WO2001065436A1

WO2001065436A1 - A system and method for conducting automated transactions

Info

Publication number: WO2001065436A1
Application number: PCT/NZ2001/000029
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter Barrie Leay; Robert Theodoor Huitema
Original assignee: E-Services Limited
Priority date: 2000-02-29
Filing date: 2001-02-28
Publication date: 2001-09-07
Also published as: AU2001236251A1

Abstract

A method of creating a multi-lateral contract (1) between parties (4) and participants (3, 5, 6, 7) in a distributed computer system. Parties may create an electronic contract (1) by agreeing upon a set of rules to purchase a product or provision of service. The contract is sent to a registry (2) which registers, manages and executes the contract. The registry may contact a participant (3) to deliver the product or service according to the contract details. A participant (3) may deliver the product to another party (4). A recording means (5) may record transaction details and deliver a transaction log to registry (2) for recording the event. The logs may be sent to an inspecting means (6) for scrutinizing and to resolve delivery disputes. The contract may be sent to a valuing means (7) by the inspecting means (6). The valuing means (7) may create an invoice according to terms of the contract and the multi-lateral agreement. An invoice may be sent to the parties (4) by the valuing means (7).

Description

A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONDUCTING AUTOMATED TRANSACTIONS

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system and method for conαucting automated transactions in a distributed computer system Ac cording to one aspect a registry is provided which oversees the execution of transactions in accordance with rules defined by the parties TO a contract. The contract may include arbitrary information as required bv the parties involved.

In another aspect contracts having portable functionality are created and provided to participants in a distributed computer system fo^r execution.

In another aspect the execution of any part of the contract crocess can be performed with standard applications which are extended bv tne portable functionality provided via the contract

The method allows flexible bi-lateral and multi-lateral contracts to be formed for a wide range of goods and services.

Background Art

A number of systems and methods are available for carrying out electronic transactions in a distributed computer system. Those systems that allow participation by a large range of users running standard applications tend to be limited with regard to the extent to which a user can αefine the participants in a contract or the rules governing operation of the contract or the functionality of the standard application used to execute the contract The participants are typically pre-selected and users are limited to rule and functionality selection from possible options provided. Such systems do not allow flexible contracts including arbitrary user defined information or functionality to be created.

In other systems increased flexibility is provided by the use of extensible information formats (eg XML) but such systems lack the equivalent system to support the provision of the extendible functionality required to utilise the extended information. Hence the systems usefulness is limited by the smallest subset of functionality common to all parties.

In other systems increased flexibility of contract can be achieved where the parties to a contract both operate specially designed compatible systems. In such cases enhancements to the functionality by one party are co-ordinated among all the parties such that all parties implement compatible enhancements. Such systems do not allow participation by a wide range of users utilising standard software applications, nor do they allow a single party to alter their functionality without careful coordination among all parties.

In yet other systems no means of ensuring proper performance by the parties to the contract is provided. If one party is delinquent, these systems do not provide a means to enforce remedies.

In other systems the system is provided by one party to the contract. This party stands to gain from the execution of the contract (eg the supplier of the goods or services) . Such systems do not provide other parties to the contract with confidence that the contract will always be executed fairly to all parties involved.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and a method of conducting automated transactions which overcomes at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art or at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Disclosure of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of conducting an automated transaction in a distributed computer system comprising the steps of;

i) parties to a transaction agreeing upon a set of rules to govern the execution of the transaction; and

I I) supplying the rules to a registry which executes the transaction in accordance with the rules utilising the distributed computer system.

According to a further aspect there is provided a method of conducting an automated transaction in a distributed computer system comprising the steps of:

i) creating a contract having portable functionality;

II) providing the contract to the distributed computer system for execution of the contract; and

in) executing the contract utilising the distributed computer system operating according to the portable functionality.

The contract is preferrably executed using standard applications operating according to the portable functionality provided via the contract.

Corresponding systems for implementing the method are also provided.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 : shows a distributed computer system for implementing an electronic transaction according to the invention.

Figure 2: shows the steps involved in an automated transaction utilising the distributed computer system shown in figure 1 .

The basic concept of the invention will now be described with reference to figures 1 and 2. Specific details of the method and system are provided in Appendix A and Appendix B.

Referring firstly to figure 1 a distributed computer system in which participants 3 to 7 are interconnected via the Internet is shown. It will be appreciated that the distributed computer system may be connected via any suitable network and that the Internet is shown purely by way of example.

In figure 1 parties 4 and carrier 3 form a contract 1 which is managed and executed by a registry 2.

