Patent ID: 7260550

Claim:
A method of optimizing multi-enterprise supply chain agreements using an electronic option contract, the method comprising: determining at a buyer computer a range of forecasted demand for one or more products; communicating from the buyer computer to a seller computer an offer to enter into an option contract for the supply of a product, the option contract including an option corresponding to the range of forecasted demand; executing the option contract; receiving at the buyer computer an indication of current buyer demand for the product; automatically and without user input subsequent to receiving at the buyer computer the indication of current buyer demand for the product, determining at the buyer computer whether the indicated current buyer demand exceeds a maximum option quantity specified in the option contract; and automatically and without user input subsequent to determining at the buyer computer whether the indicated current buyer demand exceeds the maximum option quantity specified in the option contract, if the indicated current buyer demand does not exceed the maximum option quantity specified in the option contract, communicating from the buyer computer to the seller computer a request to exercise at least a portion of the option based at least in part on the indicated current buyer demand.