open bids for a trading partner of a coffee brokerage system of the present invention;
FIG. 4C shows one embodiment of a web page for open offers for a trading partner of a coffee brokerage system of the present invention;
FIG.4D shows one embodiment of a web page for alerts for a trading partner of a coffee brokerage system of the present invention;
FIG. 4E shows one embodiment of a web page for member resources for a trading partner of a coffee brokerage system of the present invention;
FIGS. 5A-5B show one embodiment of web pages for custom offers to sell coffee using the coffee brokerage system of the present invention; FIGS. 6A-6D show one embodiment of web pages for spread offers to sell coffee using the coffee brokerage system of the present invention; FIGS. 7A-7C show one embodiment of web pages for spot offers to sell coffee using the coffee brokerage system of the present invention;
FIGS. 8A-8D show one embodiment of web pages for custom bids to buy coffee using the coffee brokerage system of the present invention; FIGS. 9A-9E show one embodiment of web pages for spot bids to buy coffee using the coffee brokerage system of the present invention;
FIGS. 10A-10B show one embodiment of web pages for spread bids to buy coffee using the coffee brokerage system of the present invention;
FIG. 11 shows one embodiment of a computer system suitable for use with the present invention; and
FIG. 12 shows one embodiment of a server network suitable for implementation of the commodity brokerage system of the present invention.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Overview The present invention is directed to a commodity brokerage system and method. The system and method of the present invention are preferably carried out as an electronic brokerage system and method using a public network such as the Internet. An exemplary commodity brokerage system will be described below for a coffee brokerage system. However, it should be clear to one skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to any particular category of commodity, much less to any particular commodity. The coffee brokerage system described below is provided as one example of an application of the system and method of the present invention.
The system and method of the present invention more accurately reflect outcomes achieved by personal transaction. In one embodiment, the present invention implements a "whoever speaks lasts, loses" feature whereby the trading partner that is last in time to a transaction loses the right to a better deal for that transaction. This feature will be explained in more detail below with respect to FIG. IB. The system and method of the present invention provide a systematic way for quantifying the relationship preferences of trading partners. Each trading partner can specify the direction and strength of their relationship preference with other trading partners. In this manner, the present invention increases the likelihood of computerized transactions that reflect a deal that would have been made through a personal transaction. The relationship preference is quantified through use of a partner premium that is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by a trading partner for other trading partners. The partner premium will be discussed in more detail below with respect to FIG. 2A.
The present invention increases the pool or universe of potential matches (bids or offers) for a transaction by "normalizing" transactions to a common basis for the transaction criteria. The present invention advantageously allows trading partners to make trading requests in units of currency, quantity, etc. that is customary for that trading partner. The system of the present invention preferably converts all units to a common basis for comparison and matching purposes, and then presents the results to the trading partner in the preferred customary units.
The present invention increases the pool of potential matches through the use of service premiums. Service premiums normalize what appear to be disparate bids and offers to transform them into "apples to apples" comparison as will be explained in detail below with respect to FIG. 2A. The following definitions are intended to provide clarity to various terms used in the present invention, and to provide a description of various hardware and software tools that may be used to implement the present invention. Any reference to products is done for exemplary and/or explanatory purposes only. The breadth and scope of the present invention should not, however, be limited by any of the exemplary products or definitions disclosed herein.
ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) is an application program interface (API) from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA ("Microsoft") that lets programmers writing Windows®, a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, applications get access to relational and non-relational databases from both Microsoft and other database providers. For example, if it was desired to write a program that would provide users of a Web site with data from an IBM DB2 database or an Oracle database, an ADO program statements could be included in an HTML file that was identified as an Active Server Page (ASP). When a user requested the page from the Web site, the page sent back could include appropriate data from a database, obtained using ADO code.
Active X is a software module based on Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM) architecture. It enables a program to add functionality by calling ready-made components that blend in and appear as normal parts of the program. They are typically used to add user interface functions, such as 3-D toolbars, a notepad, calculator or even a spreadsheet.
An ActiveX control is a component program object that can be re-used by many application programs within a computer or among computers in a network. The technology for creating ActiveX controls is part of Microsoft's overall ActiveX set of technologies, chief of which is the Component Object Model (COM). ActiveX controls can be downloaded as small programs or animations for Web pages, but they can also be used for any commonly- needed task by an application program in the latest Windows® and Macintosh®, a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA, environments. An animated GIF is a graphic image on a Web page that moves - for example, a twirling icon or a banner with a hand that waves or letters that get larger. In particular, an animated GIF is a file in the Graphics Interchange Format specified as GIF89a that contains within the single file a set of images that are presented in a specified order. An animated GIF can loop endlessly or it can present one or a few sequences and then stop the animation. A browser system is a program that provides a way to look at, read and hear all the information on the World Wide Web. A browser typically interprets hypertext links and allows the user to view sites and navigate from one Internet node to another. A brief overview of web browsers and their interactions within the World Wide Web are set forth in U.S. Patent No. 5,774,670, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference. As apparent to one skilled in the art, "browsing" refers to a process that can describe moving between web page files associated with the commodity brokerage system web site of the present invention. "Browsing" can also refer to browsing the World Wide Web, which is described in U.S. Patent No. 5,774,670, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.
A Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a small program written in a script language such as Perl that functions as the glue between HTML pages and other programs on the Web server. For example, a CGI script would allow search data entered on a Web page to be sent to the DBMS (database management system). It would also format the results of that search onto an HTML page, which is sent back to the user.
Client/server is an architecture in which the client machine (personal computer or workstation) is the requesting machine and the server is the supplying machine, both of which are connected via a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Since the early 1990s, the client/server architecture has been used to build applications on LANs in contrast to centralized minicomputers and mainframes with dedicated terminals. The client machine contains the user interface and, in terms of the present invention, preferably performs none or very little of the application processing. A client machine may also be referred to herein as a "user machine" or "user." Servers can be high-speed microcomputers, minicomputers or even mainframes. A database server maintains the databases and processes requests from the client machine to extract data from, or update, the database. An application server may provide additional business processing for the client machine.
A cookie is a special text file that a Web site puts on a hard disk or other memory device of a user machine accessing the web site so that it can remember something about the user at a later time. Typically, a cookie records a user's preferences when using a particular site. Using the Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), each request for a Web page is independent of all other requests. For this reason, the Web page server has no memory of what pages it has sent to a user previously or anything about the user's previous visits. A cookie is a mechanism that allows the server to store its own file about a user on the user's own computer. The file is stored in a subdirectory of the browser directory. The cookie subdirectory will contain a cookie file for each Web site the user has been to that uses cookies. An exemplary specification for cookies can be found at http://www.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. A detailed description of cookies, and the storage of state information, is contained in U.S. Patent No. 5,774,670, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.
An Active Server Page is a Web page that contains programming code written in VB Script or Javascript. Support for such code was developed by Microsoft starting with Nersion 3.0 of its Internet Information Server (US). When the US server encounters an Active Server page that is requested by the browser, it executes the embedded program. Active Server Pages are a Microsoft alternative to CGI scripts, which allow Web pages to interact with databases and other programs.
Encryption is the conversion of data into a form, called a cipher, that cannot be easily intercepted by unauthorized people. Decryption is the process of converting encrypted data back into its original form, so it can be understood. Typically, when an encrypted document arrives at its destination, the encrypted document is converted back to its original form through decryption. The readable document is generally referred to as a "decrypted" document. A basic introduction to encryption and decryption is described in the text written by Bruce Scheiner entitled "Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms And Source Code in C" published by John Wiley & Sons, 1994, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Moreover, more detailed descriptions of systems and apparatus for accomplishing encryption and decryption in computer networks are set forth in U.S. Patent Νos. 5,903,652, 5,850,442, and 5,850,446, the entirety of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the set of "markup" symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Web browser. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Web page's words and images for the user. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web. Relative to the TCP/IP suite of protocols, HTTP is an application protocol. The World Wide Web is based on the concept of "hypertext" and the transfer method known as HTTP. HTTP is typically designed to run primarily over TCP/IP and uses the standard Internet setup, where a server issues the data and a client machine or "client browser" displays the data. One format for information transfer is to create documents using HTML page, which are preferably made up of standard text as well as formatting codes which indicate how the page should be displayed. The Web client machine, reads these codes in order to display the page. The hypertext conventions and related functions of the World Wide Web are described in the appendices of U.S. Patent No. 5,715,314, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference. HTTPS (HTTP Secure) is a Web protocol developed by Netscape® and built into its browser that encrypts and decrypts user page requests as well as the pages that are returned by the Web server. HTTPS uses Netscape's Secure Socket Layer (SSL) as a sublayer under its regular HTTP application layer. SSL can use a 40-bit or 120 bit key size for the stream encryption algorithm.
In general computer usage, logon is the procedure used to get access to an operating system or application, usually in a remote computer. Generally, a logon procedure requires that the user have (1) a user ID and (2) a password. Often, the user ID must conform to a limited length such as eight characters and the password must contain at least one digit and not match a natural language word. The user ID can be freely known and is visible when entered at a keyboard or other input device. The password must be kept secret (and is not displayed as it is entered). A similar procedure, called registration, is often used to generate a user ID and password. TCP DP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the basic communication language or protocol of the Internet. It can also be used as a communications protocol in the private networks called intranets and in extranets. When a computer is set up with direct access to the Internet, the computer executes a program implementing the TCP/IP protocol to communicate with other computers implementing the TCP/TP protocol.
A URL is the address of a file (resource) accessible on the Internet. The type of resource depends on the Internet application protocol. Using the World Wide Web's protocol, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the resource can be an HTML page, an image file, a program such as a CGI application or Java® applet, or any other file supported by HTTP. The URL contains the name of the protocol required to access the resource, a domain name that identifies a specific computer on the Internet and a hierarchical description of a file location on the computer. Additional descriptions of URLs can be found in U.S. Patent No. 5,774,670 and the appendices to U.S. Patent No. 5,715,314, the entirety of each of which is herein incorporated by reference. The World Wide Web is defined as all of the resources and users on the Internet that are available via the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP).
