CONTROLLING COUPON PRINTING USING A DELEGATED IMAGE CLIENT
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- a server identifying a first set of one or more coupon offers that are available to a client, wherein the client supervises coupon generation at one or more devices;
the server sending, to the client, a first coupon listing identifying the one or more coupon offers;
the server sending, to the client, first coupon data comprising data necessary to generate coupons for each of the one or more coupon offers;
subsequent to sending the first coupon listing, the server receiving a report from the client, wherein the report indicates a number of times that coupons for at least a first coupon offer of the one or more coupon offers have been generated by the one or more devices since the client last reported to the server;
the server sending, to the client, a second coupon listing that indicates which coupon offers in the first set of one or more coupon offers are no longer available to the client.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A coupon distributor controls coupon distribution via a centralized coupon distribution server. The server not only distributes coupons to the various computing devices, but also tracks the number of coupons printed for any given coupon offer. The server may use the coupon printing statistics it gathers to, for example, limit the number of times any given device may print a coupon for a given offer, limit the number of coupons printed for an offer in aggregate, or provide reports to the provider of the coupon offer. The server may control coupon distribution to any of a variety of device types, including personal computers, mobile devices, stand-alone printing devices, and in-store kiosks, the clients at some of which may be pre-authorized to print coupons. The server further controls distribution of coupons to devices on one or more private networks via an intermediary.
30 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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a server identifying a first set of one or more coupon offers that are available to a client, wherein the client supervises coupon generation at one or more devices; the server sending, to the client, a first coupon listing identifying the one or more coupon offers; the server sending, to the client, first coupon data comprising data necessary to generate coupons for each of the one or more coupon offers; subsequent to sending the first coupon listing, the server receiving a report from the client, wherein the report indicates a number of times that coupons for at least a first coupon offer of the one or more coupon offers have been generated by the one or more devices since the client last reported to the server; the server sending, to the client, a second coupon listing that indicates which coupon offers in the first set of one or more coupon offers are no longer available to the client. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method comprising:
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a client receiving, from a server, a coupon listing that indentifies a first plurality of coupon offers that are available to a client; the client receiving, from the server, first coupon data comprising data necessary to generate coupons for each offer of the plurality of coupon offers; the client relaying at least a portion of the coupon listing and at least a portion of the first coupon data to a plurality of devices; the client receiving, from each device of the one or more devices, one or more device reports indicating a number of times the device has generated one or more coupons for one or more of the plurality of coupon offers; the client aggregating the one or more device reports to produce a client report that indicates at least, for one or more offers of the plurality of coupon offers, a number of times that the one or more devices have generated coupons for the offer since the client last reported to the server; the device sending the client report to the server; the client receiving, from the server, a second coupon listing that indicates which coupon offers in the first set of one or more coupon offers are no longer available to the client; the client relaying at least a portion of the coupon listing to the plurality of devices. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification