| Contingency-based options and futures for contingent travel accommodations -> Monitor Keywords |
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Contingency-based options and futures for contingent travel accommodationsRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management Arrangement, Electronic Shopping (e.g., Remote Ordering)Contingency-based options and futures for contingent travel accommodations description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080091568, Contingency-based options and futures for contingent travel accommodations. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The advent of computer networks offers geographically distributed users unprecedented opportunities to interact with each other and to work together on content. One of the most widely accepted and heavily used networks is the Internet. The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks formed into a single world wide network. A user, through the Internet, can interactively transmit messages with users in different locations. Similarly, a user in one location can connect to files and libraries in other locations. Thus, the Internet provides versatile communications functions and acts like a universal library, providing electronic access to resources and information available from Internet sites throughout the world. Access to the Internet can be had from a wide range of locations and through a wide range of devices. For example, a user with a laptop computer and a modem may connect to the Internet through a telephone jack. Wireless Internet connections are also available. [0002] Electronic commerce has emerged as primary use of the Internet. The global penetration of the Internet provides merchants with the capability to merchandise their products to substantial shopping audiences using an online merchant system. Online merchant systems enable merchants to creatively display and describe their products to shoppers using Web pages. Merchants can layout and display Web pages having content, such as text, pictures, sound and video, using HyperText Markup Language (HTML). Web shoppers, in turn, access a merchant's Web page using a browser, such as Microsoft Explorer or Netscape Navigator, installed on a client connected to the Web through an online service provider, such as the Microsoft Network or America OnLine. The browser interprets the HTML to format and display the merchant's page for the shopper. The online merchant system likewise enables shoppers to browse through a merchant's store to identify products of interest, to obtain specific product information and to electronically purchase products after reviewing product information. [0003] Thus, the Internet is used to assist buyers and sellers in purchasing a variety of traditional goods and services. Novel methods of purchasing and selling have been developed, including cryptographic systems and methods for assuring authenticity of a signer of a transaction, electronic payment systems, and electronic auction systems and methods. Electronic commerce Internet sites typically allow remotely distributed users to interact via an Internet site, through which the users execute traditional commercial transactions online. Thus, the Internet typically offers convenience, but does not significantly alter the underlying transaction contexts. [0004] However, the present online methods of selling services and goods generally do not account for the presence of uncertainty in the market for those goods or services. It is well recognized that a purchaser who purchases a good or service in advance of its need may be disappointed if the price falls, or if the need for the good or services disappears. A wide range of contingency planning measures are undertaken by buyers and sellers in markets that involve uncertainty. However, the Internet models of commerce generally ignore event-driven contingency planning and are therefore, in large part, unsatisfactory where the desire to purchase a good or service are primarily motivated by the outcome of an event certain in time. [0005] An example of a market involving substantial uncertainty is the market for goods and services surrounding a sporting event, especially a sporting event in which the presence of particular teams is not known well in advance of the time of the event. One such event is the Super Bowl. National Football League Fans are notoriously loyal to particular teams, but the two particular teams that will appear in the Super Bowl are not known until two weeks before the game. A fan of a particular team may not wish purchase a game ticket, airfare, hotel or other accommodations unless his or her team will be in the game; that is, the fan's desire to attend the game is contingent on the outcome of a future event(s), namely the progression of a team through the earlier playoff games. In the present environment, hotels, air carriers and other transportation providers must often scramble to finalize arrangements for goods and 25 services required by a particular group of people, the identity of which are not known until the occurrence of the contingency, i.e., the presence of a particular pair of teams in the Super Bowl. Moreover, under current business systems, the inability to identify customers until only a week or two before the event prevents certain purveyors from participating in the market in any effective way. For example, charter airlines may be significantly disadvantaged where fans need to be flown to the Super Bowl from cities for which the charter company does not have a regular route. For instance, despite the general ability of the charter companies to offer fares lower than commercial air carriers on less than 14 day notice, the ability to book passengers can be substantially hindered by the inability of the charter to penetrate the advertising market on short notice. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] Disclosed herein are methods and systems for futures and options pricing, purchasing and selling, for tickets, travel and lodging accommodations and other service or good associated with the event. In accordance with the present invention, computer networks, such as the Internet, which allows an increasingly large number of purchasers and sellers to participate in electronic markets, may be used to facilitate options transactions for tickets to and/or accommodations based on the occurrence of such contingencies as the participation of a given team or individual, occurrence of the event at a given location, weather conditions, or the like. As used herein, except where the context calls for a particular type of option or futures contract, it should be understood that the terms "option" and "future" should be understood to encompass any contract that embodies a contingency, including so-called American and European options, futures, and other derivative contracts. Depending on the context, a futures contract, where the buyer is required to commit to purchase a particular