System and Method of the Present Invention
With reference now to FIGS. 1A through ID, one embodiment of a brokerage method of the present invention will now be described. A flowchart 100 is shown for a method for matching offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity. Flowchart 100 can be used to match offers to sell with bids to buy. Similarly, flowchart 100 can also be used to match bids to buy with offers to sell. J-n a step 102, offers to sell are received. The offers to sell are preferably an offer to sell an offer quantity of the commodity at an offer price. I-n one embodiment, the commodity is a tangible commodity, such as a physical good, including but not limited to, coffee, sugar, wheat, corn, gold, silver, and real property. However, it should be understood by one skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to commodities that are physical goods, nor is it limited to any particular commodity or physical good. The present invention is also suitable for use with intangible commodities that are not physical goods, including but not limited to, financial commodities (for example, stocks, bonds, securities). In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the commodity is a physical good, and the offer further includes an offer type that identifies the type of physical goods. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the offer also includes an offer origin that identifies a geographic location of origin for the physical goods. As an example, the physical good commodity may be coffee. In such an example, the offer type could be various types of coffee, such as Arabica and Robusta. I-n such an example, the offer origin could be a country of origin, such as Columbia and Brazil. In a step 104, bids to buy are received. The bids to buy are preferably a bid to buy a bid quantity of the commodity at a bid price. In a preferred embodiment, the bid also includes a bid type that identifies the type of physical goods. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the bid also includes a bid origin that identifies a geographic location of origin for the physical goods. In a step 106, it is determined whether a price match can be established for a particular offer or bid. The steps for matching bids to a particular offer are analogous to the steps for matching offers to a particular bid. The process for establishing a price match will be explained in more detail below with reference to FIG. IB. If a price match cannot be established, processing returns to receive offers and bids by way of flowchart connector 10 A. If a price match can be established, then processing continues at a step 108.
In step 108, it is determined whether a quantity match can be established for the particular offer or bid. The process for establishing a quantity match will be explained in more detail below with respect to FIG. IC. If a quantity match cannot be established, processing returns to receive additional offers and bids by way of flowchart connector 10A. If a quantity match can be established, then processing continues at either a step 110 or at a step 112. J-n one embodiment, processing continues to step 110 to establish a transaction match for the particular offer or bid. J-n step 110, the transaction match is established when the quantity match and the price match correspond to the same bid and offer.
In an alternate embodiment, processing continues to step 112 where it is determined whether a goods match can be established for the particular offer or bid. The process for establishing a goods match will be explained in more detail below with respect to FIG. ID. If a goods match cannot be established, processing returns to receive additional offers and bids by way of flowchart connector 10A. If a goods match can be established, then processing continues at step 110 to establish a transaction match for the particular offer or bid. I-n this embodiment, in step 110, the transaction match is established when the quantity match, price match, and goods match correspond to the same bid and offer. Alternatively, the transaction match can be established when the goods match and the price match correspond to the same bid and offer.
As would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art, flowchart 100 depicted in FIG. 1A, as well as all of the flowcharts depicted in the figures, are exemplary in nature and the functionality depicted therein could be implemented in a variety of ways. The present invention is not limited to the sequence or order of the steps being performed in the manner depicted in the figures. For example, the order of the steps can be varied so that step 104 is carried out prior to step 102, step 108 prior to step 106, etc. for flowchart 100 and the other flowcharts depicted herein. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to a particular embodiment for carrying out the functionality described herein.
FIG. IB shows a flowchart for one embodiment of a process for carrying out determining step 106. J-n a step 126, it is determined whether the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price. Jf no, then a price match cannot be established, and processing continues in FIG. 1 A by way of flowchart connector 10B. If the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price, then processing continues at a step 136. In step 136, it is determined whether the offer was received prior to the bid. Ii yes, then a price match is established at the bid price in a step 146. Processing then continues in FIG. 1 A by way of flowchart connector 10B. If the offer was not received prior to the bid, then processing continues in a step 156. In step 156, it is determined whether the bid was received prior to the offer. If yes, then a price match is established at the offer price in a step 166. Processing then continues in FIG. 1 A by way of flowchart connector 10B. If the bid was not received prior to the offer, then a price match cannot be established, and processing continues in FIG. 1 A by way of flowchart connector 10B. As noted above, the system and method of the present invention implement a «
"whoever speaks lasts, loses" feature whereby the trading partner that is last in time to a transaction loses the right to a better deal for that transaction. This feature is illustrated in steps 136 and 156 shown in FIG. IB. Assuming that the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price as determined in step 126, then if the offer is received prior to the bid the price match is established at the bid price in step 146. That is, the buyer spoke last (offer from seller received prior to bid from buyer) so the price match is established at the bid price. To illustrate the point, consider a scenario in which an offer to sell at a differential price of +1 is received, and a bid to buy at a differential price of +2 is later received. The offer price of +1 is less than the bid price of +2. Because the buyer spoke last, the price match will be established at the bid price of +2 (step 146). The buyer "loses" because the buyer will not know that the transaction could have been done at the lower price of +1 first offered by the seller. As another illustration, consider a scenario in which a bid to buy at a differential price of +2 is received, and an offer to sell at a differential price of +1 is later received. The offer price of +1 is less than the bid price of +2. Because the seller spoke last, the price match will be established at the offer price of +1 (step 166). The seller "loses" because the seller will not know that the transaction could have been done at the higher price of +2 first bid by the buyer. The "whoever speaks lasts, loses" feature described above implements in a meaningful and repeatable manner the negotiation tactics employed in personal transactions. For example, the exemplary transaction scenarios described in the prior paragraph replicate what would have occurred if the deal had been struck by personal transaction, hi the first scenario, the seller would not tell the buyer (who spoke last) that the seller was willing to take a lower price; rather, the seller would protect and not reveal the negotiation position that would give the party who spoke last (the buyer) a better deal. Rather, the seller would protect that negotiation position, and obtain the better deal for the seller. Conventional systems do not account for the strategies that would be employed by buyers and sellers in revealing or not revealing negotiation positions to the other party. Thus, the present invention solves an important problem in the art for a system and method that can replicate such negotiation tactics in a meaningful way.
FIG. IC shows a flowchart for one embodiment of a process for carrying out determining step 108. In a step 128, it is determined whether the bid quantity satisfies the following equation.
(Offer Quantity-Quantity Range) < Bid Quantity < (Offer Quantity + Quantity Range)
Alternatively, it is determined whether an offer quantity satisfies the following equation.
(Bid Quantity-Quantity Range) < Offer Quantity < (Bid Quantity + Quantity Range)
Depending upon the perspective of matching offers to bids or matching bids to offers, one of the two equations can be used to make a quantity match. In one embodiment, the Quantity Range is a profile value that is specific to a seller for all transactions with that seller. In another embodiment, the Quantity Range is specific to a particular transaction, and may, for example, be a quantity specified in a particular offer or in a particular bid. In yet another embodiment, the Quantity Range is a profile value that is specific to a buyer for all transactions with that buyer. Alternatively, step 128 can be carried out by determining whether the bid quantity satisfies the following equation: Offer Quantity≤Bid Quantity. In such an alternate embodiment, a Quantity Range is not used.
Jf the bid quantity satisfies the equation, then a quantity match is established in a step 138, and processing continues in FIG. 1 A by way of flowchart connector IOC. If the bid quantity does not satisfy the equation, a quantity match cannot be established, and processing continues in FIG. 1 A by way of flowchart connector IOC.
FIG. ID shows a flowchart for one embodiment of a process for carrying out determining step 112. In a step 122, it is determined whether the offer type matches the bid type. If no, then a goods match cannot be established, and processing continues in FIG. 1A by way of flowchart connector 10D. If the offer type matches the bid type, then processing continues at a step 132.
In step 132, it is determined whether the offer origin matches the bid origin. If no, then a goods match cannot be established, and processing continues in FIG. 1A by way of flowchart connector 10D. Jf the offer origin matches the bid origin, then a goods match is established in a step 142. Processing then continues in FIG. 1 A by way of flowchart connector 10D.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the commodity is coffee, and the offers include an offer type and an offer origin for the coffee, and the bids include a bid type and a bid origin for the coffee. Preferably, the offers also include an offer grade and an offer crop year for the coffee. For example, the offer grade could include
Columbia Supremo and Columbia UGQ. For example, the offer crop year could specify the two year time period of the crop harvest, e.g., YYYY/yy (1999/00; 2000/01, etc.). Similarly, the bids also preferably include a bid grade and a bid crop year. J-n one alternative of such an embodiment, a transaction match would require an exact match for type, origin, grade, and crop year. Particularly, a transaction match between a bid and an offer would require the following: Offer Type=Bid Type;
Offer Origin=Bid Origin;
Offer Grade=Bid Grade; and
Offer Crop Year=Bid Crop Year. Turning now to FIGS. 2 A through 2C, a flowchart 200 is shown for an alternate embodiment of a brokerage method of the present invention. Flowchart 200 illustrates a method for matching offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity. Flowchart 200 can be used to match offers to sell with bids to buy. Similarly, flowchart 200 can also be used to match bids to buy with offers to sell. In a step 202, a bid item of a buyer to buy the commodity is created. The bid item preferably includes at least a bid quantity and a bid price. In a preferred embodiment, the bid item also includes a delivery time position that identifies a desired delivery date for the commodity. The delivery time position may include a plurality of delivery dates, such as when it is desired to buy the commodity for repeated delivery.
In a step 204, an offer item of a seller to sell the commodity is created. The offer item preferably includes at least an offer quantity and an offer price. In a preferred embodiment, the offer item also includes an availability time position that identifies a date on which the commodity will be available. The availability time position may include a plurality of availability dates, indicating the ability to provide the commodity for repeated sales.
In a step 206, the bid price and the offer price are compared in accordance with the following equation.
Bid Price>Offer Price + Partner Premium + • Service Premiums The partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value established by the buyer associated with the bid price for the seller associated with the offer price. The partner premium is a mechanism whereby personal preferences for trading partners can be quantified so that an automated process can replicate the likely outcome of personal transactions. As an example, a buyer that has a particular affinity for a particular seller for any number of reasons, (e.g., quality of the commodity, warranty, personal acquaintance, etc.) can specify a positive monetary value as the partner premium for that seller. A positive partner premium denotes that the trading partner, in this case a buyer, is willing to consider paying more than the buyer's bid price (increased by the amount of the partner premium) if the transaction is with that seller. Similarly, a buyer may have a particular unwillingness to transact with particular "deprecated" sellers. For a deprecated seller, the buyer would specify a negative monetary value as the partner premium. A negative partner premium denotes that the trading partner, in this case a buyer, is unwilling to do business with that seller unless the offer price is discounted by the amount of the partner premium. A zero partner premium denotes that the trading partner, in this case a buyer, is indifferent about transacting with that seller, and is willing to transact at the bid price, but is not willing to pay a premium.
