Coupon Copy Protection

• US 20080267500A1
• Filed: 04/25/2008
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quotient Technology Inc.
• Original Assignee: Coupons Incorporated (Quotient Technology Inc.)
• Inventors: Weitzman, Jeffrey, Keswani, Ravi Kant, Muthugopalakrishnan, Manicka, Guan, Qingcai
• Granted Patent: US 8,559,667 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/045 using payment protocols involving tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0225 Avoiding frauds
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/80 Recognising image objects characterised by unique random patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/122 Online card verification

Abstract

A data distribution system which includes business groups, a client system and a main database system is described. Coupons and coupon data may be exchanged between the business groups, the client system and the main database system. Each coupon being exchanged may include one or more fraud protection features that can neither be altered nor tampered by users, consumers or retailers.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

segmenting a product image into one or more image regions;

selecting an image region based on one or more criteria; and

blending the image region over a predetermined portion of a corresponding product coupon.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

applying a visual effect on the selected image region,

wherein blending the image region includes overlaying the image region applied with the visual effect over the predetermined portion.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting an image region includes grouping the image region with one or more adjacent image regions having similar characteristics;

and

wherein blending the image region includes overlaying the grouped image regions over the predetermined portion.

4. The method of claim 1, where blending the image region includes blending the image region over a product description of the coupon.

5. A method comprising:

receiving a source image;

segmenting the source image into one or more image regions;

evaluating an image characteristic associated with each image region;

identifying one or more regions whose image characteristic meets a predetermined image criterion; and

combining the identified regions to create a composite image.

6. The method of claim 5, where segmenting the source image into one or more image regions includes segmenting the source image into one or more image regions each having an identical dimension.

7. The method of claim 5, where segmenting the source image into one or more image regions includes segmenting the source image into one or more image regions each region having a same shape.

8. The method of claim 5, where identifying one or more regions that meets a predetermined image characteristic includes determining one or more regions having a similar image characteristic;

and

where combining the identified regions to create a composite image includes grouping the determined regions to create the composite image.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

blending the composite image over a predetermined portion of a corresponding product coupon.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

applying a visual effect on the composite image,

wherein blending the composite image includes overlaying composite image applied with the visual effect over the predetermined portion.

11. The method of claim 5, where evaluating an image characteristic includes determining a global histogram associated with the source image;

and

where identifying one or more regions includes identifying one or more regions based on the global histogram.

12. The method of claim 5, where evaluating an image characteristic includes assigning one or more weight values to each image region;

and

where identifying one or more regions includes identifying one or more regions based on the weight values assigned to each image region.

13. The method of claim 12, where combining the identified regions to create a composite image includes:

identifying one or more regions adjacent to the identified regions and having one or more similar characteristics; and

combining the identified regions and the adjacent regions to create a composite image.

14. A method comprising:

generating a first image and a second image;

displaying, on a coupon, a first text region specifying expiration information and a first image region having the first image overlapping a portion of the first text region;

displaying, on the coupon, a second text region describing a coupon value and an image region having the second image superimposed on a portion of the second text region; and

generating a first border on at least one side of the coupon.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

reproducing the coupon,

wherein the first image and the second image render the first text region and the second text region unreadable after reproduction.

16. The method of claim 14, where generating a first border on at least one side of the coupon includes generating a first border embedded with data related with the coupon.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the coupon data includes at least one of a group comprising:

a coupon value identifying a value of the coupon;

an expiration date of the coupon;

a platform identifier of a computing platform from which the coupon was printed;

a browser identifier identifying a type of browser used for printing the coupon;

a coupon identifier for identifying the coupon;

a number of times the coupon has been printed;

a date on which the coupon was printed; and

a time at which the coupon was printed.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

generating a platform identifier associated with a client; and

displaying the platform identifier on the coupon.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

generating a second border on at least one side of the first text region specifying expiration information, the second border embedded with data related to the coupon.

20. A system comprising:

means for segmenting a product image into one or more image regions;

means for selecting an image region based on one or more criteria; and

means for blending the image region over a predetermined portion of a corresponding product coupon.