In the first step of the method a customer may download a standard application or applet to their computer to enable them to prepare a draft contract. In this example the various computers are operating in a Java run time environment. An application or applet enabling a contract to be constructed may be downloaded from any computer containing the application or applet within the distributed computer system In this case the application or applet is contained within the registry.

The downloaded application or applet enables the customer to access a producer of services. The producer may provide portable functionality which includes a description of goods or services they provide, and a suitable screen or user tool to manipulate the required information. Both the customer or the producer may define or attach arbitrary information, further portable functionality and/or rules for the provision of the goods or services under the contract.

The contract may directly or indirectly include portable functionality to be provided to the customer to enable them to utilise the goods or service.

The rules may define the participants to the contract. The participants will include a registry which stores the contract and ensures the contract is executed by the appropriate participants in the defined manner. The contract may define a selection of goods or services obtained from a producer. It may define a recording means to record the supply of goods or services with regard to defined delivery criteria. One or more recording means may be specified. The participants may include inspecting means which inspect the accuracy of usage logs supplied by the recording means. The participants may also include valuing means which assess the value of the contract based upon information supplied by the recording means, once inspected.

The contract also directly or indirectly includes portable functionality enabling the participants to perform their roles. The contract may include portable functionality as to the manner in which recording is to be performed, usage logs are to be inspected, valuation of the contract, the

settlement procedure and dispute resolution. This portable functionality may utilise serialized objects and remote method invocation (RMI) enabled in a Java based computing system. This enables the arbitrary information, the portable functionality to utilise it, and the rules governing the contract to be passed between participants to enable them to perform their functions and return the required outputs to the required participants.

The customer may select all, some or none of the participants and all or some of the rules. Participants may be known to the user or selected from a list. Rules may be created by a user and provided as portable functionality or selected from pre-existing rules and modified if necessary. Where only some or none of the participants are selected the contract may be made available for participants to offer their services. A customer may send the contract, including computer portable functionality (including participants and/or rules) to the registry which may then make the contract open to other participants to supply their services. Alternatively, the registry may automatically forward the contract to participants of the required type to enable them to offer their services. Alternatively, a participant which acts as a market for such contracts may carry out this role. By one means or another the draft contract is sent to the market in step 3.

Participants such as provider 1 and provider 2 wishing to supply the required goods or services may then negotiate with the customer in step 4 to finalise the rules of the contract. Provider 1 and provider 2 may offer their services in conjunction with selected participants or may allow participants in the market to bid for their role in the contract. After iterative negotiation a final contract will be agreed upon between the parties and when they have digitally authorised the contract it is sent to the registry in step 5. In step 6 the registry executes the contract according to the rules. The various participants are notified by the registry of their roles and the necessary information and portable functionality to perform their role is accessed by them via the Internet. The recording means are provided with information as to the type of recording required, duration of recording etc. The rules provided to the recording means may prescribe the times at which usage logs must be provided to the registry or another participant or these may be requested by the registry at the prescribed times. The registry oversees the implementation of the contract according to a timetable defined by the rules.

Usage logs may be provided from the recording means directly to the registry and/or to inspecting means. One or more inspecting means may inspect the usage logs provided by one or more recording means to ensure that the usage logs are acceptable. The inspecting means will analyse the usage logs according to rules, information and portable functionality provided to them directly or indirectly by the registry.

Inspected logs may be supplied directly to the valuing means if the rules for valuing the contract have already been provided to the valuing means.

Alternatively, the usage logs are provided to the registry and the registry provides the usage logs and relevant rules to the valuing means so that it may value the contract for a specified period. The valuing means may be provided directly or indirectly with portable functionality and arbitrary information in the form of arbitrary tables, profiles or executable objects for calculating the value of the contract and providing required output based on the usage logs. The value determined by the valuing means is then supplied to the registry.

If there is a dispute at any stage rules will govern the manner in which the dispute is to be resolved. For example, if there are two inspecting means and they produced different results with regard to usage a rule will determine how the discrepancy is to be resolved. This may be incorporated as portable functionality or arbitrary information attached directly or indirectly to the contract. The goal will generally be to achieve a certain and efficient resolution to facilitate on-line contracting.

Once the value of the contract is communicated to the registry it effects settlement in step 7. Settlement will be performed in the manner defined in the rules. This may be by the registry simply notifying the customer and provider of the value of goods or services provided under the contract or may involve the registry initiating electronic funds transfers via prescribed bank accounts.

As part of the settlement process the fees for the various participants may be calculated and notified or paid electronically. The various participants may attach additional rules including portable functionality or arbitrary information to the contract defining their fees. The recording means will be remunerated for its services in providing usage logs, the inspecting means will be compensated for its services in inspecting and the valuing means will be compensated for its services in valuing. The registry will also be paid for its services and the provider will be paid for the goods or services provided under the contract. All of the participants will be compensated in accordance with the valuations produced by the valuing means. The exact manner of payment will depend upon the particular contract concerned. For example, the provider may have a preferred recording means, inspecting means or valuing means and may directly compensate for the services provided.

