In both an on-line and a conventional auction, an auctioneer may encourage competitive bidding behavior through the provision of rewards to those bidders whose s bids meet predetermined criteria For example, a bidder may be rewarded if her bid exceeds a prior bid by a threshold value. An auctioneer may...http://www.google.com.au/patents/US20060242056?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20060242056 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENCOURAGING COMPETITIVE PARTICIPATION IN AN AUCTION
