Patent Publication Number: US-2007124228-A1

Title: Electronic bartering

Description:
This application hereby claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/532,629, entitled “Electronic Bartering,” which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates, in general, to the exchange of goods between parties utilizing a wired or wireless communication network, including but not limited to the internet. In particular, the present invention is a system and method for facilitating barter transactions.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Bartering is a trade between two parties that typically involves the exchange of one commodity for another commodity. For bartering to benefit both parties, the trade must be a “fair” exchange. Thus, the exchanged commodities must have an equal value.  
      Bartering is the basis for most systems of commerce. The American colonists relied primarily on a bartering system due to the scarcity of standardized coin or paper money to exchange beaver pelts, corn, musket balls, nails, tobacco, and deerskins. More recently, people rely upon a bartering system to trade baseball cards, football cards, postage stamps, audio and video recordings, video game cartridges, and books.  
      The commercial availability of the Internet and World Wide Web has spawned an electronic commerce revolution. Businesses throughout the world use electronic information technologies to conduct business with their trading partners. Some businesses use a standardized form of electronic data interchange (EDI) to communicate with their trading partners, negotiate and complete trades, and manage inventories. Other businesses rely on electronic commerce technology to advertise their product, provide a forum for customers to shop, and take and fulfill orders from the customers.  
      There is a need for an electronic bartering system and method for facilitating a trade of an item owned by one person connected to a network for an item owned by another person connected to the network. The present invention addresses this need.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The system and method will rely upon the electronic commerce basis of the Internet to allow a user to publicize (1) a list of items that the user is requesting from other users, and (2) a list of items that the user has posted on the system for bartering. The other users can select from the list of items that the user has posted those items for which they want to trade.  
      The system and method allow a user to peruse the aggregated collection of all users. Also, the systems only allows one user to view the collection of another user when a potential trade is in place. The system and method also allows either party to the trade to decline a trade based on a trading history of the other party to the trade, the items available in that party&#39;s collection, and/or the stated condition of said items.  
      A computer system, method and computer program product for facilitating a trade of a first item owned by a first user for a second item owned by a second user when the first user and the second user are connected to a network. The method comprises receiving a request from the first user, allowing the second user to access items owned by the first user, receiving a response from the second user, and receiving an acceptance from the first user. The request identifies the second item and is a potential trade request. The response identifies the first item and is a trade offer. The trade comprises the potential trade request, the trade offer, and the acceptance. Completion of the trade further includes receiving a confirmation from both the first user and the second user. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The accompanying figures best illustrate the details of the electronic bartering system and method for facilitating a trade of a first item owned by a first user for a second item owned by a second user, both as to its structure and operation. Like reference numbers and designations in these figures refer to like elements.  
       FIG. 1  is a network diagram that illustrates the hardware components that form the operating platform for one embodiment of an electronic bartering system for facilitating a trade of a first item owned by a first user for a second item owned by a second user.  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram that illustrates the hardware and software components comprising server computer shown in  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process that facilitates a trade of a first item owned by a first user for a second item owned by a second user.  
      FIGS.  4 A 1 - 4 G are exemplary screen representations according to an implementation of bartering system that demonstrates requesting an item from another user and accepting a trade offer in response.  
       FIGS. 5A-5H  are exemplary screen images from an implementation of bartering system that demonstrates receiving a potential trade request from another user and issuing a trade offer in response. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       FIG. 1  is a network diagram that illustrates the hardware components that form the operating platform for one embodiment of an electronic bartering system for facilitating a trade of a first item owned by a first user for a second item owned by a second user. As shown in  FIG. 1 , network  100  is a communication medium connecting client computer A  115 , client computer B  116 , bartering system  120 , and Muze database  130 . Bartering system  120  comprises server computer  122 , barter database  124 , and local Muze database  126 . Client computer A  115  is a general-purpose personal computer, workstation, or laptop configured to connect to network  100 . User A  110  operates client computer A  115  to communicate with server computer  122 . Client computer B  116  is a general-purpose personal computer, workstation, or laptop configured to connect to network  100 . User B  111  operates client computer B  116  to communicate with server computer  122 . Server computer  122  is a general-purpose network computer that manages network resources and accepts connections from devices such as client computer A  115  and client computer B  116  via network  100 . Server computer  122  connects to barter database  124  to store and retrieve data related to electronic bartering transactions. Server computer  122  also connects to local Muze database  126  to retrieve data that describes the items exchanged via the electronic bartering system. Server computer  122  also connects to Muze database  130  to periodically retrieve data updates for local Muze database  126 . In one embodiment, the period of the updates is a configurable parameter. For example, the configuration may specify the period of the updates to occur hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually.  
