Prompted electronic mobile-service information communications with validation
First Claim
1. An interactive communications system for use in conveying service information to a user, the interactive communications system comprising:
- a merchant-media arrangement having a merchant-media ID code and being adapted to communicate service initiation information including said merchant-media ID code to requesting devices over a short-range communication link;
a user-communications device being adapted to receive said service initiation information including at least the merchant-media ID code, and in response to receiving said service initiation information send a merchant-information-request signal that includes at least said merchant-media ID code; and
an electronic commerce arrangement adapted to generate, in response to receiving the merchant-information-request, service information data set that corresponds to the merchant-media ID code, and adapted to send the application data set to an address for access by the user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic service information data (including, e.g., an electronic coupon) is sent to a user in response to interaction at a merchant-media arrangement. According to one example embodiment, a user with a user-communications device views information conveyed by the merchant-media arrangement. In response to communication between the user-communications device and the merchant-media arrangement, the user-communications device and the merchant-media arrangement cooperate to generate a merchant-information-request signal that includes at least a merchant-media ID code for the merchant-media arrangement. The merchant-information-request signal is then used to generate a user-redeemable electronic service information that corresponds to the information conveyed by the merchant-media arrangement (e.g., via the merchant-media ID code). In a more specific embodiment, the electronic service information is sent in a Java Midlet that is downloaded for access and activation by the user. With this approach, users can conveniently request and/or receive electronic service information at a point-of-use media display.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. An interactive communications system for use in conveying service information to a user, the interactive communications system comprising:
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a merchant-media arrangement having a merchant-media ID code and being adapted to communicate service initiation information including said merchant-media ID code to requesting devices over a short-range communication link;
a user-communications device being adapted to receive said service initiation information including at least the merchant-media ID code, and in response to receiving said service initiation information send a merchant-information-request signal that includes at least said merchant-media ID code; and
an electronic commerce arrangement adapted to generate, in response to receiving the merchant-information-request, service information data set that corresponds to the merchant-media ID code, and adapted to send the application data set to an address for access by the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An interactive communications system for use in conveying service information to a user, the interactive communications system comprising:
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a user-communications device including a user identification (ID) code stored therein; and
a merchant-media arrangement having a merchant-media ID code and being adapted to communicate with the user-communications device while the user-communications device is in proximity of the merchant-media arrangement, and in response, the user-communications device being adapted to send a merchant-information-request signal that includes at least the merchant-media ID code and the user identification (ID) data;
an electronic commerce arrangement adapted to generate, in response to receiving the merchant-information-request signal, an electronic coupon data set corresponding to the merchant-media ID code and user identification (ID) data and adapted to send the electronic coupon data set to an address determined using the merchant-information-request signal; and
a coupon-redemption arrangement adapted to redeem the electronic coupon data physical coupon article by processing the electronic coupon data set and, in response thereto, voiding any further use of the electronic coupon data set. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. For use with an interactive communications system having a merchant-media arrangement that conveys service information to users, a method of conveying information using a user-communications device, the method comprising:
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in response to the user-communications device being in proximity of the merchant-media arrangement, generating a merchant-information-request signal that includes at least a merchant-media ID code for the merchant-media arrangement and sending the merchant-information-request signal to a remote server;
in response to receiving the merchant-information-request signal at the remote server, generating an electronic coupon data set that corresponds to the merchant-media ID code and sending the electronic coupon data set to an address for access by the user;
in response to the user receiving the electronic coupon data set, presenting the electronic coupon data set to a coupon-redemption arrangement; and
validating the electronic coupon data set at the coupon-redemption arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. An interactive communications system for use in conveying service information to a user, the interactive communications system comprising:
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a user-communications device including a user identification (ID) code stored therein; and
a merchant-media arrangement having a merchant-media ID code and being adapted to communicate with the user-communications device while the user-communications device is in proximity of the merchant-media arrangement, the user-communications device and the merchant-media arrangement being adapted to send a merchant-information-request signal that includes at least the merchant-media ID code;
an electronic commerce arrangement adapted to generate, in response to receiving the merchant-information-request signal, a service information data set that corresponds to the merchant-media ID code, and adapted to send the service information data set to an address for access by the user; and
an electronic commerce redemption arrangement adapted to validate the service information data set. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. For use in an interactive communications system having merchant-communication terminals adapted to convey service information, a user-communications device comprising:
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a first communication circuit adapted to communicate with a merchant-communication terminal over a short-range communication link, and adapted to receive service initiation information including at least a merchant-media ID code assigned to the merchant-communication terminal, and in response to receiving said service initiation information sending a merchant-information-request signal that includes at least said merchant-media ID code;
a second communication circuit adapted to receive an application data set from the interactive communications system, the application data set being sent in response to the merchant-information-request signal; and
a programmable processor circuit adapted to process the application data set and, in response thereto, to provide merchant-related information for the user. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
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Specification