A service premium is a monetary value associated with a service to be performed in conjunction with the sale of the commodity. Examples of service premiums include, but are not limited to: a transit premium associated with shipping of the commodity; a financing premium associated with financing for the buyer; a storage premium associated with storing or warehousing of the commodity; an insurance premium associated with insuring the commodity; and a customs premium associated with importing and/or exporting the commodity.
The use of service premiums increases the pool of potential matches for a particular bid or offer, thereby increasing the likelihood that a match will be found. The use of service premiums normalizes what appear to be disparate offers and bids to transform them into an "apples to apples" comparison. As an example, assume that a bid item includes a bid quantity of 10 pounds of rice at $12 per pound at a delivery time position of 2000/05. Assume further that an offer item includes an offer quantity of 10 pounds of rice at $8 per pound at an availability time position of 2000/03. The seller is offering to make the rice available before the buyer wants it delivered. A storage premium could be factored into the offer price to store the rice for the two months between the availability time position (March) and the delivery time position (May). Assume that the cost per month for warehousing the rice is $1 per pound, resulting in a storage premium of $2 per pound. Therefore, the offer price plus the storage premium would be $8 plus $2, totaling $10 per pound, less than the bid price. Through the use of the storage premium, price and time were normalized to transform what appeared to be an unacceptable offer item into a match. As another example, assume that a buyer is requesting delivery at the Port of New
York, and a seller is offering the commodity FOB at the seller's warehouse. A transit premium associated with the shipping cost for the commodity from the seller's warehouse to the Port of New York could be added to the offer price. If the offer price plus the transit premium was less than the bid price, then a potential match has been created. Through the use of the transit premium, price and delivery location can be normalized to transform what appeared to be an unacceptable offer item into a match.
As still a further example, assume that a seller is offering the commodity with a payment term of net 30 days. Assume that the buyer cannot meet payment in such a short period, but could obtain financing for the payment due to the seller from a third party over a longer period, for example, 90 days. The cost of the financing or financing premium could be added to the offer price. If the offer price plus the financing premium was less than the bid price, then a match has been created. Through the use of the financing premium, price was normalized to transform what appeared to be an unacceptable offer item into a match.
Returning to step 206, if the Bid Price is not >Offer Price + Partner Premium + • Service Premiums, then a price match cannot be established, and processing continues to create more bid items and offer items by way of flowchart connector 20A. If Bid Price>Offer Price + Partner Premium + • Service Premiums, then a price match is established in a step 210. Processing continues in a step 208.
In step 208, it is determined whether the availability time position occurs prior to the delivery time position. That is, step 208 ensures that the seller will be able to provide the commodity by the time it is needed by the buyer. If the seller cannot, then processing continues to create more bid and offer items by way of flowchart connector 20A. If the availability time position is prior to the delivery time position, then processing continues to establish a delivery match in a step 212 in FIG. 2B by way of flowchart connector 20B.
In a step 214, it is determined whether the price match and the delivery match coπespond to the same bid item and offer item. Jf not, then processing continues in FIG. 2A by way of flowchart connector 20A. If the price match and the delivery match coπespond to the same bid item and offer item, then processing can continue in two ways. In one embodiment, a transaction match is established in a step 216. In another embodiment, processing continues to a step 218 to determine whether the bid quantity is within the range of the offer quantity + a quantity range. Step 218 can be carried out in the same variety of ways as described above for step 128. Jf the bid quantity does not satisfy the offer quantity equation, then processing continues in FIG. 2A by way of flowchart connector 20A. If the bid quantity does satisfy the offer quantity equation, then a quantity match is established in a step 220. Processing then continues in FIG. 2C by way of flowchart connector 20C.
In a step 222 it is determined whether the price match, delivery match, and quantity match each coπespond to the same bid item and offer item. Jf not, then processing returns to FIG. 2A by way of flowchart connector 20A. If the price match, delivery match, and quantity match each correspond to the same bid item and offer item, then a transaction match is established in a step 224. After establishing a transaction match in steps 216 or 224, processing would return to FIG. 2A by way of flowchart connector 20A. The methods .described above with respect to FIGS. 1 A through ID and 2A through
2C for matching offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity, or for matching bids to buy the commodity with offers to sell the commodity, are particularly suitable for use in a commodity brokerage system. An exemplary commodity brokerage system 300 of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 3. In a prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, system 300 is implemented as an electronic commodity exchange, operating over a public network such as the Internet, to carry out electronic commerce transactions. However, it should be understood by one skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to public networks, and can be implemented using other types of networks. A computer system and server network suitable for use with and implementation of commodity brokerage system 300 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, respectively. In such an embodiment, a plurality of trading partners 310 communicate with the system 300 via a network 314 such as the Internet or the world wide web. The communications between system 300 and trading partners 310 can include, for example, a trading request 312. Trading request 312 can be, for example, a bid to buy a bid quantity of the commodity at a bid price for delivery at a delivery time position. Trading request 312 can also be an offer to sell an offer quantity of the commodity at an offer price for delivery at an availability time position. Communications between system 300 and trading partners 310 can also include the following: information about the trading partner, such as company information; preferences for use with the commodity brokerage system; production and inventory information; supply requirements; and information relating to prospective customers.
As a service to its trading partners, system 300 preferably provides information relating to commodity news and commodity prices. In one embodiment, system 300 communicates over a network 324 with a commodity news and price source 320 to receive commodity news and prices 322. Commodity news and prices 322 would then be sent to or displayed for trading partners 310. As will be explained in more detail below with respect to FIG. 4A, this is preferably accomplished through a website and the use of HTML pages as would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art.
System 300 also communicates via a network 334 with a financial institution 330, such as a credit card bank. In a prefeπed embodiment, communications over network 334 would be secure, such as through technology such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). For example, a request for a funds* transfer or a request for credit or a charge to a credit card would be sent from system 300 to financial institution 330, and an approval or denial would be sent to the commodity brokerage system by financial institution 330. In this manner, system 300 is able to process payments made by trading partners 310. System 300 also preferably communicates via a network 344 with one or more service providers 340. Service provider 340 provides the service in conjunction with the sale of the commodity corresponding to the service premiums described above. For example, service provider 340 can include, but is not limited to, a shipping company that ships the commodity, a warehouse company that stores or warehouses the commodity, an insurance company that insures the commodity, for example during shipment, or a financial institution that provides financing for the transaction. Financial institution 330 could also function as a service provider.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, commodity brokerage system 300 is configured as a brokerage system for coffee. In such an embodiment, the system is implemented using a web site available on a network. The network can be a public network such as the Internet or the World Wide Web (WWW). The network can also be a non-public network such as an intranet or a private backbone network. Participants or trading partners in the coffee brokerage system would typically be roasters, producers, importers, and exporters, and would be categorized as "buyers" or "sellers" based on the role the trading partner plays in a particular transaction. Such a web site would have a "home page" where an existing member or trading partner of the coffee brokerage system could logon by entering, for example, a User ID and a password. Preferably, members who have forgotten their password are able to request forgotten password hint information from a link or "button" on the home page. A user activates or selects such a link through use of a keyboard or by activating a cursor on a page using any cursor control device, such as a mouse or touchpad. The web site home page also preferably allows an individual to become a member or trading partner in the coffee brokerage system. As would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art, such a registration process could be implemented by clicking on an appropriate link to another web page that prompts for entry of such information including, but not limited to, name, ground address, valid e-mail address, phone number, user specified password, credit card or other type of financial information, etc. Such a link would preferably be carried out over a secure connection such as SSL. The system would then assign a User ID for use in subsequent visits to the site.
Existing members who have already registered on the site, but are not automatically known by the system, are able to register by entering their User ID and password. Incoπect passwords or forgotten User IDs will direct members to a help/ password hint HTML page which will prompt the member to enter his or her last name and e-mail address. The e-mail address must be valid. When this information is looked up and verified in a member database, the member's password hint is displayed and a form field is displayed for the member to enter his or her password hint answer. Once this form is submitted, the password hint answer is compared. If it matches, the User ID and password are displayed on the member's browser system screen. Alternatively, this information is sent to the member via an e-mail message. If it is not correct, the member has the option of calling the commodity brokerage system for member support. Once a member has registered, they may administer their own registration information. This includes changing a password and other registration information. The data associated with membership and registration is preferably passed over a secure connection, such as SSL.
Registered members are transparently assigned a profile that holds contact information such as address, phone and e-mail address. Profiles contain any information filled out on-line or through specific questionnaires and purchasing habits. Member profiles also determine how the site appears to the member, special deals, purchasing incentives, etc. In addition, real time click-stream information may be collected and maintained, such as, but not limited to, purchase histories and web page files visited. The site first checks for a cookie when a member or other web navigator enters the site to determine if they are a registered member. If the member has visited the site before, the system will automatically pull up their profile. Trading partners submit trading requests to the coffee brokerage system, as illustrated, for example in FIG. 3. A buyer posts a bid on the site, while a seller posts an offer. When a bid item or an offer item is created, it is assigned a reference number and is date/time stamped. In addition, several criteria are recorded for matching purposes. An exemplary bid item or offer item is shown below in Table 1.
Figure imgf000032_0001
Table 1
In the examples of Table 1, "USC" refers to United States Cents, while USD refers to United States Dollars. "Straight" refers to a full or whole month, while "First Half refers to the first two weeks of a month, and "Second Half refers to the last two weeks of a month. Positions could also be expressed in units of weeks, e.g., Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 or Week 5 of a month. The shipment terms in Table 1 have the following meanings, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art.
FOB = Freight on Board
C&F = Cost and Freight
CIF = Cost, Insurance, and Freight Mod ex Dock = modified exDock
ExW/H = ex Warehouse
FOT = Free on Truck
On-the-Dock = Shipment is already on the dock Jn a prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, when matching bids to offers and offers to bids, each criterion is matched according to rules. In a particularly prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, a match must have Type, Origin, Grade, and Crop Year as an exact match, in a manner similar to that described above with respect to FIGS. 1 A through ID. In such a particularly preferred embodiment, price is matched in accordance with the formula or equation Bid Price≥Offer Price + Partner Premium + • Service Premiums, in a manner similar to that described above with respect to FIGS. 2A through 2C. Additionally, in such a particularly preferred embodiment, price matches are made in a manner similar to that described above with respect to FIGS. 1A through ID. In such a particularly prefeπed embodiment, quantity is matched in accordance with the equations described above with respect to FIGS. 1A through ID and 2A through 2C.
In another embodiment of the commodity brokerage system and method of the present invention, a coffee brokerage system is provided that implements the following methodology for searching for bids to match offers and for searching for offers to match bids. Bid items are stored in a bid detail aπay that includes position, price, quantity (qty), and quantity in pounds (LB), as shown below in Table 2. The quantity in pounds is computed by multiplying the number of bags by the weight in pounds of each bag. "lh" refers to "first half and "2h" refers to "second half of the indicated month. Similarly, offer items are stored in an offer detail array in analogous fashion to that shown in Table 2.
Figure imgf000034_0001
Table 2
Consolidated bid item details are stored in another aπay, as shown below in Table 3. The quantity in LB and the price weighted average of USC per LB are consolidated by month, using, for example, the following equations. Similarly, consolidated offer item details are stored in another array in like manner to that shown below in Table 3.
(QtyLB) for a month = QtyLB 1 + QtyLB2 + + QtyLBn for each month.
(Price USC per LB) for a month = [(QtyLB l*PriceUSC/LBl) + (QtyLB2*PriceUSC/LB2) + . . . (QtyLBn*PriceUSC/LBn)]/total(QtyLB)
Figure imgf000034_0002
Table 3
In another step, it is determined which trading partners are approved to trade with the trading partner corresponding to a particular bid or offer, and whether the approved trading partner is a preferred or deprecated trading partner. For example, consider a situation in which there are 7 trading partners. A matrix is established to indicate the relationship between each trading partner as the trading partner that is posting a bid or offer and the other trading partners, and the relationship between each trading partner as a potential matching trading partner for the other trading partners. An exemplary matrix is shown below in Table 4.
Figure imgf000035_0001
Table 4
As shown in Table 4, trading partner 1 is willing to enter into a transaction with all other trading partners, except for trading partner 5. Of the approved trading partners for trading partner 1, only trading partner 4 is a prefeπed trading partner. Conversely, trading partners 3 and 6 do not have trading partner 1 as an approved trading partner. Of the other trading partners willing to transact with trading partner 1, trading partners 4 and 5 consider trading partner 1 to be a preferred trading partner. Thus, the resulting set of trading partners that could transact with trading partner 1 includes trading partners 2, 4, and 7, that is, trading partner 1 is willing to transact with trading partners 2, 4, and 7 and trading partners 2, 4, and 7 are willing to transact with trading partner 1. Of the resulting set of trading partners 2, 4, and 7, only trading partner 4 is a prefeπed trading partner with respect to trading partner 1.
Matching offers for a bid posted by trading partner 1 can be determined by, for example, searching offers posted by trading partners 2, 4, and 7 to match offer origin with bid origin, offer grade with bid grade, offer crop year with bid crop year, offer price with bid price, and shipment term (availability and delivery time positions). Jn one embodiment, a set is identified of the first 10 best matching offers that include at least one time position that matches the bid. From this set, the deltas or deviations in time positions, quantity, and price are determined by calculating as follows and sorting the results.
• (No. of matching time positions) = (Total no. of time positions in the bid) - (No. of matching time positions in the offer)
• (Qty) = (Total bid qty in LB) - (Total offer qty in LB)
• (Price) = Total(Offer price in USC + shipping premium) - Total(Bid price in USC)
Figure imgf000036_0001
Table 5
In Table 5, "Offer JD" is an identification number for the offer item; "TP JD" is an identification number for the trading partner coπesponding to the Offer J-D; "• Tpos" is the in the number of matching time positions; "Pref TP" is an indicator of whether the offer is from a prefeπed trading partner (l=yes; 0=no); and "Ship Prem" is a shipping premium. As described above, in other embodiments, other premiums (or no premiums) can be used in the determination of • Price. A nested sort is carried out in the order noted (1, 2, and 3) to generate the results shown in Table 5. Jf the offer prices are lower than the bid price, then prices in the offer detail arrays are raised to match the coπesponding elements in the bid detail array. Conversely, when matching bids with an offer, and the bid prices are higher than the coπesponding offer prices, the bid prices in the bid detail aπay are lowered to match the coπesponding elements in the offer detail aπay. With reference now to FIG. 4A, an exemplary web page 400 is displayed for a registered trading partner of the coffee brokerage system, John Smith. Web page 400 includes a navigation tool bar 402 that allows a user to navigate or link to other parts of the web site. Web page 400 functions as a user interface (UI) that has input controls to allow a user to select options, and a display whereby information is displayed. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4A, tool bar 402 includes links to Buy, Sell, Account, Quotes, Contact Us, and Logout. It should be understood by one skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to any particular links on tool bar 402, and that other links could be used. The tool bar links, as well as all of the links and "buttons" described below, function as menu items that are part of the input controls of the user interface. Activating the link to Contact Us brings up a web page display that preferably includes the name, ground address, voice telephone number, facsimile telephone number, and e-mail address for the coffee brokerage system. The Contact Us page also preferably includes an area prompting for entry of comments, and name, e-mail, and phone of the individual making the comments. This is sent to the coffee brokerage system by activating a "submit" button or link. Activating the Quotes link launches a browser window that provides "real-time" commodity quotes. The commodity quotes window will stay open for as long as the user wishes, until it is closed in a well-known manner. Activating the link to Logout logs the member out of member services, and redirects the member to the home page for the website.
Web page 400 also includes a coffee news and prices ticker 404. Ticker 404 is providing information about coffee news and coffee prices obtained from a source such as commodity news and price source 320 shown in FIG. 3. Ticker 404 provides trading partners with a continuous feed of cuπent and updated coffee news and prices throughout the world. Web page 400 also includes a Market Indications selector 406 and a Market Indications trade detail 408. Selector 406 functions as a drop-down dialog box to allow a trading partner to select, for example, a particular grade of coffee, such as Colombia UGQ. Trade detail 408 then displays the high, low, and average price of the selected Market Indications item traded, as well as the high, low, and average in offers and bids for the selected Market Indications item (Colombia UGQ). As would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art, selector 406 and trade detail 408 could be based on, for example, type of coffee, or other parameters such as crop year, and is not limited to use of coffee grade. Web page 400 preferably includes a highlights area 410 that provides features for trading partners including, but not limited to, new features, rewards for referring new members to the coffee brokerage system, and surveys to improve the environment for coffee trading. Other features that may be, but preferably are, provided for trading partners via web page 400 include, but are not limited to, the following: weekly specials; a coffee club; express shopping for the fastest way to shop and checkout; a coffee concierge that operates as a personal assistant to find the optimal coffee to meet the needs of the trading partner; and an affiliate program that allows a trading partner to register its own website with the coffee brokerage system.
Web page 400 includes an open bids link 412 and an open offers link 414 that link to pages that display the open bids and open offers, respectively, of the trading partner. FIG. 4B shows an exemplary web page display from open bids link 412. Open bids are unexpired bids to buy coffee for which a transaction has not been made. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4B, the quantity, origin, quality, price, shipment position, terms, and expiration of each open bid are shown. In one embodiment, quantity is expressed in units of "bags" of coffee, the bags can be in varying weight sizes, e.g., 100 lb. or 60 kg. In the prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, differing units of quantity will be normalized or converted to a standard for comparison and matching purposes. This allows trading partners to enter bids and offers in units with which they are familiar and comfortable, while allowing bids and offers to be compared using a standard basis. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4B, origin is the country of origin, but other levels of geographic origin may be used, e.g., city, region, etc. Quality is preferably expressed as a grade of coffee, such as Supremo, PK, UGQ, as is known to one skilled in the relevant art. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4B, price is expressed as flat pricing in units of currency such as dollars (such as "100" shown in FIG. 4B), or as differential pricing as a deviation from a trading value of a standard coffee exchange. For example, differential pricing can be implemented as a deviation from the "C" value set five times per year by the New York Green Coffee Association (such as "C+4" shown in FIG. 4B). Other exchanges can of course be used to set differential pricing, such as the "L" value of the London coffee exchange. In a manner similar to that described above for quantity, differing units of price will be normalized or converted to a standard for comparison and matching purposes. This allows trading partners to enter bids and offers in price units with which they are familiar and comfortable, while allowing bids and offers to be compared using a standard basis.
The shipment positions shown in FIG.4B indicate the number of delivery time positions that the buyer is requesting for the bid quantity. The terms indicate the requested shipment terms. Shipment terms preferably include FOB, C&F, CIF, Mod ex Dock, ex W/H, FOT, and on-the-dock as defined above and known to one skilled in the art. As would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art, other types of shipment terms could be used. "Exp." shown in FIG. 4B refers to an expiration time point for the open bid. After the expiration time point is reached, the bid is no longer active and is preferably deleted from the system. FIG. 4C shows an exemplary web page display from open offers link 414. Open offers are unexpired offers to sell coffee for which a transaction has not been made. The display shown in FIG. 4C shows the analogous information explained above for FIG. 4B. The positions of FIG. 4C indicate the number of availability time positions that the seller is willing to make available for the offer quantity.
Web page 400 also includes a link to a display of alerts 416. FIG. 4D shows an exemplary web page display from the link to alerts 416. Alerts provide a notification to the trading partner of potential transaction matches for open bids and offers. Alerts can be provided through the web page via the link to alerts 416. Alerts can also be provided to trading partners via other means, including but not limited to, sending an e-mail notification and sending a page through a paging device known to one skilled in the art. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4D, the alerts display includes a date and time of the alert, and an indication of whether the alert is a "New" alert that refers to a new potential match. The Alert column provides a description of the alert, e.g., whether the alert refers to an offer waiting for a particular bid number, or a bid waiting for a particular offer number. The alert may also refer to counter offers waiting for a particular offer number, or counter offers pending for a particular bid number. The alert may also refer to particular bids and offers that have been executed. The Minutes to Expire indicates the time remaining before the waiting or pending action will expire, or indicates that the pending or waiting action has expired. The alerts can be deleted by the trading partner, either individually or all at once by selecting the "Select All" box in the Delete column.
