7 200 566

7,200,566 Title:

Method and system for local wireless commerce

A system and method of conducting commercial activities such as an auction in a rather localized area (such as a shopping mall). Potential consumers located in the local area have a mobile wireless communications device (for example, a smart cellular phone or a 2-way radio or a Bluetooth communication device) including a set of stored instructions allowing the device to be programmed with a set of desired transactions and preferences such as the brands or transaction types which the consumer prefers. Merchants are connected to receive a communication from the communications device and respond to the desired transaction and preferences by proposing goods or services at specific terms such as price. The mobile wireless communications device associated with the potential consumer has the potential to receive communications from merchants (either directly or through an intermediate system) and to transmit a communication back to the merchant indicating the potential offer so that a merchant can revise or improve the offer. In this way, local merchants can be aware of the offers that a consumer receives and can improve on those offers to secure the potential consumer's business. While the actual transaction may be conducted in person at the merchant, one can envision a system where the transaction is completed through the wireless communication system with the payment occurring through charge or other electronic transaction and the delivery of the goods or service through conventional delivery channels.

What is claimed is:

1. A system for communication of a proposed commercial transaction in a local area comprising: a mobile wireless device associated with a consumer, the mobile wireless deviceincluding a storage for receiving and storing information related to consumer preferences and an antenna for communicating directly with local merchants in the local area over a short range, ad-hoc, wireless communication link; a short range wirelesscommunications system adapted to communicate with the mobile wireless device associated with a consumer within the local area, wherein the local area is defined by proximity of the mobile wireless device to said short range wireless communication systemand physical coverage of said short range wireless communication system, said short range wireless communications system being associated with a first merchant of a proposed offer and transmitting the proposed offer directly to the mobile wireless deviceassociated with the consumer; and the mobile wireless device including a system which receives a user input indicating that the information from the first merchant is to be transmitted to a second merchant within the local area, wherein the mobilewireless device transmits the information received from the first merchant directly to the second merchant over another short range wireless, ad-hoc communication link in response to a user input.

2. A system for communication of a proposed commercial transaction in the local area including the elements of claim 1 wherein the mobile wireless device associated with the consumer is a cellular telephone with storage including preferencesloaded by the consumer and the short range wireless communications system operates over a limited local area.

3. A system for communication of a propose commercial transaction in the local area including the elements of claim 1 wherein the short range wireless communication system complies with the Bluetooth specification.

4. A system for communication of a proposed commercial transaction in the local area including the elements of claim 1 wherein the offer communicated to the consumer matches the consumer preferences stored in the mobile wireless device.

5. A system for conducting an auction between two merchants each having a fixed location and a consumer located proximate to the two merchants, the consumer associated with a mobile wireless device, the system comprising: a mobile wirelessdevice associated with the consumer including memory for storing details of a proposed transaction and a communications device for exchanging messages directly with at least a first merchant and a second merchant related to the proposed transaction overshort range, ad-hoc, wireless communication links; a comparator in the mobile device for comparing the messages from the first merchant and the second merchant to determine which message offers the better deal; and a transmission system responsive tocomparison in the mobile device for sending at least one merchant the details of the better deal and for receiving a message from at least one merchant in response to the details of the better deal, wherein the communications between the mobile wirelessdevice and the merchants are exchanged directly between one another without utilization of a central processing system.

6. A system for conducting an auction including the elements of claim 5 and further including a system, disposed within the mobile wireless device, for comparing the received message from the merchant in response to the details of the betterdeal and for communicating that received message directly to another merchant over another one of the short range wireless communication links.

7. A program stored on a storage medium adapted to be read by an information handling system, the program comprising: a first module for storing consumer preferences; a second module for transmitting consumer preferences directly to individualmerchant systems over short range, ad-hoc, wireless communication links in response to an interrogation by an external system; a third module for receiving bids from the external system and for storing those bids; a fourth module for comparing bids todetermine the best bid and for receiving an input at a mobile device whether to communicate a bid from one bidder to a second bidder and, if sending is indicated, sending the best bid to an other bidder directly over a short range, ad-hoc, wirelesscommunication link; and a fifth module for displaying the best bid received so that the consumer can acknowledge the bid; wherein each individual merchant system with which communication is established is determined via proximity and a physicalcoverage area of the individual merchant system.

8. A system for communicating regarding a proposed transaction between a consumer and potential merchants, the system comprising: a wireless device associated with the consumer which includes a system for receiving and transmitting informationdirectly to and from individual merchant systems over short range, ad-hoc, wireless communication links about a potential purchase and receiving a consumer input; a plurality of short range wireless communications systems, wherein each of at least afirst and a second potential merchant is associated with one of said plurality of short range wireless communication systems, each of said first and second merchants seeking to make a transaction with the consumer relating to the proposed transaction,the short range wireless communication system associated with the first merchant transmitting directly to the wireless device a first bid from the first merchant and receiving information on the first bid from the wireless device, wherein said wirelessdevice transmits information on said first bid to the short range wireless communication system associated with the second merchant in response to the consumer input.

9. A system for communicating a proposed transaction as provided in claim 8 and further including a sensor for determining merchants which are proximate to the consumer and his wireless device so that the consumer is dealing with merchants in adefined geographic area, wherein said sensor detects short range wireless networks and does not determine a location for the wireless device or the communication systems associated with the merchants.

10. A system for communicating a proposed transaction of the type set forth in claim 8 wherein, when the wireless device receives a response from the merchant which includes a proposal of an alternate transaction, the details of the alternatetransaction are sent to an other merchant to receive a bid from the other merchant.

11. A system for communicating a proposed transaction of the type set forth in claim 10 wherein the wireless device includes a screen and displays the communications which have been received from merchants regarding the proposed transaction.

12. A method of proposing between a merchant and a potential customer with a mobile wireless device, the steps of the method comprising: receiving at the mobile wireless device a bid sent directly from a first merchant over a short range,ad-hoc, wireless communication link regarding a potential purchase and receiving a customer input; transmitting information regarding the bid from the first merchant from the mobile wireless device directly to a second merchant over another short range,ad-hoc, wireless communication link in response to the customer input at the mobile wireless device; and receiving at the mobile wireless device a bid sent directly from the second merchant over the other short range, ad-hoc, wireless communication linkregarding the proposed purchase, whereby the potential customer may compare the first bid from the first merchant with the second bid from second merchant for the potential purchase; wherein the mobile wireless device selects the first and secondmerchants for communication, at least in part, by virtue of proximity and physical coverage of the short range, ad-hoc wireless communication links.

13. A method of proposing commerce between a consumer and a merchant including the steps of claim 12 wherein the method further includes receiving and transmitting information only within a limited area, whereby the customer is proximate to themerchants at the time of the communications.

14. A method of proposing commerce between a consumer and a merchant including the steps of claim 12 wherein the method includes storing consumer preferences in the mobile wireless device and the communications includes information from thestored consumer preferences.