      Network  100  shown in  FIG. 1  is a public communication network. However, bartering system  120  also contemplates the use of comparable network architectures. Comparable network architectures include the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a public packet-switched network carrying data and voice packets, a wireless network, and a private network. A wireless network includes a cellular network (e.g., a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network), a satellite network, and a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) (e.g., a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network). A private network includes a LAN, a Personal Area Network (PAN) such as a Bluetooth network, a wireless LAN, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), an intranet, or an extranet. An intranet is a private communication network that provides an organization, such as a corporation, with a secure means for trusted members of the organization to access the resources on the organization&#39;s network. In contrast, an extranet is a private communication network that provides an organization, such as a corporation, with a secure means for the organization to authorize non-members of the organization to access certain resources on the organization&#39;s network. The system also contemplates network architectures and protocols such as Ethernet, Token Ring, Systems Network Architecture, Internet Protocol, Transmission Control Protocol, User Datagram Protocol, Asynchronous Transfer Mode, and proprietary network protocols comparable to the Internet Protocol.  
       FIG. 1  shows one embodiment of bartering system  120  connecting to local Muze database  126  and Muze database  130 . Muze is an organization that provides information solutions that supply the core data for all commercially available music, books, videos, and games. The Muze data provides value-added information such as reviews, biographies, notes, and annotations. The Muze data provides the necessary information that consumers need to make educated purchasing decisions and the crucial information that music service providers and retailers need to increase their sales and fulfill transactions. Muze database  130  is a commercial database that includes descriptions of the items that user A  110  and user B  111  may exchange via the electronic bartering system. For example, Muze database  130  includes a movie database, an audio database, a book database, and a video-game database. In another embodiment, Muze database  130  includes one or more commercial databases, where each commercial database includes data for a specific type of item. In yet another embodiment, Muze database  130  is a web portal that supplements a commercial database with customized data. In other embodiments, bartering system  120  may connect to any media database that will provide similar information to local Muze database  126  and Muze database  130 . In yet other embodiments, bartering system  120  retrieves real-time data from Muze database  130  and does not require a connection to local Muze database  126 .  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram that illustrates the hardware and software components comprising server computer  122  shown in  FIG. 1 . Server computer  122  is a general-purpose network computer that manages network resources and accepts connections from devices such as client computer A  115  and client computer B  116  via network  100 . Bus  200  is a communication medium that connects central processing unit (CPU)  201 , data storage  202 , and network adapter  203  to memory  210 . Network adapter  203  also connects to barter database  124 , local Muze database  126 , and network  100  and is the mechanism that facilitates the passage of network traffic between bartering system  120  and barter database  124 , local Muze database  126 , and network  100 . CPU  201  performs the disclosed methods by executing the sequences of operational instructions that comprise each computer program resident in, or operative on memory  210 .  
       FIG. 2  illustrates barter database  124 , local Muze database  126 , and data storage  202  as separate devices. In another embodiment, bartering system  120  stores the data in a single physical device that includes a separate logical partition for barter database  124 , local Muze database  126 , and data storage  202 .  FIG. 2  also illustrates barter database  124  and local Muze database  126  as external devices, however it is to be understood that in another embodiment these devices may each be internal to bartering system  120 .  FIG. 2  also illustrates data storage  202  as an internal device, however it is to be understood that in another embodiment this device may be external to bartering system  120  and accessible via a network connection. Bartering system  120  also contemplates distributing barter database  124 , local Muze database  126 , and data storage  202  over multiple storage devices to suit efficiency, performance, backup, and data warehousing requirements. In one embodiment, barter database  124  and local Muze database  126  utilize a relational database management system such as Oracle 9i (version 9.2) by Oracle™. Another embodiment of barter database  124  and local Muze database  126  may utilize a different database management tool that is either homegrown or publicly available and traded. Another embodiment of barter database  124  and local Muze database  126  may utilize an object-oriented database management system such as FrameD, open source software provided by SourceForge.net.  
      In one embodiment, the configuration of memory  210  includes operating system software  211 , application programs  212 , Muze database interface program  213 , and bartering program  214 . These computer programs store intermediate results in memory  210  and transmit final results via bus  200  for storage in and retrieval from barter database  124 , local Muze database  126 , or data storage  202 . It is to be understood that in another embodiment the configuration of memory  210  may not simultaneously include these programs. CPU  201  coordinates loading a program when it is needed, storing intermediate results, transferring data from one program to another, and unloading the program when it is no longer needed.  
      Operating system software  211  manages the basic operations of server computer  122 . These basic operations include apportioning memory  210 , prioritizing the execution of system tasks, and managing the communication with CPU  201  and other hardware components of server computer  122 . The disclosed invention contemplates the use of the MS-DOS, Unix, and Linux operating systems.  
      Application programs  212  control and supplement the interaction between a user and server computer  122 . Application programs  122  include a web server, a mail server, and network communication protocol software. User A  110  operates a web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) program resident on client computer A  115  to communicate with a web server (e.g., Apache) resident on server computer  122 . Similarly, user B  111  operates a web browser program resident on client computer B  116  to communicate with a web server resident on server computer  122 . The web server program transmits and receives data via web pages and a protocol such as the hypertext transfer protocol. The mail server resident on server computer  122  communicates with a mail reader program resident on a client computer to transmit and receive electronic mail messages. Server computer  122  executes the network communication protocol software to transmit and receive network messages with a client computer.  
      Muze database interface program  213  controls the interaction between web server  122  and a commercial database, such as local Muze database  126  or Muze database  130 , that includes descriptions of the items that user A  110  and user B  111  may exchange via the electronic bartering system. In one embodiment, Muze database interface program  213  is an agent program that retrieves web pages from the commercial database, parses the retrieved web page to extract the data necessary for bartering system  120 , and serves the parsed data to the user. In another embodiment, Muze database interface program  213  sends a specific database query to the commercial database that returns a customized result set that is forwarded to bartering system  120 . Muze database interface program  213  also periodically connects to Muze database  130  to retrieve data updates for local Muze database  126 . In one embodiment, the period of the updates is a configurable parameter. For example, the configuration may specify the period of the updates to occur hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually.  
      Bartering program  214  includes the program logic for controlling the negotiation of an electronic bartering transaction between two users. The electronic bartering transaction of the disclosed invention contemplates the exchange of an item owned by one user for a similar item owned by another user. In another embodiment, the electronic bartering transaction involves the exchange of an item owned by one user for an item of equal value owned by another user. In one embodiment, the item of equal value is an item of the same type, but in a different condition (e.g., exchanging a digital videodisc (DVD) in excellent condition for a DVD in used condition). In another embodiment, the item of equal value may differ in type, as well as condition (e.g., exchanging a DVD in excellent condition for a video cassette recorder (VCR) tape in excellent condition).  
       FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of an embodiment of a process that facilitates a trade of a first item owned by a first user for a second item owned by a second user. Specifically,  FIG. 3  illustrates bartering program  214  running on server computer  122  to negotiate an electronic bartering transaction between user A  110  operating client computer A  111  and user B  115  operating client computer B  116 .  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a process that begins with user A  110  adding an item (step  302 ) and user B  111  adding an item (step  304 ). Server computer  122  receives data communication messages from client computer A  111  and client computer B  116  that include a description of the item being added. Server computer  122  stores each new item in barter database  124  (step  306 ) and associates each item with the appropriate owner. Since each user may add as many items as necessary, it is to be understood that step  302  and step  304  may be performed as many times as necessary.  
      To begin the negotiation of an electronic bartering transaction, user A  110  sends a request to server computer  122  for an item owned by one or more users (step  308 ). Server computer  122  receives the request from user A  110  and stores the request in barter database  124  (step  310 ). Server computer  122  determines which users own the requested item and sends a notification to each owner of the requested item that a potential trade is in progress (step  312 ). User B  111  receives the notification and decides whether to accept the potential trade (step  314 ). If user B  111  decides not to accept the potential trade, the process exits. If user B  111  decides to accept the potential trade, server computer  122  permits user B to browse the list of items owned by user A  110  (step  316  and step  318 ). Prior to initiation of the trade, server computer  122  does not make accessible to user B  111  the list of items owned by user A  110  or any other user of bartering system  120 . If user B  111  does not find any item that is of interest (step  320 ), the process exits. If user B  11  finds an item that is of interest (step  320 ), user B  111  sends a trade offer to server computer  122  (step  322 ). Server computer  122  stores the trade offer (step  324 ) and sends a notification to the owner of the item of interest that user B  111  is offering to trade for the item of interest owned by user A  110  (step  326 ). User A  110  considers and decides whether to accept the trade offer (step  328 ). In various embodiments of the invention, it is possible to create “pending” time limits that establish a time period during which the trade is pending. If the trade has not been accepted when the time limit expires the pending trade may be terminated. Accordingly, the parties may have to start the process over. If user A  110  decides not to accept the trade offer, the process exits. If user A  110  decides to accept the trade offer, user A  110  sends an acceptance to server computer  122  (step  330 ). Server computer  122  stores the acceptance (step  332 ) and sends a notification to user A  110  and user B  111  that user A  110  accepted the trade offer (step  334 ). Subsequently, user A  110  receives the notification and completes the trade (step  336 ) and user B  111  receives the notification and completes the trade (step  338 ).  
      FIGS.  4 A 1 - 14 G are exemplary screen representations from an implementation of bartering system  120  that demonstrates requesting an item from another user and accepting a trade offer in response.  FIG. 4A   1  illustrates the “Stuff I&#39;ve Posted” web page ( 401 ) that lists all of the items added by a user, “kenw.”. The list groups the items by type. As shown in  FIG. 4A   1 , the listing includes three items under the category CDs, “ 20  Golden Greats”, “A New Day Has Come”, and “Duets”. The types of trades supported in the implementation shown in  FIG. 4A   1  include DVDs, CDs, Books, Video Games, VHS, and Audiobooks. To add/post a new barter item, “kenw” clicks on either of the two “Post More Stuff” links to navigate to a Post More Stuff web page. As shown in  FIG. 4A   2  ( 402 ), for each item added, “kenw” chooses a category from a menu in box  1  “Select the goods category” in “Post More Stuff” ( 402 ). “Kenw” may enter titles or keywords, such as “Golden” in box  2  to retrieve a description of the desired item from a local Muze database  126 . If the search produces matches, the system lists the resulting items in the Search Results  403 , in  FIG. 4A   3 . Upon finding an item to post, “kenw” may click on the item, and choose a condition of the item from a pop-up menu as shown in  FIG. 4A   3 . After selecting the item&#39;s condition, the user, “kenw” clicks on the “List Item” button in  FIG. 4A   4  to add the new item to the “Stuff I&#39;ve Posted” listing.  
      To request an item from another user in a category in which he has posted titles, “kenw” clicks on the icon that represents the type of new item (e.g., Books) to navigate to a web page for requesting Books  405  (as in  FIG. 4A   5 ). On the Books web page  405 , “kenw” either browses the available titles or may enter search terms to search for a specific title from the aggregated collection of all users. If “kenw” finds a title he desires to own, he clicks on it, thus informing the owner(s) of the item of his interest in the item and inviting them to peruse his own Book collection, and causing the title to display on “kenw&#39;s” My Zunafish Home Page (“Daisy Fay . . . ”  406  in  FIG. 4A   6 ).  
       FIG. 4B  illustrates the Home Page, “My Zunafish”  406  for a bartering system  120 . Below the icons that represent the item types (e.g., DVDs, CDs, Books, Video Games, VHS, and Audiobooks), the Home Page  406  includes a status display for the electronic bartering trades associated with a user such as “kenw”, who in the following example is about to engage in a trade involving CDs. The status display has a left and a right portion. The left portion of the status display includes a list of the items that “kenw” has requested from other users, titled “STUFF I WANT”. The right portion of the status display includes a list of the items that other users have requested from “kenw,” titled “MY STUFF REQUESTED BY OTHERS”. Each item displayed in the left portion and the right portion has a status and is associated with a status symbol that displays next to the listed item. As shown in  FIG. 4B , the left portion of the status display indicates that “kenw” has requested the item “Medusa” from at least one other member. The status symbol to the right of the item is a rectangle indicating that, as yet, none of the users who have “Medusa” listed in their “Stuff I&#39;ve Posted” list have responded to “kenw” with a trade offer.  
       FIG. 4C   1  illustrates the Home Page ( 406 ) for bartering system  120  after receiving a trade offer from another user. The left portion of the status display shown in  FIG. 4C  indicates that one of the users who own “Medusa” has responded to “kenw” with a trade offer. This indication is shown by the status symbol changing to a Zunalert  407  (i.e., a triangle). The Zunalert  407  indicates that another user has responded to the item request from “kenw” by finding an item of interest in the collection owned by “kenw” and sending to “kenw” a trade offer. The Zunalert  407  also indicates that “kenw” has  24  hours to respond to the trade offer by the other user.  FIG. 4C   2  illustrates the Home Page ( 406 ) after “kenw” clicks on “Medusa” to examine the trade offer and returns to the Home Page ( 406 ) without responding to the trade offer. The status symbol  408  in  FIG. 4C   2  has changed from a Zunalert  407  to a clock symbol  408  to indicate that a trade timer is counting down and that “kenw” has less than 24 hours to accept the trade offer from the other user.  