By activating the Account button on tool bar 402, a Member Resources web page is displayed. An exemplary Member Resources web page display is shown in FIG. 4E. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4E a variety of links is provided to allow a trading partner or member to enter information or receive information about their trading environment with the coffee brokerage system. Such links can include, but are not limited to the following: Company Profile to enter information regarding the trading partner's company; User Profile to specify parameters for or customize web page 400 displayed to that trading partner; Payment Information for entering credit card or bank draft information; and Account Details for receiving information about a trading partner's account. The account details received by a trading partner would preferably provide detail regarding how the trading partner incuπed costs in the coffee brokerage system. In a prefeπed embodiment of the coffee brokerage system of the present invention, a fee is charged to submit a trading request, i.e., to post bids and offers and have a search done to identify potential matches. Once a trading partner selects a match, thereby indicating acceptance of the same, the trading partner will be notified of the identity of the trading partner associated with the selected match. At this point, the trading partner selecting the match will be assessed another fee, a transaction fee that is preferably higher than the initial search fee. The account details would preferably break down the fees to identify search fees and transaction fees. The account details would also preferably provide a daily reconciliation to display the information relating to bids and offers posted, and coffee sold or bought that day. In a particularly prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, a link is provided to
Trading Partners, as shown in FIG. 4E. The Trading Partners link provides a mechanism for a trading partner to specify information relating to other trading partners, such as specifying a Partner Premium as described above with reference to FIG. 2A. Particularly, the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value established by a particular trading partner for other trading partners with whom the particular trading partner may transact. The partner premium is a mechanism whereby personal preferences for trading partners can be quantified so that an automated process can replicate the likely outcome of personal transactions.
By activating the Sell link on tool bar 402, a Sell Coffee web page is displayed, such as the exemplary web page 500 illustrated in FIG. 5A. Web page 500 includes a Custom Offer Link 502, a Sell Spread button or link 504, and a Sell Spot button or link 506. Links 502, 504, and 506 refer to three exemplary types of offers to sell coffee using the coffee brokerage system of the present invention, i.e., custom offers, spread offers, and spot offers. This parallels three exemplary types of bids to buy coffee using the coffee brokerage system of the present invention, i.e., custom bids, spread bids, and spot bids. As used herein "custom" refers to a bid or offer that includes multiple time positions that occur on an iπegular basis. That is, the multiple time positions for a custom offer or bid do not have the same time interval between each time position. For example, a custom offer or bid could include time positions of JanOO, MarOO, JulyOO, AugOO, and OctOO, wherein the time interval between successive time positions varies and is not the same. Moreover, in a custom offer or bid, the quantity at each time position can also vary and is not necessarily the same. As used herein, "spread" refers to a bid or offer that includes multiple time positions that occur on a regular periodic basis. That is, the multiple time positions for a spread offer or bid have the same time interval between each time position. For example, a spread offer or bid could include time positions of JanOO, MarOO, MayOO, JulyOO, and SeptOO, wherein the time interval between successive time positions is the same. Moreover, in a spread offer or bid, the quantity at each time position is the same and does not vary. As used herein, "spot" refers to a bid or offer that has a single time position.
Web page 500 includes information for entry of a custom offer. For such an offer, the Type, Origin, Grade, and Crop Year for the coffee would be entered. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 A, drop-down dialog boxes are used for convenience of the trading partner, but other methods would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. The pricing scheme is also entered, such as differential pricing using the New York "C" market as shown in FIG. 5A. The shipment terms are also entered, preferably specifying the shipment type (e.g., FOB) and the Port (e.g., Santa Maria). Drop-down dialog boxes are preferably used for these entries as well. The number of shipments or deliveries is specified. The type of sale basis is also preferably specified, such as selling on shipment basis as shown in FIG. 5A. Other sale bases could include delivery basis. Finally, the shipment type (In bags or I-n bulk) is also specified, such as by toggling between the illustrated buttons. The custom offer shown in FIG. 5 A can be canceled, the information cleared, or additional information entered by activating the Cancel, Clear, and Continue link buttons, respectively. Upon activation of the Continue button, an additional Custom Offer web page to sell coffee is displayed, an example of which is shown in FIG. 5B. The web page illustrated in FIG. 5B allows a seller to specify, for example, the quantity of bags for those offers shipped in bags. It also allows a seller to specify shipment or availability time positions, for example, by month and year. A custom offer is preferably used in situations where it is desired to sell coffee at a number of iπegular availability time positions.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5B, the seller can specify the following: mode of fixation of the offer; an expiration time point that the offer is good until (days; hour; minutes); sampling scheme; weighing conditions; contract type; and payment terms. It would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that other terms or conditions relating to the offer may also be specified. Contract type can include, for example, a standard contract provided by the coffee brokerage system, or other type of standard contract such as that provided by the New York Green Coffee Association.
By activating Sell Spread link 504 in web page 500, a spread offer web page 600 is displayed, an example of which is shown in FIG. 6A. A spread offer is used for availability time positions that are periodic with the same time interval between each availability time position. The information obtained through web page 600 is similar to that obtained through web page 500, and will be omitted here for brevity. Activating a Continue link shown in web page 600 brings up a second web page, an example of which is shown in FIG. 6B for entry of additional information. The web page shown in FIG. 6B would be used to enter the shipment or availability time positions for the spread offer. Other information is also entered, as described above with respect to FIG. 5B. Activation of the Continue button or link shown in FIG. 6B brings up matches found for the particular spread offer. Exemplary web pages of buyer matches are illustrated in FIGS. 6C (Buyer 1 of 5) and 6D (Buyer 2 of 5). In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D would incur the initial lower search fee described above. The web pages illustrated in FIGS. 6C and 6D provide a comparison of Contract Terms, comparing "Your Terms" (seller) with the Buyer's Terms. A comparison is also provided for Delivery Schedule between "Your Schedule" (seller) and the Buyer's Schedule, hi the embodiment shown in FIG. 6C, the seller has the option to "Select this offer" by activating link 610. Alternatively, the seller could select any of matches 1 to 5 by activating the appropriate number on a Select Match link 640. Upon activation of link 610 or link 640, information relating to the identity of Buyer 1 of 5 would be provided to the seller, along with other information needed to complete the transaction. In a prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, activation of link 610 or link 640 and the identification of the selected buyer would incur the higher transaction fee described above.
In one embodiment of the present invention, upon activation of link 610 or link 640, a Disclosure Agreement page is displayed to the seller. The Disclosure Agreement page would present a query such as "Are you sure you want to sell this coffee?" The Disclosure Agreement page preferably notifies the seller that upon agreement, the counter party (buyer) information would be disclosed, and the seller would be charged a commission, the higher transaction fee discussed above. In the preferred embodiment, even if the seller does not agree, the seller is notified that the commission or transaction fee will still be charged. The commission or transaction fee can be, for example, based upon the shipment weight, such as 25 U.S. cents per pound shipment weight. Jf the seller does not agree, then, in one embodiment, the counter party (buyer) can be identified as an unacceptable trading partner for that seller for an exclusion period, such as six months. If the seller indicates disagreement with the Disclosure Agreement, then the seller is returned to the web pages that display the search results. If the seller does indicate agreement with the Disclosure Agreement, then a
Transaction Match web page is displayed. The Transaction Match web page preferably details the information (name; address; telephone; etc.) for the buyer selected for the seller's offer, providing the offer number and the type and quantity of coffee. The Transaction Match web page also preferably details the commission that will be charged to the seller, and the seller's payment method. The Transaction Match web page also preferably displays a comparison between the contract terms of the seller and the buyer, and displays the delivery schedule for the transaction. The Transaction Match web page preferably allows the seller to review the information for the transaction, and print the information and contract for reference.
The Transaction Match web page preferably contains an Accept Transaction link and a Decline Transaction link. By activating the Accept Transaction link, an Order Confirmation web page is displayed for the seller that notifies the seller of an order confirmation number, and that an alert will be sent to the seller when the buyer confirms the transaction. By activating the Decline Transaction link, a Reject web page is displayed. The Reject page would present a query such as "Are you sure you want to reject this transaction?" The Reject page also preferably advises the seller that the seller will still be charged the commission (transaction fee) for the disclosure information about the buyer. If the seller indicates that, yes, the seller does want to reject, then the seller is returned to the search results web page. Jf the seller indicates that the seller does not want to reject, then the seller is returned to the previous Transaction Match page to accept the transaction.
The functionality of the Disclosure Agreement page, Transaction Match page, Reject page, and accepting and declining transactions has been described above with respect to a seller that will be transacting with a buyer. As would be readily apparent to one skilled in the art, similar functionality could be used with respect to a buyer that will be transacting with a seller. Moreover, one skilled in the art will appreciate that other types of functionality could be implemented to conclude a transaction between a buyer and a seller, and that the present invention is not limited to a particular manner or implementation for doing so. For example, in one embodiment, a buyer is charged the transaction fee when the buyer rejects a transaction in a manner similar to that described above for the seller. Alternatively, only a buyer (and not a seller) is charged the transaction fee for a rejected transaction. In a preferred embodiment, a buyer is charged the transaction fee when the buyer accepts a transaction with a seller in a manner similar to that described above for acceptance by a seller. Alternatively, the transaction fee for a successful transaction could be split between the buyer and the seller, such as 50 /50%, or in any other desired ratio.
As shown in FIG. 6C, a seller could also counter the offer of Buyer 1 of 5 by activating link 620. Appropriate web pages would then be displayed to enter information relating to such a counter offer. In a prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, any bid or offer can be countered to negotiate a trade, except for exact matches. A trading partner can re-define or counter a matching bid or offer to settle portions of the transaction such as shipment terms, price, or quantity. During a counter, a trading partner has the option to add or subtract matching bid and offer spread positions in order to complete a transaction. The seller can also show the next match, in this case Buyer 2 of 5 as shown in FIG. 6D, by activating a Show next match link 630. Similarly, a seller viewing the match shown in FIG. 6D for Buyer 2 of 5 can display the match for Buyer 1 of 5 by activating a Show previous match link 650 in FIG. 6D.
