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  Data processing system that provides an auction with programmable proxy bidsRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management Arrangement, Finance (e.g., Banking, Investment Or Credit), Trading, Matching, Or BiddingThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080021812. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/938,141, filed Aug. 23, 2001, now pending and allowed, which parent application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/227,188, filed Aug. 23, 2000 and entitled "Intelligent Bids," (Attorney Docket: 620-010us"), which is also incorporated by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to electronic commerce in general, and, more particularly, to a data processing system for providing formula-based computerized auctions. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Currently, there are many computer-based auction systems (e.g., eBay, CommerceOne, SupplierMarket, SupplierOne, MaterialNet, etc.) in which bidders bid against each other in one or more rounds of bidding until the most advantageous bid is reached for a scope as defined by the auction solicitor. These auctions have worked well and have been quite successful in driving prices down in reverse auctions and prices up in forward auctions. [0004] The current interest in computer-based auctions has prompted innovations in the format of auctions. For example, in the prior art, the bidding phase of an auction often lasted for only a few minutes, which is short enough to continuously hold the attention of all of those interested in the outcome of the auction. In contrast, auctions today, like those on eBay for example, typically last for days. Although a longer auction has many advantages, it is too long for any single bidder to continuously monitor the bidding. To alleviate this disadvantage, eBay, for example, enables a bidder to submit a "proxy bid." A proxy bid is a direction to the auctioneer (e.g., eBay's data processing system, etc.) or other entity to prepare and enter one or more bids in behalf of the bidder under terms and conditions specified by the bidder. [0005] The proxy bid capabilities known in the prior art, however, have their limitations, and, therefore, the need exists for more advantageous kinds of proxy bids and auction formats. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] The present invention provides innovations in proxy bidding and auction formats that avoid some of the costs and disadvantages of proxy bids and auction formats in the prior art. In particular, proxy bids in accordance with the illustrative embodiment offer more functionality and more flexibility than proxy bids in the prior art. [0007] In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, a bidder can program a data processing system to enter one or more bids by proxy. To this end, the capabilities offered by the data processing system include, but are not limited to: [0008] i. determining one or more bid variables based, at least in part, on the identity of one or more bidders in an auction, or [0009] ii. determining one or more bid variables based, at least in part, on the absence of one or more bidders from an auction, or [0010] iii. determining one or more bid variables based, at least in part, on the bid variables in one or more other bids, or [0011] iv. determining one or more bid variables based, at least in part, on the results of another auction, or [0012] v. determining one or more bid variables based, at least in part, on default values, or [0013] vi. determining one or more bid variables based, at least in part, on the current time, or, [0014] vii. determining one or more bid variables based, at least in part, on an external condition or value, or [0015] viii. determining one or more bid variables based, at least in part, on a random (i.e., stochastic) function, or [0016] ix. any combination of i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, and viii. Furthermore, the illustrative embodiment enables the partitioning of the scope of an auction into a plurality of portions such that a bidder can bid on: [0017] i. one or more portions of the scope, or [0018] ii. the entire scope, or [0019] iii. both i and ii. [0020] When the scope of an auction is partitioned, the winner(s) of the auction is determined in three steps. In the first step, a candidate winning bid for the entire scope is determined. In the second step, the candidate winning bids for each portion of the scope is determined. In the third step, the winner of the auction is determined by deciding which of: [0021] i. the candidate winning bid for the entire scope, or [0022] ii. the sum of the candidate winning bids for each portion of the scope in each way that the scope is partitioned (provided that there is a candidate winning bid for each portion of the scope in the way that the scope is partitioned) is more advantageous to the auction solicitor. Typically, an auction solicitor will do better when it enables the scope of an auction to be partitioned, and will do better still when it partitions the scope in more, rather than fewer ways. [0023] The illustrative embodiment comprises: entering, at a data processing system, a first bid into the auction from a first bidder; receiving, at the data processing system, a bid package from a second bidder, wherein the bid package directs the data processing system to determine a bid variable based, at least in part, on the identity of the first bidder; and entering, at the data processing system, a second bid into the auction from the second bidder, wherein the second bid comprises the bid variable as determined by the data processing system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0024] FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. [0025] FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a data processing system in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. [0026] FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of the operation of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. [0027] FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of the tasks associated with defining an auction as depicted in FIG. 3. [0028] FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of the tasks associated with conducting an auction as depicted in FIG. 3. [0029] FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of the subtasks that compose subtask 503, as depicted in FIG. 5. [0030] FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart of the subtasks that compose subtask 504, as depicted in FIG. 5. Continue reading... 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