Network verification systems and methods

• US 20030212790A1
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Published: 11/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verico Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Studentuniverse.com
• Inventors: Thambidurai, Sunil, Odegard, Espen, Christiansen, Tore
• Granted Patent: US 7,209,931 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

Methods and systems for verifying a user as a member of an affinity group, including receiving user information identifying a user identity and at least one affinity group, and based on the user information, querying at least one networked data source to associate at least one status with the user information. The user information can include at least one of a name, a user name, a social security number, a group identification number, a personal identification number, a member number, a password, a telephone number, a loan number, an email address, a mailing address, a certificate number, and an employee number, for example. The methods and system can thus provide an offer to the user based on the status associated with the user. A threshold can be used in some embodiments to determine the whether a further query can be performed to verify status within the affinity group.

Claims

20. A method for providing at least one offer to a verified educational institution user, comprising:

receiving user information identifying a user identity and an educational institution,

based on the user information, querying at least one networked data source to associate the user information with at least one of a student status and a faculty status, and,

based on the status associated with the user, providing the user with information associated with the at least one offer.

21. A method according to claim 20, where providing the user with information associated with the at least one offer includes providing the user with information to accept the at least one offer.

22. A method according to claim 20, where providing the user with information associated with the at least one offer includes informing a supplier of the at least one offer that the user accepts the at least one offer.

23. A method according to claim 20, wherein associating the user with at least one student status includes associating the user with at least one of a matriculated student status, a non-matriculated student status, a formerly matriculated student status, and, an unknown status.

24. A method according to claim 20, wherein associating the user with at least one faculty status includes associating the user with at least one of a verified faculty status, a non-verified faculty status, a full-time faculty status, a part-time faculty status, an associate faculty status, a tenured faculty status, a non-tenured faculty status, and an unknown faculty status.

25. A method according to claim 20, further including receiving the at least one offer from at least one offer supplier.

26. A method according to claim 25, wherein receiving the at least one offer includes receiving the offer from at least one of a processor network, a telephone network, a postal service, and hand delivery.

27. A method according to claim 20, further including associating an identifier with the user information and the associated at least one of a student status and a faculty status.

28. A method for verifying a user as a member of an affinity group, the method comprising:

receiving user information identifying a user identity and at least one affinity group, and,

based on the user information, querying at least one networked data source to associate at least one status with the user information.

29. A method according to claim 28, wherein receiving user information includes receiving data from a processor controlled device.

30. A method according to claim 28, wherein receiving user information includes receiving at least one of a name, a user name, a social security number, a group identification number, a personal identification number, a member number, a password, a telephone number, a loan number, an email address, a mailing address, a certificate number, and an employee number.

31. A method according to claim 28, wherein the at least one networked data source includes at least one networked database and at least one directory listing.

32. A method according to claim 28, further comprising providing an offer to the user based on the status associated with the user.

33. A method according to claim 32, wherein the offer is associated with at least one affinity group.

34. A method according to claim 28, wherein querying at least one networked data source includes,

querying at least one first networked data source to determine whether the user information is associated with an affinity group status,

based on the query of the first networked data source, comparing the association of the user information and affinity group status to a threshold, and,

based on the comparison, querying at least one distinct second networked data source.

35. A method according to claim 28, wherein querying at least one networked data source includes,

querying at least one first networked data source to determine whether the user information is associated with an affinity group status,

based on the query of the first networked data source, querying at least one distinct second networked data source.

36. A method according to claim 28, wherein querying at least one networked data source includes,

querying at least one first networked data source to determine whether the user information is associated with an affinity group status,

based on the query of the first networked data source, comparing the association of the user information and affinity group status to a threshold, and,

based on the comparison, determining that a further query is unnecessary.

37. A method according to claim 28, wherein querying at least one networked data source includes,

obtaining status verification data from the at least one networked data source,

comparing the status verification data to a threshold, and,

based on the threshold, performing a further status verification.

38-1. A system according to claim 38, including means for classifying offers based on affinity group.

43. A system to provide offers to a verified educational institutional user, the system comprising:

at least one processor for receiving user information identifying a user identity and an educational institution,

instructions for causing the at least one processor to query, based on the user information, at least one networked data source to associate the user information with at least one of a student status and a faculty status, and,

instructions to cause the at least one processor to provide, based on the association, information for at least one offer to the user.

44. A system according to claim 43, wherein the instructions to query include instructions to:

query at least one first data source to determine whether the user information is associated with an affinity group status,

based on the query of the first data source, compare the association of the user information and affinity group status to a threshold, and,

based on the comparison, query at least one distinct second data source.

45. A method according to claim 43, wherein the at least one processor includes instructions for providing at least one web page for receiving at least one of the offers and the user information.

46. A method according to claim 43, further including at least one of an offer database for storing offer information from offer suppliers, and a student status database for storing user information and associated student and faculty verification status.

47. A system according to claim 43, further including a threshold for comparing information from the at least one networked data source.

48. A system according to claim 47, wherein the threshold includes at least one of a time and a date.

49. A system according to claim 43, wherein the offer information includes offers associated with at least one of airline flights, trains, hotels, insurance, and travel.

50. A system according to claim 43, wherein at least one of the user information and the offer information can be provided based on at least one of a processor device, a postal service, a hand delivery, and a telephone.