Patent ID: 7827069

Claim:
A computer system for generating interest in a transaction between a potential buyer of a vehicle that is not currently on the market, and an owner of the vehicle, comprising: a memory storing computer-executable instructions of a component that provides a web page of a web site through which a potential buyer of a vehicle can register their interest in a specific vehicle that is not currently on the market, the web page providing a field for entry of a license plate number of a vehicle of interest, the license plate number having been assigned to the vehicle of interest by a governmental entity; a component that identifies a registered owner of the vehicle of interest by accessing information provided by an electronic database of the governmental entity that maps license plate numbers assigned to vehicles to the registered owners of the vehicles; a component that identifies a contact address of the registered owner of the vehicle of interest; a component that directs that a notification be sent to the registered owner of the vehicle of interest, the notification being addressed to the contact address and indicating that the potential buyer has registered an interest in the vehicle of interest; a component that provides a web page of a web site through which the registered owner of the vehicle of interest who has been notified can register an interest in offering for sale the vehicle of interest; and a component that directs that the potential buyer and the registered owner be put in contact after the registered owner registers an interest in offering for sale the vehicle of interest wherein the registered owner of a vehicle that is not currently on the market can be made aware of a potential buyer's interest in buying the vehicle without the vehicle being currently on the market; and a processor for executing the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory.