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Patent Application: US 20120030046 A1

Title: Buying and Selling Portions of a Composite good in an Electronic Marketplace

Priority Date: Seeking public disclosure of Prior Art prior to Jul 27, 2010

System and Method for Buying and Selling Portions of a Composite good in an Electronic Marketplace - Described herein is an improved system and method for buying and selling portions of a composite good in an electronic marketplace. One method and system comprise communicating to a buyer a first good post associated with a seller, and communicating to a seller a “want to buy” post from the buyer, wherein the “want to buy” post is for a second good different from, but associated with, the first good. Another system and method comprise displaying online a want to buy post from a buyer, for a first good, and communicating to a buyer a seller offer for a second good, associated with the first good.

First claim:

  1. A method for buying and selling a portion of a composite good in an electronic marketplace comprising:

    • providing an application operable by a buyer and a seller over a network;

    • receiving a want-to-sell post for a composite good by said seller using said application over said network;

    • writing said want-to-sell post to a first memory space accessible to buyer over said network;

    • receiving a want-to-buy post for a portion of said composite good by said buyer using said application over said network; and

    • writing said want-to-buy post to a second memory space accessible to said seller over said network.

NOTE according to Public Pair this patent received a Final Rejection on 3/13/2013. It is possible for the applicant to file a Request for Continued Examination and revise the claims.

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2 Answers 2

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I think he's saying:

METHOD ONE Seller: 'I have a car for sale' Buyer: 'I want to buy a tire'

METHOD TWO Buyer: 'I want to buy a tire' Seller: 'I have a car for sale'

This is patentable?

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  • I think it's more like: Seller: I have a parts cars and I'm selling the hood for $100. Buyer: I need the fender. Seller: Ok I am selling the fender too for $50.
    – MattGupta
    Jul 23, 2013 at 20:16
  • Yeah, I agree with @MattGupta's interpretation, and specifically the claim seems to be for the site intimating the seller about the request for a fender, and later intimating the buyer about the availability of a fender (if the seller makes a post for that).
    – Sundar R
    Jul 23, 2013 at 20:21
  • Thanks MattGupta now it makes sense. This does sound like craigslist, or any classified ad in any newspaper where the complete list of goods for sale are not named (i.e. Garage Sale).
    – Nick Hildebrant
    Jul 23, 2013 at 20:33
  • 2
    I am not an attorney, but I would like to protest this patent because it doesn't seem like this very fundamental process should be patentable. What would be the process for protesting formally to the US Patent Office?
    – MattGupta
    Jul 23, 2013 at 20:59
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Sounds a lot like Craigslist to me. 

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  • or any classified ad where the particular goods sold are not all named
    – Nick Hildebrant
    Jul 23, 2013 at 20:32

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