Patent ID: 6968318

Claim:
A computer implemented method for an electronic intermediated exchange of a plurality of commodities among a plurality of participants comprising the electronic negotiation steps of: (a) generating electronic opening messages from the participants to the intermediary, wherein the opening messages comprise digital data representing opening requests of the participants to buy and/or to sell amounts of one or more commodities, and wherein, for at least one commodity both buy and sell requests are generated by participants; (b) generating electronic offer messages to the participants from the intermediary in response to received messages from said participants, wherein the content of the electronic offer messages are determined by the intermediary based on said received messages and comprise digital data representing offers to the participants respectively to buy and/or to sell amounts of one or more commodities requested in said opening messages by said participants respectively to be sold and/or bought, with each offer being less than or equal to the amounts represented in the corresponding opening request, and wherein, for at least one commodity, the offer messages comprise both buy and sell offers, and wherein, for said at least one commodity, the total of the amounts offered for sale in all the generated offer messages equals the total of the amounts offered for purchase in all the generated offer messages, (c) generating electronic counter-offer messages from the participants to the intermediary in response to received electronic offer messages, wherein the electronic counter-offer messages comprise digital data representing further requests to buy and/or to sell amounts of one or more commodities with each further request being less than or equal to the amounts represented in the corresponding opening request, wherein, for at least one commodity, the counter-offer messages comprise both buy and sell requests; and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c), if necessary, until the last offer message to each participant from the intermediary is indicated in a responsive message to the intermediary from that participant to represent offered amounts of one or more commodities to buy and/or to sell in the exchange that are substantially satisfactory according to that participant's individual exchange objectives, whereby the substantially-satisfactory offered amounts as negotiated through the intermediary determine an exchange of a plurality of commodities among a plurality of participants.