Patent ID: 6336105
Filing Date: 2002-01-01
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
An apparatus for providing electronic non-repudiation in a negotiations system, comprising:a network having a secure communication path; a multivariate negotiations system including control software for providing a controlled access to a secure storage space, negotiations software, such negotiations software including archiving software, and an automated negotiations engine for analyzing terms, the analysis of terms comprising understanding the purpose of the terms, formatting the terms according to the purpose, processing the terms using the archiving software, and placing them into user supplied context for use by a user, the multivariate negotiations system being connected to the network and responsive to terminals communicating along a secure communications path over the network; a destination terminal for a first user connected to the network, the destination terminal including software for encrypting and sending terms and decrypting and receiving terms along a secure communications path over the network which flows through the multivariate negotiations engine system; an initiating terminal for a second user connected to the network, the initiating terminal including software for encrypting and sending terms and decrypting and receiving terms along a secure communications path over the network which flows through the multivariate negotiations engine system, during iterative processing the archiving software capturing each set of decrypted proposed terms sent by a terminal and permanently storing each decrypted set of proposed terms as a record in the secure storage space, the automated negotiations engine recognizing the users at the destination terminal and the initiating terminal as negotiators and recognizing one of the users as a deciding entity, such automated negotiations engine further recognizing any changes in the terms and storing in the storage space the terms each terminal proposes, and recognizing the terminal to which proposed terms are being sent as the indicated terminal, sending terms to the indicated terminal, the automated negotiations engine indicating any changes in the terms until a set of terms is acted upon in a final manner by the deciding entity.