Electronic Transactions Based on Deal Forms

Abstract

In the preferred computer system, the user is provided with a separate Internet-accessible entity referred to here as the “personal page.” A personal page, preferably, includes memory for storing information related to the user. For example, on his/her personal page the user indicates what he/she wishes to purchase, possibly along with other criteria associated with the purchase, such as, for example, a time that the purchase should take The user is provided with the ability to create personalized bidding rules that vendors that offer goods and services must respect. Vendors have the ability to specify similar criteria, which describe the goods and/or services they offer. Vendors can indicate, for example, the prices of their goods, times and places that their services are available, etc. Preferably, these specifications, called “vendor scripts,” are embodied in active software/data entities (agents) that traverse sites on the Internet visiting sites hosting users' personal pages. Thus, preferably, vendor software/data agents (comprising vendor scripts) are the mobile, active elements in the system and purchasing requirements are stationary and more passive in comparison.

1 - 36 . (canceled) 
     
     
         37 . A method for processing a sale, comprising:
 determining whether a first deal identifier received from a first user and a second deal identifier received from a second user identify a common deal form;   transmitting a deal form to the first user and to the second user in response to determining that the first deal identifier and the second deal identifier identify the common deal form;   receiving a first executed deal form from the first user and a second executed deal form from the second user;   comparing the first executed deal form to the second executed deal form to determine whether the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are compatible; and   processing the sale in response to determining that the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are compatible.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein each of the first and second executed deal forms include a digital signature. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein comparing the first executed deal form to the second executed deal form comprises:
 comparing at least one field of the first executed deal form to at least one corresponding field of the second executed deal form.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are determined to be compatible if the at least one field of the first executed deal form is identical to the at least one field of the second executed deal form. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are determined to be compatible based on a compatibility dictionary comprising a database identifying the compatibility of deal form field values. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are not compatible transmitting a notification to at least one of the first and second user, the notification including an indication of a discrepancy.   
     
     
         43 . A system for processing a sale, comprising:
 means for determining whether a first deal identifier received from a first user and a second deal identifier received from a second user identify a common deal form;   means for transmitting a deal form to the first user and to the second user in response to determining that the first deal identifier and the second deal identifier identify the common deal form;   means for receiving a first executed deal form from the first user and a second executed deal form from the second user;   means for comparing the first executed deal form to the second executed deal form to determine whether the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are compatible; and   means for processing the sale in response to determining that the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are compatible.   
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein each of the first and second executed deal forms include a digital signature. 
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the means for comparing the first executed deal form to the second executed deal form comprises:
 means for comparing at least one field of the first executed deal form to at least one corresponding field of the second executed deal form.   
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are determined to be compatible if the at least one field of the first executed deal form is identical to the at least one field of the second executed deal form. 
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are determined to be compatible based on a compatibility dictionary comprising a database identifying the compatibility of deal form field values. 
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 43 , further comprising:
 means for transmitting a notification to at least one of the first and second user, the notification including an indication of a discrepancy in response to determining that the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are not compatible.   
     
     
         49 . An article of manufacture including a tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, that in response to execution by a computing device cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 determining whether a first deal identifier received from a first user and a second deal identifier received from a second user identify a common deal form;   transmitting a deal form to the first user and to the second user in response to determining that the first deal identifier and the second deal identifier identify the common deal form;   receiving a first executed deal form from the first user and a second executed deal form from the second user;   comparing the first executed deal form to the second executed deal form to determine whether the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are compatible; and   processing the sale in response to determining that the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are compatible.   
     
     
         50 . The article of manufacture of  claim 49 , wherein each of the first and second executed deal forms each include a digital signature. 
     
     
         51 . The article of manufacture of  claim 49 , wherein the operation of comparing the first executed deal form to the second executed deal form comprises the operation of:
 comparing at least one field of the first executed deal form to at least one corresponding field of the second executed deal form t.   
     
     
         52 . The article of manufacture of  claim 51 , wherein the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are determined to be compatible if the at least one field of the first executed deal form is identical to the at least one field of the second executed deal form. 
     
     
         53 . The article of manufacture of  claim 51 , wherein the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are determined to be compatible based on a compatibility dictionary comprising a database identifying the compatibility of deal form field values. 
     
     
         54 . The article of manufacture of  claim 49 , the operations further comprising:
 in response to determining that the first executed deal form and the second executed deal form are not compatible transmitting a notification to at least one of the first and second user, the notification including an indication of a discrepancy.