By activating Sell Spot link 506 in web page 500, a spot offer web page 700 is displayed, an example of which is shown in FIG.7 A. A spot offer is preferably used for selling coffee that is already in a warehouse. The information obtained through web page 700 is similar to that obtained through web page 500, and will be omitted here for brevity.
Activating a Continue link shown in web page 700 brings up a second web page, an example of which is shown in FIG. 7B for entry of additional information. The web page shown in FIG.7B would be used to enter the shipment or availability time positions for the spot offer. Other information is also entered, as described above with respect to FIG. 5B. Activation of the Continue button or link shown in FIG.7B brings up matches found for the particular spot offer, similar to those shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D. Activation of the Review button or link shown in FIG. 7B brings up a review web page, an example of which is shown in FIG. 7C. The review web page provides a trading partner with the ability to review a summary of the entire bid or offer before it is posted. The summary is displayed in sentence format about the bid or offer about to be posted. Once the bid or offer is posted, then the searching and matching process is initiated. By activating the Buy link on tool bar 402, a Buy Coffee web page is displayed, such as the exemplary web page 800 illustrated in FIG. 8 A. Web page 800 includes a Custom Bid Link 802, a Buy Spread button or link 804, and a Buy Spot button or link 806. Links 802, 804, and 806 refer to three exemplary types of bids to buy coffee using the coffee brokerage system of the present invention, i.e., custom bids, spread bids, and spot bids. Custom bids, spread bids, and spot bids operate in like manner to custom offers, spread offers, and spot offers described above. Web page 800 includes information for entry of a custom bid. The information obtained through web page 800 is similar to that obtained through web page 500, and will be omitted here for brevity. Activating a Continue link shown in web page 800 brings up a second web page, an example of which is shown in FIG. 8B for entry of additional information. The web page shown in FIG. 8B would be used to enter the shipment or delivery time positions for the custom bid. Other information is also entered, as described above with respect to FIG. 5B, but from the perspective of the buyer posting the custom bid. Activation of the Continue button or link shown in FIG. 8B brings up matches found for the particular custom bid. An exemplary web page of seller matches is illustrated in FIG. 8C (Seller 1 of 5). In a prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, the information shown in FIG. 8C would incur the initial lower search fee described above. The web page illustrated in FIG. 8C provides a comparison of Contract Terms, comparing "Your Terms" (buyer) with the Seller's Terms. A comparison is also provided for Delivery Schedule between "Your Schedule" (buyer) and the Seller's Schedule. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8C, the buyer has the option to "Select this offer" by activating link 810. Alternatively, the seller could select any of matches 1 to 5 by activating the appropriate number on a Select Match link 840. Upon activation of link 810 or link 840, information relating to the identity of Seller 1 of 5 would be provided to the buyer, along with other information needed to complete the transaction. In a prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, activation of link 810 or link 840 and the identification of the selected seller would incur the higher transaction fee described above. The transaction between buyer and seller would then be completed in a manner such as that described above.
As shown in FIG. 8C, a buyer could also counter the offer of Seller 1 of 5 by activating link 820. Appropriate web pages would then be displayed to enter information relating to such a counter offer. The buyer can also show the next match, in this case Seller 2 of 5, by activating a Show next match link 830. Similarly, a buyer viewing the next match (Seller 2 of 5, not shown) can display the match for Seller 1 of 5 by activating a Show previous match link.
Activation of the Review button or link shown in FIG. 8B brings up a review web page, an example of which is shown in FIG. 8D. The review web page provides a trading partner with the ability to review a summary of the entire bid or offer before it is posted. The summary is displayed in sentence format about the bid or offer about to be posted. Once the bid or offer is posted, then the searching and matching process is initiated.
By activating Buy Spot link 806 in web page 800, a spot bid web page 900 is displayed, an example of which is shown in FIG. 9A. A spot bid is preferably used for buying coffee that is already in a warehouse. The information obtained through web page 900 is similar to that obtained through web page 500, and will be omitted here for brevity.
Activating a Continue link shown in web page 900 brings up a second web page, an example of which is shown in FIG. 9B for entry of additional information. The web page shown in FIG. 9B would be used to enter the shipment or delivery time positions for the spot bid. Other information is also entered, as described above with respect to FIG. 5B, from the perspective of the buyer posting the spot bid.
Activation of the Continue button or link shown in FIG. 9B brings up matches found for the particular spot bid. Exemplary web pages of seller matches are illustrated in FIGS. 9C (Seller 1 of 5) and 9D (Seller 2 of 5). In a prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, the information shown in FIGS. 9C and 9D would incur the initial lower search fee described above. The web pages illustrated in FIGS. 9C and 9D provide a comparison of Contract Terms, comparing "Your Terms" (buyer) with the Seller's Terms. A comparison is also provided for Delivery Schedule between "Your Schedule" (buyer) and the Seller's Schedule. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9C, the buyer has the option to "Select this offer" by activating link 910. Alternatively, the buyer could select any of matches 1 to 5 by activating the appropriate number on a Select Match link 940. Upon activation of link 910 or link 940, information relating to the identity of Seller 1 of 5 would be provided to the buyer, along with other information needed to complete the transaction. In a prefeπed embodiment of the present invention, activation of link 910 or link 940 and the identification of the selected seller would incur the higher transaction fee described above. The transaction between buyer and seller would then be completed in a manner such as that described above.
As shown in FIG. 9C, a buyer could also counter the offer of Seller 1 of 5 by activating link 920. Appropriate web pages would then be displayed to enter information relating to such a counter offer. The buyer can also show the next match, in this case Seller 2 of 5 as shown in FIG. 9D, by activating a Show next match link 930. Similarly, a buyer viewing the match shown in FIG. 9D for Seller 2 of 5 can display the match for Seller 1 of 5 by activating a Show previous match link 950 in FIG. 9D. Activation of the Review button or link shown in FIG. 9B brings up a review web page, an example of which is shown in FIG. 9E. The review web page provides a trading partner with the ability to review a summary of the entire bid or offer before it is posted. The summary is displayed in sentence format about the bid or offer about to be posted. Once the bid or offer is posted, then the searching and matching process is initiated. By activating Buy Spread link 804 in web page 800, a spread bid web page 1000 is displayed, an example of which is shown in FIG. 10A. A spread bid is used for delivery time positions that are periodic with the same time interval between each delivery time position. The information obtained through web page 1000 is similar to that obtained through web page 500, and will be omitted here for brevity. Activating a Continue link shown in web page 1000 brings up a second web page, an example of which is shown in FIG. 10B for entry of additional information. The web page shown in FIG. 10B would be used to enter the shipment or delivery time positions for the spread bid. Other information is also entered, as described above with respect to FIG. 5B, from the perspective of the buyer associated with the spread bid.
Activation of the Continue button or link shown in FIG. 10B brings up matches found for the particular spread bid. Exemplary web pages of seller matches are illustrated in FIGS. 9C (Seller 1 of 5) and 9D (Seller 2 of 5) described above.
As noted above, a "spread" refers to periodic time positions with the same time interval between each time position, and can be used with offers to sell and bids to buy. "Custom" refers to iπegular time positions that do not have the same time interval between each time position. In one embodiment of the present invention, spread and/or custom bids/offers are managed so that after a trading partner has accepted a bid/offer for a transaction, the balance of the custom or spread, if any, is displayed to the trading partner to continue filling the bid/offer. In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the balance of a custom or spread can be filled through the use of the counter offer procedures described above. Particularly, during a counter, a trading partner has the option to add or subtract matching bid and offer time positions in order to complete a transaction. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, if a trading partner executes a transaction that does not precisely match the original bid or offer, the commodity brokerage system will automatically generate new spot, custom, or spread bids and offers, and allow the trading partner to indicate that the generated bids and offers should be posted. This feature advantageously allows a trading partner to accept a transaction that does not exactly match the requirements of the bid/offer, and facilitates creating bid items and offer items in the commodity brokerage system to sell off excess quantity, or to purchase additional quantity as required.
A variety of alternatives are provided in the commodity brokerage system of the present invention for managing and matching custom and spread offers and bids. In one embodiment, spread offers and bids are not "broken", i.e., a spread bid or spread offer is matched in its entirety with a single trading partner. J-n an alternate embodiment, spread offers and bids can be broken in a random manner so that each time position is treated individually for matching purposes. Jn such an alternate embodiment, spread offers and bids could be matched with a plurality of different trading partners, or with a single trading partner. In a similar manner, custom offers and bids could be matched with a plurality of different trading partners, or with a single trading partner. In yet another embodiment, spread offers and bids and/or custom offers and bids are broken at the "ends" only, i.e., one or more time positions at the beginning and/or at the end of the spread period are "cleaved" off for matching purposes. In such an embodiment, spread offers and bids and custom offers and bids could be matched with a plurality of different trading partners, or with a single trading partner. It should be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the various foregoing methods described for managing and matching spread offers and bids and custom offers and bids could be combined. As an example, spread offers and bids could be managed using a "not broken" regime until a certain time window of the first delivery date for the spread was reached. Once the time window was reached, a "break at the ends" regime could be initiated, or a "random break" regime could be initiated. The regime applied to custom offers and bids could be the same as or different from the regime applied to spread offers and bids. Another factor that could be used to combine various spread management and matching regimes is the age of a particular bid or offer. Once a spread bid or offer, or custom bid or offer, reaches a particular age or time window from its expiration time point, then a "break at the ends" or a "random break" regime could be initiated. The present invention is not limited to a particular regime for managing and matching spread offers and bids, or custom offers and bids, and all of the described methods are within the scope of the present invention.
