Interactive electronic commerce and message interchange system

• US 20040117254A1
• Filed: 07/11/2003
• Published: 06/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: expHand, Inc.
• Original Assignee: expHand, Inc.
• Inventors: Lincoln, Larry A., Nemirofsky, Frank Robert
• Application Number:
  US10/618,445
• Publication Number:
  US 20040117254A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• 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 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses and systems enabling an interactive electronic commerce system enabling the targeted exchange of messages with interested users presented with message codes in conventional media, such as television, radio, and printed publications. The present invention allows for the targeted dissemination of information, such as advertising, promotions, sales announcements, coupons, and the like. The present invention, in one embodiment, provides an end-to-end ecommerce solution that transforms the cell phone/PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) into a Universal Digital Assistant which can receive data including advertising, promotions, sales announcement information based on message identifiers encoded into advertising and content from and including the analog and digital TV, TV set-top box, Internet, wireless, radio, satellite and print media. In one embodiment, the present invention enables an interactive electronic coupon system that facilitates the collection and redemption of electronic coupons.

Claims

1. An electronic commerce system facilitating interactive message exchange, comprising

a message database storing at least one messages in association with one or more message codes;

an application server operative to

receive a message code,

retrieve from the message database one or more messages associated with the message code;

an interface server operative to

interact with a remote device to receive a message code,

provide the message code to the application server for retrieval of at least one message,

transmit the at least one message to the remote device.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one message in the message database is an electronic coupon.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the al least one message is the message database is a promotional message.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the message code further identifies a source of the message code.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the source is a television station.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the source is a radio station.

7. The system of claim 4 wherein the source is a printed publication.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the interface server is operatively connected to a telephone network and further comprises call process flow functionality operative to prompt users for message codes, and a DTMF interface operative to receive DTMF signals and resolve the DTMF signals into message codes.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the interface server is operative to receive text messages including message codes from the remote device and provide the at least one retrieved message to the remote device in a text message.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the text message is an SMS message.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the message code transmitted from the remote device is embodied in a digital image, and wherein the application server is operative to process the digital image to identify the message code.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the digital image containing the message code is embodied in an MMS message transmitted by the remote device.

13. A method of using a wireless device to receive product information, comprising

capturing a message code contained in a medium,

transmitting the message code to a remote system,

receiving, from the remote system, a coupon message corresponding to the message code,

displaying the coupon message on a display device, the coupon message, when displayed, including indicia resolvable by an optical device associated with a point-of-sale terminal.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the indicia are bar codes.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the optical device is a bar code scanner.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the coupon message is embodied in an MMS message.

17. An interactive electronic coupon system, comprising

a coupon message database storing at least one coupon message in association with one or more message codes;

wherein the at least one coupon message comprises a digital image of a coupon bar code,

an application server operative to

receive a message code,

retrieve from the message database one or more coupon messages associated with the message code;

an interface server operative to

interact with a remote device over a computer network to receive a message code,

provide the message code to the application server for retrieval of at least one message,

transmit one or more coupon messages corresponding to the message code to the remote device.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the message code further identifies a source of the message code.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the source is a television station.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein the interface server is operatively connected to a telephone network and further comprises call process flow functionality operative to prompt users for message codes, and a DTMF interface operative to receive DTMF signals and resolve the DTMF signals into message codes.

21. The system of claim 17 wherein the message code transmitted from the remote device is embodied in a digital image, and wherein the application server is operative to process the digital image to identify the message code.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the digital image containing the message code is embodied in an MMS message transmitted by the remote device.

23. The system of claim 17 wherein the coupon message is embodied in an MMS message.