Patent ID: 7756772

Claim:
A method for at least semi-automatically directly negotiating a relationship between at least a first user party and a second user party, the parties being at respective first and second computers connected over a network, the computers comprising processors, the method being carried out on said processors and comprising the steps of: (a) providing a first intention for the first user party and a second intention for the second user party stored at memories of said respective processors, each of said first intention and said second intention being stored within an intention data structure, the intentions respectively featuring a plurality of components; (b) over said network, exchanging at least one dispatch between the processor of the first user party and the processor of the second user party, said at least one dispatch including a reference to a value for at least one of said plurality of components; (c) electronically generating a merged portion, said merged portion also being within said intention data structure, said generating a merged portion being according to said reference to said value in said at least one dispatch, said electronically generating comprising within a respective data processor merging at least a portion of said first user intention and at least a portion of said second user intention, said portions comprising the said at least one of said respective components to which said value refers; (d) using said data structure, electronically altering at least one of said first intention for the first user party and said second intention for the second user party with said merged portion; (e) electronically comparing said first user intention to said second user intention; and (f) when said first user intention matches said second user intention, electronically determining the relationship according to said merged portion.