Patent ID: 8412615
Filing Date: 2013-04-02
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for a controlling party to award a contract to a bidding party selected from a panel of predetermined bidding parties, the method conducted over a computer network which comprises at least one controlling party computer, an administrator computer and at least two bidding party computers, the method involving a competitive auction event conducted to result in said contract award, key contract parameters having been established in advance of said auction event and provided to the bidding parties wherein the key contract parameters include at least one non-price parameter, the method comprising: applying a weighting process by said administrator computer with respect to said parameters for each bidding party of the panel of predetermined bidding parties, to calculate a rating for each said bidding party; and during said auction event, receiving respective bids from the respective bidding party computers, adjusting said bids by said administrator computer by applying said ratings for the respective bidding parties, and using said ratings to provide to each bidder an indication of a current bid to win (CBTW) in respect of said contract, the CBTW calculated by said administrator computer to dynamically indicate to a bidding party the offer that said party must submit to compete with the best previous bid; wherein the controlling party is a seller and the bidding parties are prospective buyers, each bid received from bidding party computers representing an offer to buy goods or services.