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Drumbeat: Ad Buzzaar
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Friday, August 21, 1998
Patent business on the Net
In the offline world, this would be a strange market indeed. Buyers attachmoney to a board, along with a note stating what they want to buy for thesum. Later, sellers come along and have a look. If they like an offer, theytake the money and deliver the goods. This sort of reverse auction has madePriceline.com, which went online with much fanfare in April, one of the moreinteresting airline-ticket bidding services on the Internet. Recently, theConnecticut-based company again caused a stir, this time by earning a patentfor its business model. If more such patents are awarded and upheld,business on the Internet could suffer. The patent, No. 5,794,207, coversso-called "bilateral buyer-driven commerce". In Priceline's service,consumers specify a round-trip destination, the date of travel and the pricethey are willing to pay -- and back up the offer with a credit card. Pricelinelets them know by e-mail whether any airline has accepted the bid.
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