ticket or other particular services at an advance date if the contingency occurs, may be desired. In other contexts, the buyer may be given a more classic option, where the buyer has the opportunity to purchase, or not to purchase, if the contingency occurs. Methods and systems disclosed herein are intended to offer complete flexibility as to the nature of the underlying contingency, as well as to the nature of the commitment of the buyer to purchase the ticket and/or accommodation. [0007] In an embodiment disclosed herein, the context is the purchase and sale of options to purchase one or more tickets to a sports event based on occurrence of contingent events, such as the presence of a particular team in the sporting event. [0008] In an embodiment disclosed herein, the context is the purchase and sale of options to purchase travel accommodations, such as airline tickets or hotel rooms, based on occurrence of contingent events. In an embodiment, disclosed herein, one example of a contingency is the presence of a particular team in a particular sporting event for which a particular fan's need for travel accommodations to the game will be dependent upon, at least in part, the appearance of a particular team in the event. In an embodiment, the goods and services are at least one of an event ticket, an airline ticket, a charter airline reservation, a hotel reservation, a rental car reservation, a restaurant reservation, a bus ticket, and a train ticket. [0009] Provided herein are methods and systems of electronic commerce establishing a network-based on-line system for purchase and sale of an option or futures contract to acquire a event tickets and/or travel accommodations, e.g., airline tickets, to a contingent ticketed event. As used herein, the term "ticket" or "reservation" or "accommodation", as will be evident from its context, should be understood to encompass include any permission, contract, reservation, license, or similar right, or evidence of the same, permitting a person or entity to attend an event (such as a sporting event) and/or utilize a travel service (e.g., airline service, hotel service, etc.) where such permission, contract, license or similar right is limited to those having reservations. [0010] As used herein a "contingent event" should be understood to be an event the occurrence of which is contingent upon occurrence of other factors, including, for example, an event that is certain to occur but for which the participants, content and/or location(s) are not predetermined, an event that is tentatively scheduled, an event that is subject to cancellation or change in the constituents, and the like. A "contingent ticketed event" should be understood to encompass contingent events for which tickets are required. Examples of contingent ticketed events include playoff and tournament sporting events. Examples of contingent ticketed events include playoff and tournament sporting events, plays, concerts and other performances where presence of particular performers is not known until some period of time after the event is planned, admission tickets to events or venues that are weather-dependent, and many others. [0011] In an embodiment, the contingent event may be defined by party seeking an option or futures contract. That is, the systems and methods disclosed herein may establish a marketplace in which a person seeking an options or futures contract may define and post a request, such as on a host Internet site, including a contingency event, a desired good or service the desire for which is dependent on the contingency and an offer or bid for an option or futures contract to acquire the goods or services if the contingency event occurs. Potential providers of the goods, services, or other items identified in the request could then respond by accepting the request or by offering a different price. Similarly, providers of goods and services could identify and post offers, such as on an Internet site, including a contingency event, a good, service, or other item the supply or demand for which is dependent on the contingency event, and the price at which the seller is willing to enter into a provide the good, service or other item at a predetermined price. Pricing of the option could be varied to provide a range of option prices to obtain a range of goods or services at a range of prices. Thus, a general marketplace can be established for permitting users, including buyers and sellers, to define and negotiate contingency event-based options and futures contracts. [0012] Also disclosed herein are methods and systems for allowing a user to purchase an option or futures contract for a ticket to a contingent event, e.g., a contingent ticketed event, and/or travel accommodation surrounding that event, including a processor operative with a program to (a) identify tickets (or other forms of reservation) for a contingent event or an accommodation related thereto; (b) enter bids for an option or futures contract to purchase the ticket or accommodations; and (c) rank the bids. [0013] In an embodiment, the contingent event may be a participant-event. As used herein, "participant event" should be understood to encompass a contingent event in which a particular participant participates or is eligible for participation. A "participant" should be understood to include any person or entity that can participate in a contingent event; thus, the participant could be a team in a team sports event, an athlete in an individual or team sport, an entertainer in a tentatively scheduled event, or other person or entity. Examples of participant events include presence of a particular team in a particular round of playoffs, presence of a particular athlete in a particular tournament, and the like. [0014] In embodiments of methods and systems disclosed herein, the participant-event for which an options or futures contract for tickets and/or accommodations may be purchased may be a team-game, team-round, or a team-round-game. As used herein, a "team-game" should be understood to encompass a game in which a particular team participates, and a team-round-game should be understood to encompass a round of games in which a team participates, and a team-round-game should be understood to encompass a particular game of a particular round in which a team participates. An example of a team-round-game would be the presence of the Cincinnati Reds in the first game of the National League Championship Series of the Major League Baseball playoffs. [0015] Also disclosed herein are methods and systems for allowing a user to bid on an option to purchase a ticket or travel accommodations to a contingent ticketed event, including database having stored therein an option or futures record having a team field representative of a participant being a candidate for participation in the contingent event, an event field representative of the sporting event, and a value field representative of a value of a minimum winning bid to purchase an option