It will be seen that the method enables a great degree of flexibility for a customer and provider in defining the manner of implementation of a contract. It will also be seen that the method of the invention enables an open and competitive market in which participants can compete in an open and transparent manner to provide services. It will also be seen that the implementation is highly automated and requires limited human intervention.

Appendices A and B set out in greater detail possible implementations which are given by way of example only and it will be appreciated that the invention has wide application in the provision of a wide range of goods and services. In Appendix B references to "Logger" should be taken as references to "Recording means" and references to "Validation

(Protestor) " should be taken as references to the "Inspecting means".

Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to integers or components having known equivalents then such equivalents are herein incorporated as if individually set forth.

Although this invention has been described by way of example it is to be appreciated that improvements and/or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention.

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1 A method of conducting an automated transaction in a distributed computer system comprising the steps of:

II) supplying the rules to a registry which executes the transaction in accordance with the rules utilising the distributed computer system

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rules include portable functionality which enables the transaction to be performed automatically by processing means of the distributed computer system.

3 A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rules include information which enables the transaction to be performed automatically by processing means of the distributed computer system

4. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the portable functionality is one or more software objects.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein software objects are transferred between processing means and utilised by one of the processing means to perform the transaction.

6. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rules include a definition of the participants to be involved in the transaction.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the participants include a recording means to record delivery of goods or services as specified in the rules.

8. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the participants include one or more inspecting means which inspects the accuracy of the information from the recording means

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the inspecting means includes functionality to process the transaction when there are differences between defined delivery criteria and the actual goods or services delivered.

10. A method as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein the participants include a valuing means which utilises information from the recording means to calculate the value of the transaction.

1 1 A method as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 10 wherein the participants include a registry which controls the execution of the transaction.

1 2. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rules include delivery criteria for goods or services to be provided in the transaction.

1 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 2 wherein the delivery criteria are user defined.

1 4. A method as claimed in claim 1 2 or claim 1 3 wherein the delivery criteria are selected from one or more of quantity, quality, timeliness or another characteristic.

1 5. A method as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 1 4 wherein the rules include a user defined method for recording the delivery of the goods or services provided.

1 6. A method as claimed in claim 1 5 wherein the recording means creates logs of delivery that may be transferred between and utilised by other participants to execute the transaction.

1 7. A method as claimed in claim 1 6 wherein the logs are software objects or arbitrary information.

1 8. A method as claimed in claim 1 7 wherein the software objects are tables, profiles or executable objects capable of calculating a required output.

1 9. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rules include a user defined method for inspecting and resolving discrepancies between delivery logs of the goods or services provided.

20. A method as claimed in claim 1 9 wherein the process of inspection utilises user defined software objects that may be transferred between and utilised by other participants to test the validity of delivery logs.

21 . A method as claimed in claim 20 wherein the software objects are capable of utilising delivery logs to obtain required delivery information.

22. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rules include a user defined method for valuing the delivery of goods or services provided.

23. A method as claimed in claim 22 wherein the user defined method includes user defined software objects that may be transferred between and utilised by other participants to value the transaction.

24. A method as claimed in claim 23 wherein the software objects are capable of utilising the delivery logs to obtain required delivery information.

25. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rules include an agreed process for aggregating and transferring the value due between participants.

26. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rules are supplied to a registry via the distributed computer system.

27. A method as claimed in claim 26 wherein the registry executes the transaction in accordance with a schedule of events defined within the rules.

28. A method as claimed in claim 27 including the steps of:

I) obtaining delivery logs from the recording means;

II) inspecting the delivery logs;

in) causing a valuing means to calculate the value of the goods or services provided; iv) accumulating the value due to the parties under the transaction; and v) initiating transfer of value due between the parties by an agreed process

29. A method as claimed in claim 28 wherein, in step (v), initiation of transfer of the value due between the parties is achieved by notifying the parties of the amounts due.

30. A method as claimed in claim 28 wherein, in step (v), initiation of the transfer of value is executed by initiating an electronic transfer of funds between the parties.

31 A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the distributed computer system operates in a networked environment.

32. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which arbitrary information is supplied to the registry with the rules.

33. A method of conducting an automated transaction in a distributed computer system comprising the steps of:

i) creating a contract having portable functionality;

34. A method as claimed in claim 33 wherein the contract is executed utilising standard applications operating according to portable functionality provided via the contract.

35. A system arranged and configured to implement the method of any one of the preceding claims.