       FIG. 4D  illustrates the web page displayed as a result of “kenw” clicking on the item “Medusa” on the Home Page. As shown in  FIG. 4D , “bbloom” has the CD “Medusa” in “Acceptable” condition and will trade it for the CD “Duets.” The window “Trade Offer” ( 410 ) includes trading statistics for “bbloom.” These statistics detail the ratings given to “bbloom” by his previous trading partners. The trade offer page  410  also includes a countdown expiration timer for the trade offer. If “kenw” decides to make this trade with “bbloom” by clicking the “Make This Trade” link, bartering system  120  will describe, as shown in  FIG. 4E , how to complete the trade  411 .  
       FIG. 4F  illustrates a “Completed Trade” web page ( 411 ). Completed Trade ( 411 ) acts as a trade receipt and also is the feedback mechanism for updating the trading statistics for a user. After receiving the item in the mail, “kenw” enters an evaluation of the trade he has just made with “bbloom”. The evaluation may include (as shown in  FIG. 4F ) selecting a Positive, Neutral, or Negative rating from a pull-down menu and entering text comments.  
       FIGS. 5A-5H  are exemplary screen images from an implementation of bartering system  120  that demonstrates receiving a potential trade request from another user and issuing a trade offer in response.  FIG. 5A  illustrates the “Stuff I&#39;ve Posted” page ( 501 ) that lists all of the items added by user “kenw”. The list is similar to the list shown in  FIG. 4A   1 , but reflects the trade of the item under the category CDs described as “Duets”. Thus, the only items in the list are under the category CDs described as “ 20  Golden Greats” and “A New Day Has Come”.  
       FIG. 5B  illustrates the Home Page ( 505 ) for bartering system  120 . Below the icons that represent the item types, the Home Page ( 505 ) includes a status display similar to that shown in  FIG. 4B . As shown in  FIG. 5B , the left portion of the status display indicates that user “kenw” has requested “Medusa” from other users and the status symbol to the right of “Medusa” is a circle  502  to indicate that the trade is complete and awaiting delivery. The right portion of the status display indicates that another user has requested the item described as “Paris My Love” from user “kenw”. The status symbol to the right of “Paris My Love” is a star to indicate that a potential trade is in progress. As shown in  FIG. 5C   1 , by clicking on the CD titled “Paris My Love” in the right portion of the status display, bartering system  120  will display a web page ( 515 ) to user “kenw” that lists the CDs that user “bbloom” has available for trading. User “kenw” browses the list and decides that the CD described as “Best Of Reba McEntire” in acceptable condition is interesting. Since the trading statistics associated with user “bbloom” are positive (“kenw” may click on history to view trading statistics), user “kenw” clicks on the item and is presented with the opportunity to send a trade offer to user “bbloom” ( FIG. 5C   2 ). Alternately, if the trading statistics associated with user “bbloom” were not positive, user “kenw” may click on the “Dismiss this offer” button to decline the trade offer from user “bbloom”, or user “kenw” may choose the option to Decide Later, as shown in  FIG. 5C   1 .  FIG. 5D  illustrates a confirmation message ( 525 ) that bartering system  120  displays to user “kenw” to confirm that the trade offer should be placed.  
       FIG. 5E  illustrates a web page ( 530 ) that bartering system  120  displays to user “kenw” if he clicks on the item “Paris My Love” on his Home Page ( 505 ) after receiving the confirmation message shown in  FIG. 5D .  FIG. 5E  informs user “kenw” that he has agreed to trade his “Paris My Love” CD for the “Best Of Reba McEntire” CD owned by user “bbloom” and also shows the time remaining for “bbloom” to accept the trade offer.  
       FIG. 5F  illustrates the Home Page ( 505 ) for bartering system  120  after user “bbloom” accepts the trade offer. In the right portion of the status display, the status symbol to the right of the item that user “bbloom” requested, “Paris My Love” has changed to a “Trade Accepted” symbol. The “Trade Accepted” symbol indicates that user “bbloom” has accepted the trade offer shown in  FIG. 5E . By clicking on the item, bartering system  120  will describe, as shown in  FIG. 5G , how to complete the trade. The system may be configured to create an electronic mail message that user “kenw” will receive as notification that user “bbloom” has accepted the trade offer.  
      Although the disclosed embodiments describe a fully functioning electronic bartering system and method for facilitating a trade of an item owned by one person connected to a network for an item owned by another person connected to the network, the reader should understand that other equivalent embodiments exist. Since numerous modifications and variations will occur to those who review this disclosure, the electronic bartering system and method is not limited to the exact construction and operation illustrated and disclosed. Accordingly, this disclosure intends all suitable modifications and equivalents to fall within the scope of the claims.