or future for a ticket or travel accommodation to the event if the participant is selected to participate in the event; and a server, in connection with said database, and capable of processing a bid representative of a request to purchase one or more of said options or futures, and being capable of processing said bid and said option or futures record to adjust the minimum winning bid value and to allocate an option or futures contract to the winning bid. As used herein "database" should be understood to encompass any of a variety of computer software, computer hardware, firmware and other products capable of storing data and records, such as products provided by Oracle and others, including relational and object oriented databases. As used herein, "server" should be understood to encompass any device or method capable of interacting with a client or plurality of clients or similar devices or supporting a network computing environment or providing access to computing services, including hardware servers, software servers, web servers, HTTP servers, and any other available type of server. [0016] Also provided herein are methods and systems for allowing a remote user to purchase, over a distributed computer network, an option or futures contract for tickets or travel accommodations to a contingent event, e.g., a contingent ticketed event, which system includes a host server operative with a program including an event database connected in communication with said host server, said database including participant-event identifiers each representative of a ticket or travel accommodation for a contingent participant-event, an option or futures bid database in communication with said host server, said option or futures bid database including allocation fields representative of an option or futures bid for each of said ticket or travel accommodations, and an interface manager implemented on said server and in communication with said databases; wherein said interface manager processes option or futures bids from remote users to determine whether to accept the option or futures bid and to update the allocation field. [0017] As used herein, "network" should be understood to include the Internet, worldwide web, wide area networks, local area networks, Intranets, Extranets, telephone networks, cellular networks, and other connections capable of supporting communications, file transfers, and other functions over distance. [0018] As used herein, "identifier" should be understood to comprise any indicator, identifier, record, or combination of the same that is capable of embodying or representing a data record and may include the capability of identifying a location in computer memory as well as data allocated to particular data fields. Systems and methods disclosed herein may include contingent event identifiers for records relating to particular events, including participant-event identifiers for records relating to participant-events, athlete-game identifiers for records relating to the presence of an athlete in a game, entertainer event identifiers for records relating to the presence of an entertainer in a contingent event, and the like. [0019] Systems and methods disclosed herein allow a user to purchase an option or futures contract for goods or services related to a contingent event, comprising a processor operative with a program to identify goods or services related to a contingent event; enter bids for an option or futures contract to purchase the goods or services; and rank the bids. [0020] The goods or services may be a wide range of goods and services related to the existence of the contingent event, such as, in the case of a sporting event ticket, an airline ticket, a charter airline reservation, a hotel reservation, a rental car reservation, a restaurant reservation, a bus ticket, a train ticket, and a ticket or reservation to an attraction in the locale of the contingent ticketed event. Thus, users can purchases packages of goods and services based on the occurrence of the contingencies that give rise to a particular contingent event. A similar suite of goods and services may surround other contingent events. [0021] In an embodiment, the contingent event may be defined by party seeking an option or futures contract. That is, the systems and methods disclosed herein may establish a marketplace in which a person seeking an options or futures contract may define and post a request, such as on a host Internet site, including a contingency event, a desired good or service the desire for which is dependent on the contingency and an offer or bid for an option or futures contract to acquire the goods or services if the contingency event occurs. Potential providers of the goods, services, or other items identified in the request could then respond by accepting the request or by offering a different price. Similarly, providers of goods and services could identify and post offers, such as on an Internet site, including a contingency event, a good, service, or other item the supply or demand for which is dependent on the contingency event, and the price at which the seller is willing to enter into a provide the good, service or other item at a predetermined price. Pricing of the option could be varied to provide a range of option prices to obtain a range of goods or services at a range of prices. Thus, a general marketplace can be established for permitting users, including buyers and sellers, to define and negotiate contingency event-based options and futures contracts. [0022] Also, once systems and methods are established whereby an option or future may be defined, offered and sold, the same systems and methods can be used as a secondary marketplace for the options or futures, as well as for the underlying goods, services, information and other items to which the options and futures relate. An option or futures contract for a contingent event ticket would have a different value, depending on the probability of the contingent event's actually occurring. For example, if a particular team loses a game, then the probability of that team's making the playoffs is reduced, thus reducing the value of the option or futures contract for a ticket to that game involving that team. As the values diminish, optionholders may be willing to sell the options to recover some of the original purchase price. Similarly, others may be willing to buy at a lower price. Thus, a marketplace can be established where purchasers and sellers trade in options that are based on contingent events. Trading can be expected in any case where there are marketplace events that change the value of options; i.e., events that change the likelihood of a contingency emerging. Where contingencies emerge after a chain of many related marketplace events (such as the progression of a sports season), an active marketplace can be established for the trading of options and futures contracts based on the events. 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