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  Method and apparatus for negotiating a contract over a computer networkUSPTO Application #: 20070088663Title: Method and apparatus for negotiating a contract over a computer network Abstract: The invention provides a system and method that facilitates a structured contract negotiation between two parties, such as parties to a real estate transaction. A series of predefined milestone negotiation steps are executed on a computer that couples two parties through a network, such as the Internet. The negotiators answer predefined questions regarding a proposed transaction in such a manner that certain aspects of the transaction can be agreed upon early during the negotiation process while others are deferred to later phases. In each phase, each party selects from a predefined list of actions associated with a particular aspect of the negotiation (e.g., sale price). Third-party service providers such as brokers and architects can be automatically pulled into the negotiations using computer-issued requests for services. (end of abstract)
Agent: Banner & Witcoff - Washington, DC, US Inventor: John Donahue USPTO Applicaton #: 20070088663 - Class: 705080000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Electronic Negotiation The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070088663. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This application is a divisional application Ser. No. of 10/042,245, filed Jan. 11, 2002, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/610,005, filed on Jul. 5, 2000. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Technical Field [0003] This invention relates generally to electronic commerce and the Internet. More particularly, the invention provides a method and apparatus for allowing two parties to negotiate and execute a contract, such as a real estate lease or a sale, over a computer network such as the Internet. [0004] 2. Related Information [0005] Corporations frequently need to lease real estate in the form of offices, laboratories, warehouses, and other spaces. Alternatively, companies sometimes have surplus office space that could be sublet to tenants for profit or cost recovery. [0006] Typically, companies will hire real estate brokers to search for and conduct preliminary negotiations regarding potential leasing arrangements. After preliminary details have been worked out, lawyers acting on behalf of the prospective landlords and tenants negotiate a detailed lease agreement. This process may involve numerous meetings, telephone calls, faxes, exchanges of draft documents, and the like. It also may involve various middlemen in addition to lawyers and real estate brokers. For example, if architectural or mechanical improvements are needed, one or both of the parties may hire outside contractors (e.g., architects or engineers) to assist in evaluation of lease properties and/or to propose modifications to the property. [0007] Because of human nature and the typically unstructured methods by which leases are negotiated, parties sometimes backtrack on previously agreed-upon provisions or demand changes to lease provisions that were previously believed to be the subject of agreement. Parties may spend a large amount of time negotiating details of lease provisions that later become moot (e.g., the leasehold improvements to the premises) because of disagreements over other provisions (e.g., term of the lease). Consequently, acquiring or leasing real estate in the corporate market incurs large costs and time because of intermediaries and human interaction required to negotiate lease provisions. [0008] Various web-based listing services have sprung up in recent years to service the real estate needs of companies looking for space, including sales, leases, and auctions. Companies such as Loopnet (www.loopnet.com), PropertyFirst (www.propertyfirst.com), and EGPropertyLink (www.egpropertylink.co.uk) provide brokerage and listing services in an attempt to facilitate real estate transactions over the Internet. These services primarily focus on listing properties, and do little to facilitate the negotiation or consummation of real estate deals. In particular, these services do not provide process management tools to guide landlords and tenants through a structured deal. Furthermore, they do not provide a mechanism for monitoring the progress of a transaction after signature of the lease (e.g., completion of works by landlord and tenant), nor do they provide any mechanism to integrate into the process an evaluation of qualitative aspects of the transaction such as cross-border difficulties and delays, and the effectiveness of local service providers such as brokers and architects. [0009] The negotiation of real estate leases between parties located in different countries involves additional inefficiencies and drawbacks. For example, because of different time zones, the times available for parties to meet or hold telephone conferences may be limited. Differences in currencies (e.g., dollars versus Euros) and metrics (e.g., square feet versus square meters) add complexity to the negotiation process, thus driving up costs. Language barriers may also add additional costs. [0010] It may be difficult for a U.S.-based prospective tenant to hire outside contractors, such as architects, in another country. Furthermore, the procedures and customs used by foreign real estate brokers and intermediaries to negotiate a corporate lease may be different depending on the country, language, and regulations. Legal documents drafted in one country may look substantially different from those typically drafted under U.S. laws and customs. These and other differences have made it very costly to negotiate leases for commercial office space across international borders. [0011] More generally, negotiating contracts of various types, such as a corporate procurement contract or a contract related to supply-chain management applications, can incur many of the disadvantages and inefficiencies discussed above. Consequently, there exists a need to streamline the process by which prospective parties to a contract can negotiate and consummate a contract. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0012] The present invention overcomes the aforementioned problems by providing a structured method and apparatus for allowing prospective parties to a contract to negotiate and consummate the contract. [0013] In one embodiment, the method facilitates a structured lease negotiation between two parties to a real estate transaction. A series of predefined milestone negotiation steps are executed on a computer that couples two parties through a network, such as the Internet. Parties to the transaction answer predefined questions regarding a proposed transaction in such a manner that certain aspects of the transaction can be agreed upon early during the negotiation process while others are deferred to later phases. Additional steps of completing the lease transaction can also be included in the inventive method. [0014] In one variation of the invention, the parties answer questions and exchange information without the simultaneous participation of each participant, such that a structured negotiation takes place over a period of time, possibly in different time zones. In each phase, parties must select from a predefined list of actions (e.g., agree or defer) associated with a particular aspect of the negotiation (e.g., rent to be charged, term of the lease, etc.). Provisions to which both parties agree are "locked in" while those that are deferred are worked out in a subsequent phase. Certain lease provisions may have subsidiary actions (e.g., lower-level agreements and deferrals) that can then be "rolled up" to the phase-level negotiation. Tools are provided to facilitate transnational aspects of the negotiation (e.g., conversion between currencies, metrics, or languages). A computer generates intermediate documents that assist in the negotiation (e.g., draft proposal letters) and identifies areas that require further negotiation. [0015] If parties indicate that outside help is needed to define part of the contract (e.g., architect review of an office layout), a computer suggests vendors located in the geographic area of the lease property and transmits via e-mail a draft scope of services request to one or more vendors. Each party identifies corporate approvals required to complete the negotiation, and a computer-generated lease document can be printed for signatures. Feedback from the parties in the form of problems encountered and solutions achieved during the negotiation process are collected and stored in a database for review and use by other future negotiation parties. [0016] Although the method and apparatus as described above are applicable to negotiating real estate transactions such as the sale of real estate properties, certain additional features are included in a continuation-in-part embodiment to facilitate certain sale-specific characteristics. For example, details of the actions taken in each phase can be adjusted to accommodate sale-specific terms and conditions. [0017] More generally, the inventive principles can be used to provide a computer-implemented method of reaching agreement between two parties concerning a contract of any type, such as a corporate procurement contract or a contract related to supply-chain management applications. [0018] Additional improvements include: (1) rules-based agreement on negotiator-supplied terms (response and dialogue box); (2) delegation to transaction team members or service providers; (3) summary reports with link to messaging system; (4) a dual messaging system; (5) customized negotiation process; and (6) sale-specific features. [0019] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description and the figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0020] FIG. 1A shows a system for facilitating a real estate lease transaction between a prospective tenant and prospective landlord using a computer-driven structured negotiation technique. [0021] FIG. 1B shows a computer-implemented method for allowing two parties to negotiate a lease transaction using structured negotiation phases. Continue reading... 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