As described above, the present invention advantageously does not reveal an identity of a trading partner associated with a matched bid or offer until the trading partner accepts a bid or offer. Each trading partner has the option to specify prefeπed trading partners, as well as deprecated trading partners as described above. Preferably, when a match involves a prefeπed trading partner, the match will be displayed in a manner to indicate that the match is associated with a preferred trading partner. Similarly, when a match involves a deprecated trading partner, the match will be displayed in a manner to indicate that the match is associated with a deprecated trading partner. Such a display can be indicated textually or through the use of color. As an example, matches involving a prefeπed trading partner could be displayed using a green color, matches involving a deprecated trading partner could be displayed using a red color, and matches involving a neutral trading partner (neither prefeπed nor deprecated) could be displayed using a black. Such use of color would provide an : indication to the trading partner of the category of trading partners associated with the matches without revealing the identity of the trading partner associated with the matches. To further protect identity of the trading partner associated with the matches, the matches may be displayed without prices. This is preferable in situations where a single trading partner could have multiple bids/offers that constitute the matches presented to another trading partner. In one embodiment of the present invention, the category of trading partner (prefeπed; deprecated; neutral) is used to drive the order of search for matching bids and offers. For example, when matching bids and offers for a particular trading partner, bids and offers from prefeπed trading partners would be matched first, and any remaining bids and offers would be matched using neutral trading partners, and finally with deprecated trading partners. A computer system capable of carrying out the functionality described herein is shown in more detail in FIG. 11. Computer system 1100 includes one or more processors, such as processor 1104. Processor 1104 is connected to a communication bus 1106. Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplary computer system. After reading this description, it will become apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art how to implement the invention using other computer systems and/or computer architectures.
Computer system 1100 also includes a main memory 1108, preferably random access memory (RAM), and can also include a secondary memory 1110. Secondary memory 1110 can include, for example, a hard disk drive 1112 and/or a removable storage drive 1114, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. Removable storage drive 1114 reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 1118 in a well known manner. Removable storage unit 1118, represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storage drive 1114. As will be appreciated, removable storage unit 1118 includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data.
In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 1110 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into computer system 1100. Such means can include, for example, a removable storage unit 1122 and an interface 1120. Examples of such can include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an EPROM, or PROM) and associated socket, and other removable storage units 1122 and interfaces 1120 which allow software and data to be transfeπed from removable storage unit 1122 to computer system 1100.
Computer system 1100 can also include a communications interface 1124. Communications interface 1124 allows software and data to be transfeπed between computer system 1100 and external devices. Examples of communications interface 1124 can include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, etc. Software and data transfeπed via communications interface 1124 are in the form of signals 1126 that can be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by communications interface 1124. Signals 1126 are provided to communications interface via a channel 1128. Channel 1128 carries signals 1126 and can be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link and other communications channels.
In this document, the terms "computer program medium" and "computer usable medium" are used to generally refer to media such as removable storage device 1118, a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 1112, and signals 1126. These computer program products are means for providing software to computer system 1100.
Computer programs (also called computer control logic) are stored in main memory 1108 and/or secondary memory 1110. Computer programs can also be received via communications interface 1124. Such computer programs, when executed, enable computer system 1100 to perform the features of the present invention as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable processor 1104 to perform the features of the present invention. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of computer system 1100. In an embodiment where the invention is implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into computer system 1100 using removable storage drive 1114, hard drive 1112 or communications interface 1124. The control logic (software), when executed by processor 1104, causes processor 1104 to perform the functions of the invention as described herein. • In another embodiment, the invention is implemented primarily in hardware using, for example, hardware components such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of such a hardware state machine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). In yet another embodiment, the invention is implemented using a combination of both hardware and software. FIG. 12 shows one embodiment of a server network suitable for implementation of the commodity brokerage system of the present invention. System 300 connects to a network, illustrated here as the Internet, through a traffic switch 1214. System 300 preferably includes a web server 1202, a backup server 1204, an application server 1206, a database server 1210 and an electronic payment server 1212. Other servers 1208 may also reside on system 300, such as a list server, for example, for coordinating mailing lists and other periodic data transfers. Web server 1202 coordinates communications between web users and system 300.
Web server 1202 implements the graphical user interface a web user sees when connecting with system 300. The graphical interface is preferably a web site that includes a homepage and a collection of other web pages presented in a suitable markup language, such as hypertext markup language (HTML), extensible markup language (XML), etc. Web server 1202 may also implement any desired security or firewall features, such as requiring specific information of a web user to be sent to web server 1202 prior to allowing the web user more than limited access to the homepage of system 300. For example, a web user may be required to register as a member of system 300 prior to being allowed full access. As would be apparent to those skilled in the art, web server 1202 may be used to implement any of a variety other optional features as well.
Any suitable server may be used as web server 1202. Preferably, an HTTP server will be used. For example, Apache, a UNIX-based server, may be supported on a Pentium-based Intel platform. Alternatively, a server based on Windows NT®, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, such as MS-US, may be utilized. Backup server 1204 is intended to serve as a partial or full back up to web server 1202, in the event that web server 1202 experiences heavy traffic or fails.
Backup server 1204 may be a system capable of similar performance to that of web server 1202, or may alternatively be a lower-performance device. It is further contemplated that web server 1202 and backup server 1204 support a database, such as Oracle or others. Application server 1206 will provide the core of business logic, and will act as an interface between web server 1202 (and/or backup server 1204, during periods of its use), and database server 1210, electronic payment server 1212 and any other servers 1208 active on system 300. Application server 1206 may be a system comparable to web server 1202 or backup server 1204, or another suitable server.
Database server 1210 preferably handles stored bid items, offer items, and other persistent data. Database server 1210 may consist of an Oracle Enterprise Server for Windows NT®, for example.
Electronic payment server 1212 serves as an interface between system 300 and any desired financial institution 330, coordinating communications with the institution for the purpose of performing payment and other financial transactions. Electronic payment server 1212 preferably supports such financial software as CyberCash Client Software, including PayNow and/or CashRegister Suites.
Conclusion
While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. The present invention is not limited to use with any particular commodity. Specifically, the present invention is not limited to use with coffee. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

Claims

What is claimed is:
1. A method for matching offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity, comprising: receiving an offer from a seller to sell an offer quantity of the commodity at an offer price; receiving a bid from a buyer to buy a bid quantity of the commodity at a bid price; and wherein, if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid, then establishing a price match at the bid price; wherein, if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer, then establishing a price match at the offer price.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of establishing a price match are carried out if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative or zero monetary value established by the buyer associated with the bid price for the seller associated with the offer price.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of establishing a price match are carried out if the sum of the offer price, a partner premium, and a service premium is less than or equal to the bid price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative or zero monetary value established by the buyer associated with the bid price for the seller associated with the offer price, and the service premium is a monetary value associated with a service to be performed in conjunction with the sale of the commodity.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: establishing a transaction match when the quantity match and the price match correspond to the same bid and offer.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer comprises an offer type of physical goods and the bid comprises a bid type of physical goods.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the offer further comprises an offer origin for the physical goods and the bid further comprises a bid origin for the physical goods.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: establishing a goods match when the offer type matches the bid type and the offer origin matches the bid origin.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: establishing a transaction match when the goods match and the price match coπespond to the same bid and offer.
10. A method for matching offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity, comprising: creating a bid item of a buyer to buy the commodity, the bid item comprising a bid quantity and a bid price; creating an offer item of a seller to sell the commodity, the offer item comprising an offer quantity and an offer price; and establishing a price match when the bid price is greater than or equal to the sum of the offer price and a partner premium, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative or zero monetary value established by the buyer associated with the bid price for the seller associated with the offer price.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the offer item further comprises the quantity range.
13. The method of claim 10, further comprising: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range, wherein the quantity range is established by the seller for all transactions with the seller.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein the bid item further comprises a bid type of physical goods and the offer item further comprises an offer type of physical goods.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the bid type of physical goods and the offer type of physical goods each correspond to coffee.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the bid item further comprises a bid origin for the physical goods and the offer item further comprises an offer origin for the physical goods.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the bid item further comprises a bid origin for the coffee and the offer item further comprises an offer origin for the coffee.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the bid item further comprises a bid grade and a bid crop year for the coffee, and the offer item further comprises an offer grade and an offer crop year for the coffee.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: establishing a goods match when the bid type matches the offer type, the bid origin matches the offer origin, the bid grade matches the offer grade, and the bid crop year matches the offer crop year.
20. The method of claim 17, further comprising: establishing a goods match when the bid type matches the offer type and the bid origin matches the offer origin.
21. The method of claim 16, further comprising: establishing a goods match when the bid type matches the offer type and the bid origin matches the offer origin.
22. The method of claim 19, further comprising: establishing a transaction match when the goods match and the price match correspond to the same bid item and offer item.
23. The method of claim 20, further comprising: establishing a transaction match when the goods match and the price match coπespond to the same bid item and offer item.
24. The method of claim 21 , further comprising: establishing a transaction match when the goods match and the price match coπespond to the same bid item and offer item.
25. The method of claim 19, further comprising: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range; and establishing a transaction match when the goods match, the quantity match, and the price match each coπespond to the same bid item and offer item.
26. The method of claim 20, further comprising: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range; and establishing a transaction match when the goods match, the quantity match, and the price match each coπespond to the same bid item and offer item.
27. The method of claim 21, further comprising: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range; and establishing a transaction match when the goods match, the quantity match, and the price match each coπespond to the same bid item and offer item.
28. The method of claim 10, wherein the bid item further comprises a delivery time position and the offer item further comprises an availability time position.
29. The method of claim 10, wherein the bid item further comprises a bid shipment term and the offer item further comprises an offer shipment term.
30. A method for matching offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity, comprising: creating a bid item of a buyer to buy the commodity, the bid item comprising a bid quantity and a bid price; creating an offer item of a seller to sell the commodity, the offer item comprising an offer quantity and an offer price; and establishing a price match when the bid price is greater than or equal to the sum of the offer price, a partner premium, and a service premium, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative or zero monetary value established by the buyer associated with the bid price for the seller associated with the offer price, and the service premium is a monetary value associated with a service to be performed in conjunction with the sale of the commodity.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the service premium comprises a transit premium associated with shipping of the commodity.
32. The method of claim 30, wherein the service premium comprises a financing premium associated with financing for the buyer.
33. The method of claim 30, wherein the service premium comprises a storage premium associated with storing of the commodity.
34. The method of claim 30, wherein the service premium comprises an insurance premium associated with insuring the commodity.
35. The method of claim 30, wherein the service premium comprises a customs premium associated with importing and/or exporting the commodity.
36. The method of claim 28, further comprising: establishing a delivery match when the availability time position occurs prior to the delivery time position.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein the availability time position is within a position window of the delivery time position.
38. The method of claim 36, further comprising: establishing a transaction match when the delivery match and the price match correspond to the same bid item and offer item.
