COUPON SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A coupon system for receiving coupons for products from promoters via a network and associating each of the coupons with a price for placement of that coupon with a user, the coupon system comprising:
- a central computer having a computer processor and a computer memory;
an ad placement program operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for performing the following operations;
i) receiving the coupons from the promoters via the network;
ii) associating each of the coupons with at least one UPC identifying the product(s); and
iii) determining the price for placement of and/or use of each of the coupons in association with the at least one UPC; and
a master coupon database operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for storing the coupons and associating each of the coupons with the at least one UPC and with the price for placement determined by the ad placement program.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A coupon system has a central computer, an ad placement program operably installed on the central computer, and a master coupon program operably installed on the central computer. The ad placement program receives the coupons from the promoters via the network, associates each of the coupons with at least one UPC identifying the product(s), and determines a price for placement of and/or use of each of the coupons in association with the at least one UPC. The master coupon program transmits the coupons to the users with reference to a selected UPC received from a user.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A coupon system for receiving coupons for products from promoters via a network and associating each of the coupons with a price for placement of that coupon with a user, the coupon system comprising:
-
a central computer having a computer processor and a computer memory; an ad placement program operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for performing the following operations; i) receiving the coupons from the promoters via the network; ii) associating each of the coupons with at least one UPC identifying the product(s); and iii) determining the price for placement of and/or use of each of the coupons in association with the at least one UPC; and a master coupon database operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for storing the coupons and associating each of the coupons with the at least one UPC and with the price for placement determined by the ad placement program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A coupon system for receiving coupons for products from promoters via a network, offering the coupons to users via the network, and transmitting the coupons to a POS computer upon checkout, the coupon system comprising:
-
a central computer having a computer processor and a computer memory; an ad placement program operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for performing the following operations; iv) receiving the coupons from the promoters via the network; v) associating each of the coupons with at least one UPC identifying the product(s); and vi) determining a price for placement of and/or use of each of the coupons in association with the at least one UPC; a master coupon database operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for storing the coupons and associating each of the coupons with the at least one UPC; and a master coupon program operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for transmitting the coupons to the users using the following operations; iv) receiving a selected UPC from one of the users; v) locating the selected UPC in the master coupon database; and vi) transmitting the coupon(s) associated with the selected UPC to the user and/or the POS computer. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A coupon system for receiving coupons for products from promoters via a network, offering the coupons to users via the network, transmitting the coupons to a portable electronic device of the user, which then functions to transmit the coupons to a POS computer upon checkout, the coupon system comprising:
-
a central computer having a computer processor and a computer memory; an ad placement program operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for performing the following operations; i) receiving the coupons from the promoters via the network; ii) associating each of the coupons with at least one UPC identifying the product(s); and iii) determining a price for placement of and/or use of each of the coupons in association with the at least one UPC; a master coupon database operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for storing the coupons and associating each of the coupons with the at least one UPC; a store app adapted to be installed on a portable electronic device of the user, the store app functioning for scanning the product to determine a UPC for the product, and for transmitting the UPC to the central computer; and a master coupon program operably installed on the computer memory of the central computer for transmitting the coupons to the users using the following operations; i) receiving a selected UPC from one of the users; ii) locating the selected UPC in the master coupon database; iii) transmitting the coupon(s) associated with the selected UPC to the POS computer, either directly or via the store app of the user; and iv) tracking the payment due following the placement of and/or use of each of the coupons, per the price determined by the ad placement program.
-
Specification