Patent ID: 7296001

Claim:
A machine-readable medium having instructions to cause a machine to perform a method of managing a switchable bilateral electronic negotiation, the method comprising: facilitating a first active negotiation between a first party and a second party, wherein facilitating the first active negotiation includes exchanging multi-attribute offers between the first party and the second party; facilitating a first inactive negotiation between the first party and a third party, wherein facilitating the first inactive negotiation includes receiving a submitted multiattribute offer from the third party; automatically dropping the first active negotiation between the first party and the second party based on one or more rules relevant to the multi-attribute offers; facilitating a second active negotiation between the first party and the third party; facilitating a second inactive negotiation between the first party and the second party; receiving an indication of an acceptable negotiation associated with the second active negotiation, the indication of an acceptable negotiation indicating that the third party has one last chance to submit a final multi-attribute offer; and sending a message to the third party requesting the final multi-attribute offer.