Patent ID: 7516093

Claim:
A computerized method, for auctioning an asset, implemented by executable software embodied in a computer system, the computerized method comprising: displaying a description of the asset; receiving a bid from a bidder, each bid comprising a price the bidder is willing to pay and a number of other bidders with which the bidder is willing to share the asset; solving an optimization problem that maximizes revenue by determining a first set of winning bidders; determining a first sum by summing the prices offered by the bidders in the first set; solving the optimization problem with the winning bidders excluded to determine a second set of winning bidders; determining a second sum by summing the prices offered by the bidders in the second set; allocating the asset to each bidder in the first set; and charging each bidder in the first set a payment, the payment determined by at least one of: a first payment method wherein the payment is computed by dividing the second sum by the number of winning bidders in the first set; a second payment method wherein the payment is computed by dividing the second sum by the first sum and multiplying the result by the price offered by the bidder to which the payment is charged; and a third payment method wherein the payment is derived from at least one of the first sum and the second sum; and wherein all of the steps of the method are executed by the executable software.