Patent ID: RE41545

Claim:
A method for conducting a remote auction of event tickets from a central computer to a plurality of customers at remote locations, each said customer connected to the central computer by a telecommunications apparatus for receiving and transmitting information, the method comprising the steps of : programming the central computer with a template of an auditorium where the an event is scheduled to take place; programming the central computer with available seat data, the available seat data identifying seats intended for sale during the remote auction, each of the seats intended for sale corresponding to a ticket; programming the computer with a minimum ticket price below which no ticket may be sold during the remote auction; transmitting from the central computer to the customers, before the individual customer s register s and before said customer s makes any bids, a first message to notify the customer s that bids submitted by the customer s during the remote auction are non-revocable; further transmitting from the central computer to the customers a message that customers can individually specify that partial orders and scattered seats are acceptable; requesting registration information from at least a first customer of the plurality of customers , the registration information, including the first customer's name, a name of the first customer, a password, and payment information , for registering the first customer for the auction; receiving bids from at l e ast two of the plurality of customers, each of the bids including a seat quantity indicating a number of seats bid for, an amount bid, means indicating an indication of whether the customer who submitted said each bid is willing to accept noncontiguous seats, and an indication of whether the consumer customer who submitted said each bid is willing to accept fewer seats than indicated by said each bid's seat quantity, and number of seats bid for; and performing in a computer a seat assignment algorithm for allocating the seats intended for sale during the remote auction among the received bids and incorporating at least one of the a customer ' s indication of willingness to accept noncontiguous seats and the customer's willingness to accept a partial order s in a way that maximizes a total amount receivable from the plurality of customers for the seats intended for sale during the remote auction.