39. The method of claim 28, wherein the delivery time position comprises a plurality of delivery dates.
40. A brokerage method for coffee, comprising: receiving over a network a plurality of trading requests, each trading request being associated with and received from one of a plurality of trading partners, wherein each trading request comprises at least one of a bid to buy a bid quantity of coffee at a bid price for delivery at a delivery time position, and an offer to sell an offer quantity of coffee at an offer price for delivery at an availability time position; and processing each trading request to determine if a price match can be established; wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid, then establishing a price match at the bid price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price; wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer, then establishing a price match at the offer price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price.
41. The method of claim 40, wherein the delivery time position comprises a plurality of delivery dates.
42. The method of claim 40, further comprising: establishing a delivery match when the availability time position occurs prior to the delivery time position.
43. The method of claim 41, further comprising: establishing a delivery match for each of the plurality of delivery dates, wherein for each delivery match, the availability time position occurs prior to the delivery date.
44. The method of claim 43, wherein each delivery match is associated with the same trading partner.
45. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of establishing a delivery match for each of the plurality of delivery dates uses the availability time position of at least two different trading partners.
46. The method of claim 40, further comprising: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range.
47. The method of claim 46, further comprising: establishing a delivery match when the availability time position occurs prior to the delivery time position.
48. The method of claim 47, further comprising: establishing a transaction match when the price match, the quantity match, and the delivery match each correspond to the same bid and offer.
49. The method of claim 48, further comprising: notifying the trading partner associated with the bid for the transaction match of an identity of the trading partner associated with the offer for the transaction match only after receipt from the trading partner associated with the bid for the transaction match of acceptance of the transaction match.
50. The method of claim 40, wherein at least one trading request comprises an expiration time point.
51. The method of claim 40, wherein at least one trading request comprises a type and an origin for the coffee.
52. The method of claim 40, further comprising: sending over a network to at least one of the trading partners a list of open trading requests associated with the at least one trading partner, wherein an open trading request has no price match.
53. The method of claim 40, further comprising: notifying at least one of the trading partners of a potential match for at least one of the trading requests associated with the at least one trading partner.
54. The method of claim 53, wherein the notifying step is carried out over a network.
55. The method of claim 48, further comprising: sending over a network to the trading partner associated with the bid for the transaction match the offer quantity and the availability time position for the offer for the transaction match.
56. The method of claim 48, further comprising: sending over a network to the trading partner associated with the offer for the transaction match the bid quantity and the delivery time position for the bid for the transaction match.
57. The method of claim 43, further comprising: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range.
58. The method of claim 57, further comprising: establishing a transaction match when the price match, the quantity match, and the delivery match each correspond to the same bid and offer.
59. The method of claim 58, further comprising: sending over a network to the trading partner associated with the bid for the transaction match the offer quantity and the availability time position for the offer for the transaction match.
60. The method of claim 58, further comprising: sending over a network to the trading partner associated with the offer for the transaction match the bid quantity and the delivery time position for the bid for the transaction match.
61. A brokerage system for coffee, comprising: means for receiving over a network a plurality of trading requests, each trading request being associated with and received from one of a plurality of trading partners, wherein each trading request comprises at least one of a bid to buy a bid quantity of coffee at a bid price for delivery at a delivery time position, and an offer to sell an offer quantity of coffee at an offer price for delivery at an availability time position; and means for processing each trading request to determine if a price match can be established; wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid, then said means for processing establishes a price match at the bid price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price; wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer, then said means for processing establishes a price match at the offer price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price.
62. A brokerage system for coffee, comprising: a memory device having embodied therein information relating to a plurality of trading requests, each trading request being associated with and received from one of a plurality of trading partners, wherein each trading request comprises at least one of a bid to buy a bid quantity of coffee at a bid price for delivery at a delivery time position, and an offer to sell an offer quantity of coffee at an offer price for delivery at an availability time position; and a processor in communication with said memory device, said processor configured for processing each trading request to determine if a price match can be established; wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid, then establishing a price match at the bid price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price, wherein, if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer, then establishing a price match at the offer price, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price.
63. The system of claim 62, wherein said processor is further configured for: establishing a delivery match when the availability time position occurs prior to the delivery time position.
64. The system of claim 62, wherein the delivery time position comprises a plurality of delivery dates.
65. The system of claim 64, wherein said processor is further configured for: establishing a delivery match for each of the plurality of delivery dates, wherein for each delivery match, the availability time position occurs prior to the delivery date.
66. The system of claim 65, wherein each delivery match is associated with the same trading partner.
67. The system of claim 65, wherein said processor is configured for establishing a delivery match for each of the plurality of delivery dates using the availability time position of at least two different trading partners.
68. The system of claim 62, wherein said processor is further configured for: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range.
69. The system of claim 68, wherein said processor is further configured for: establishing a delivery match when the availability time position occurs prior to the delivery time position.
70. The system of claim 69, wherein said processor is further configured for: establishing a transaction match when the price match, the quantity match, and the delivery match each coπespond to the same bid and offer.
71. The system of claim 70, wherein said processor is further configured for: notifying the trading partner associated with the bid for the transaction match of an identity of the. trading partner associated with the offer for the transaction match only after receipt from the trading partner associated with the bid for the transaction match of acceptance of the transaction match.
72. The system of claim 62, wherein at least one trading request comprises an expiration time point.
73. The system of claim 62, wherein at least one trading request comprises a type and an origin for the coffee.
74. The system of claim 62, wherein said processor is further configured for: sending over a network to at least one of the trading partners a list of open trading requests associated with the at least one trading partner, wherein an open trading request has no price match.
75. The system of claim 62, wherein said processor is further configured for: notifying at least one of the trading partners of a potential match for at least one of the trading requests associated with the at least one trading partner.
76. The system of claim 75, wherein said processor is configured to carry out the notifying over a network.
77. The system of claim 70, wherein said processor is further configured for: sending over a network to the trading partner associated with the bid for the transaction match the offer quantity and the availability time position for the offer for the transaction match.
78. The system of claim 70, wherein said processor is further configured for: sending over a network to the trading partner associated with the offer for the transaction match the bid quantity and the delivery time position for the bid for the transaction match.
79. The system of claim 65, wherein said processor is further configured for: establishing a quantity match when the bid quantity is greater than or equal to the offer quantity minus a quantity range, and the bid quantity is less than or equal to the offer quantity plus the quantity range.
80. The system of claim 79, wherein said processor is further configured for: establishing a transaction match when the price match, the quantity match, and the delivery match each correspond to the same bid and offer.
81. The system of claim 80, wherein said processor is further configured for: sending over a network to the trading partner associated with the bid for the transaction match the offer quantity and the availability time position for the offer for the transaction match.
82. The system of claim 80, wherein said processor is further configured for: sending over a network to the trading partner associated with the offer for the transaction match the bid quantity and the delivery time position for the bid for the transaction match.
83. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor in a computer system to facilitate a brokerage system for coffee, said computer program logic comprising: storing means for enabling the processor to receive and store a plurality of trading requests, each trading request being associated with and received from one of a plurality of trading partners, wherein each trading request comprises at least one of a bid to buy a bid quantity of coffee at a bid price for delivery at a delivery time position, and an offer to sell an offer quantity of coffee at an offer price for delivery at an availability time position; matching means for enabling the processor to process each trading request to establish a price match at the bid price if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price; and matching means for enabling the processor to process each trading request to establish a price match at the offer price if the sum of the offer price and a partner premium is less than or equal to the bid price, and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative, or zero monetary value set by the trading partner associated with the bid price for the trading partner associated with the offer price.
84. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor in a computer system to facilitate a commodity brokerage system that matches offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity, said computer program logic comprising: storing means for enabling the processor to receive and store an offer from a seller to sell an offer quantity of the commodity at an offer price; storing means for enabling the processor to receive and store a bid from a buyer to buy a bid quantity of the commodity at a bid price; matching means for enabling the processor to establish a price match at the bid price if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the offer is received prior to receipt of the bid; and matching means for enabling the processor to establish a price match at the offer price if the offer price is less than or equal to the bid price and the bid is received prior to receipt of the offer.
85. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor in a computer system to facilitate a commodity brokerage system that matches offers to sell a commodity with bids to buy the commodity, said computer program logic comprising: creating means for enabling the processor to create a bid item of a buyer to buy the commodity, the bid item comprising a bid quantity and a bid price; creating means for enabling the processor to create an offer item of a seller to sell the commodity, the offer item comprising an offer quantity and an offer price; and matching means for enabling the processor to establish a price match when the bid price is greater than or equal to the sum of the offer price and a partner premium, wherein the partner premium is a positive, negative or zero monetary value established by the buyer associated with the bid price for the seller associated with the offer price.
86. A network-based system for implementing a coffee brokerage service, comprising: a server computer hosting the coffee brokerage service accessible via client computers to a plurality of trading partners; wherein said server computer provides a user interface (UI) comprising input controls whereby a user selects options, and a display whereby information is displayed, said input. controls comprising a set of menu items comprising a bid to buy coffee and an offer to sell coffee, the bid menu item comprising a custom bid menu item, a spread bid menu item, and a spot bid menu item, the offer menu item comprising a custom offer menu item, a spread offer menu item, and a spot offer menu item; wherein the coffee brokerage service is available via a network to match bids and offers posted by the plurality of trading partners.
87. The network-based system of claim 86, wherein said set of menu items further comprises: a market indications menu item whereby the user selects a market indications coffee type.
88. The network-based system of claim 87, wherein said display comprises a high, low, and average price of the market indications coffee type.
89. The network-based system of claim 86, wherein said display comprises a news feed that displays information relating to coffee.
90. The network-based system of claim 86, wherein said set of menu items further comprises: an open bid menu item and an open offer menu item whereby the user can select to display open bids and open offers.
91. The network-based system of claim 86, wherein the network is a public network.
PCT/US2001/012031 2000-04-14 2001-04-13 Commodity brokerage system and method WO2001086478A2 (en)

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US20220261883A1 (en) * 2021-02-17 2022-08-18 Marc William Miller Internet auction with dynamic dual-changing pricing

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20220261883A1 (en) * 2021-02-17 2022-08-18 Marc William Miller Internet auction with dynamic dual-changing pricing
US11625768B2 (en) * 2021-02-17 2023-04-11 Marc William Miller Internet auction with dynamic dual-changing pricing

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