Patent ID: 7216103

Claim:
A method for allowing remote bidders to participate by computer in a live auction conducted by an auctioneer in the presence of on-site bidders, the method comprising: maintaining a real time state of the live auction with an auction server, wherein the auction server determines the real time state based at least upon (a) bids submitted by the remote bidders; and (b) state information entered into a computer by a human proxy for the remote bidders, including information about successful bids from the on-site bidders, said on-site bidders being physically present at the live auction; communicating information about the real time state of the auction from the auction server to a plurality of network nodes for distribution to the remote bidders to allow the remote bidders to monitor the auction in real time; with the plurality of nodes, receiving bids from the remote bidders, and filtering out invalid bids based at least upon the real time state information received from the auction server; and communicating valid bids from the plurality of nodes to the auction server, and from the auction server to the human proxy for submission to the auctioneer; whereby at least some of the invalid bids are prevented from being transmitted to the auction server so that a processing load on the auction server is reduced.