Patent ID: 7899734

Claim:
A computer system for conducting an auction of at least one type of item among a plurality of bidders in a plurality of rounds, wherein bids are received and processed by the computer system, said system comprising: establishing means for establishing a starting price, an ending price and a price range, said ending price different from said starting price, and said price range comprising prices between said starting and ending prices, for at least one type of item in a given round of the plurality of rounds, receiving means for receiving bids in the given round, wherein a bid comprises a quantity parameter indicating a quantity of at least one type of item and a price parameter indicating a price within the established price range, said price parameter dividing the established price range into a first interval comprising prices between the indicated price and the established starting price and a second interval comprising prices between the indicated price and the established ending price, processing means for processing the received bids, said processing means treating a bid with said quantity parameter and said price parameter from a given bidder as a proposal to transact the indicated quantity at a price within the second interval and as a proposal to transact another quantity at a price within the first interval, said another quantity based on at least one other bid in the auction by the given bidder, determining means for determining whether the auction should continue or end, based on the received bids, and initiating means for initiating an additional round, following a determination that the auction should continue.