Network-Based Contests Having Multiple Participating Sponsors
First Claim
1. A system for conducting a contest, comprising:
- a computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable process steps; and
a processor coupled to the storage medium, retrieving and executing said process steps, wherein said process steps comprise;
(a) providing a contest that is played by a plurality of players across a communications network, in which the players compete to earn points awarded by a central contest administrator and the individual players are ranked based on their total number of points; and
(b) allowing individual ones of the players to select a sponsor from a set of previously identified sponsors,wherein the players also can earn points, which contribute to their totals for ranking purposes, from the sponsors they have selected, andwherein individual ones of the sponsors in the set are allocated points and have flexibility regarding how to award their allocated points to the players that have selected them.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Provided are, among other things, systems, methods and techniques for conducting a contest. One embodiment provides a contest that is played by multiple players across a communications network, in which the players compete to earn points awarded by a central contest administrator and the individual players are ranked based on their total number of points. In addition, individual ones of the players are allowed to select a sponsor from a set of previously identified sponsors, and the players also can earn points, which contribute to their totals for ranking purposes, from the sponsors they have selected. For this purpose, individual ones of the sponsors in the set are allocated points and have flexibility regarding how to award their allocated points to the players that have selected them.
228 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system for conducting a contest, comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable process steps; and a processor coupled to the storage medium, retrieving and executing said process steps, wherein said process steps comprise; (a) providing a contest that is played by a plurality of players across a communications network, in which the players compete to earn points awarded by a central contest administrator and the individual players are ranked based on their total number of points; and (b) allowing individual ones of the players to select a sponsor from a set of previously identified sponsors, wherein the players also can earn points, which contribute to their totals for ranking purposes, from the sponsors they have selected, and wherein individual ones of the sponsors in the set are allocated points and have flexibility regarding how to award their allocated points to the players that have selected them. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable process steps, said process steps comprising steps to:
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communicate over a communications network with a server hosting a remotely hosted contest; and generate a user interface that displays information pertaining to the contest, wherein the user interface (a) displays current contest-performance information for a player, (b) enables the player to navigate through a set of profile cards for other players in the contest, selecting individual profile cards to be displayed, as desired, said profile cards including identification information and current contest-performance information for the respective players, and (c) displays information about sponsors selected by the player. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable process steps, said process steps comprising:
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communicating over a communications network with a server hosting a remotely hosted contest; and generating a user interface that displays information pertaining to the contest, wherein the user interface (a) enables the player to navigate through a set of profile cards for other players in the contest, selecting individual profile cards to be displayed, as desired, and to communicate with the other players in the contest using links provided in corresponding ones of the profile cards, and (b) allows the player to access other information pertaining to the contest, wherein said process steps are part of a dedicated game interface program, and wherein said communicating step obtains information for the profile cards and the other information pertaining to the contest from the server. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification