PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES FOR STABLISHING MULTI-TRANSACTION RELATIONSHIPS WITH CUSTOMERS OF VENDING MACHINES

• US 20100211218A1
• Filed: 05/07/2010
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Biotest AG (OGEL GmbH), Inventor Holdings LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Original Assignee: Biotest AG (OGEL GmbH)
• Inventors: Jorasch, James A., Tedesco, Daniel E., Tulley, Stephen C., Gelman, Geoffrey M., Lee, Sih Y., Tedesco, Robert C., Signorelli, Paul D., Breitenbach, Paul T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,234,207 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/237
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0014 for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/42 for ticket printing or like apparatus , e.g. apparatus for dispensing of printed paper tickets or payment cards
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/18 specially adapted for controlling several coin-freed apparatus from one place
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty

Abstract

Disclosed herein are various systems and methods for improving the establishment and management of vending machine subscriptions, including systems and methods for constructing, communicating, and registering subscriptions, as well as various methods for processing the redemption of vending machine subscription items. Several additional embodiments are disclosed, including various alternate methods of promoting longitudinal machine-customer relationships.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, based on profit management considerations, a subscription to at least one product available for sale by a vending machine, the subscription including at least one term that defines at least one product which may be redeemed pursuant to the subscription;

outputting an offer to purchase the subscription;

receiving an indication of acceptance of the offer;

registering the subscription;

outputting a code; and

receiving the code and a request to redeem a unit of a product pursuant to the subscription.

2. The method of claim 1, in which the at least one term that defines at least one product which may be redeemed pursuant to the subscription defines

a category of product, and

a number of units of products included in the category which may be redeemed.