Patent ID: 8515814
Filing Date: 2013-08-20
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method of determining an abstraction of a plurality of differentiated goods available for exchange, wherein each differentiated good is differentiatable based on at least one property of the good, and each property has associated therewith at least one attribute, the computer-implemented method comprising: (a) storing in a computer storage accessible to a processor of a computer data regarding each differentiated good of a plurality of differentiated goods, wherein the data regarding each differentiated good includes an attribute value assigned to at least one attribute of the differentiated good, wherein the data further includes a supply quantity of at least one differentiated good over a time period, wherein the supply quantity is either known with certainty or is estimated; (b) the processor determining a first abstraction of the plurality of differentiated goods based on the data in step (a), wherein the first abstraction comprises at least one abstract good, each abstract good includes one or more differentiated goods, and at least one abstract good of the first abstraction includes at least two distinct differentiated goods; (c) the processor determining for each abstract good a specification for said abstract good based on the data regarding the one or more differentiated goods comprising the abstract good; (d) the processor storing in the computer storage the specification determined for each abstract good in step (c); and storing in the computer storage data about at least one set of one or more first offers to purchase, wherein each offer to purchase is either an actual offer or an estimate of a current or future offer to purchase, and each offer to purchase includes at least one differentiated good set, wherein each differentiated good set includes at least one differentiated good and an associated price, wherein: step (b) includes the processor determining the first abstraction further based on the set of first offers to purchase; and the specification for at least one abstract good in step (c) includes data about a supply quantity available or predicted to be available for the abstract good, and that portion of the supply quantity for the abstract good that satisfies one or more attribute values.