Promotional game method and apparatus therefor
First Claim
1. A method for operating a promotional game for inducing potential customers to come to particular establishment, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a game machine which is played for no consideration;
b) establishing at least two separate series of images on said game machine, at least one of said series including representations of products, services or a combination of products and services;
c) upon play by a patron, randomly moving said at least two series with respect to one another so that an image in one of said series will be aligned at a reference point with an image in another one of said series to form one of various combinations, select ones of said various combinations being winning combinations; and
d) awarding a prize to said patron if one of said winning combinations is formed upon play by said patron, said prize being selected from the group consisting of said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, a product or service which is related to said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, and a retail product or service which is available from said establishment.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A patron inserts a coded game card into a game machine which reads the code and determines whether the game card has been played within a designated time period. If the game card has been played within such period, the game machine is not permitted to operate and a message will be generated. If the card has not been played within the time period, the game machine operates and randomly positions a number of product and/or service representations with respect to one another. Prescribed combinations of the representations permit the patron to win a prize. Symbols, which may include symbols representing a business identity, may optionally be employed as wild cards in forming the prescribed combinations. In addition to bearing a unique game card code, the game card can also contain establishment codes which permit a game card to be played only at particular establishments. Other game cards can be specially coded to provide maintenance instructions to the game machine.
465 Citations
61 Claims
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1. A method for operating a promotional game for inducing potential customers to come to particular establishment, comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a game machine which is played for no consideration; b) establishing at least two separate series of images on said game machine, at least one of said series including representations of products, services or a combination of products and services; c) upon play by a patron, randomly moving said at least two series with respect to one another so that an image in one of said series will be aligned at a reference point with an image in another one of said series to form one of various combinations, select ones of said various combinations being winning combinations; and d) awarding a prize to said patron if one of said winning combinations is formed upon play by said patron, said prize being selected from the group consisting of said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, a product or service which is related to said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, and a retail product or service which is available from said establishment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A method for operating a promotional game for inducing potential customers to come to a particular establishment, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a game machine which is played for no consideration; (b) establishing at least two separate series of images on said game machine, said images including partial representations of products, services or a combination of products and services; (c) upon play by a patron, randomly moving said at least two series with respect to one another so that an image in one of said series will be aligned at a reference point with an image in another one of said series in one of various combinations, select ones of said various combinations being winning combinations; and (d) awarding a prize to said patron if one of said winning combinations is formed upon play by said patron, said prize being selected from the group consisting of said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, a product or service which is related to said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, and a retail product or service which is available from said establishment. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method for operating a promotional game for inducing potential customers to come to a particular establishment, comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a game machine; b) establishing at least two separate series of images on said game machine, said images including representations of products, services or a combination of products and services; c) randomly moving said at least two series with respect to one another so that a representation in one of said series will be aligned at a reference point with a representation in another one of said series to form one of various combinations, select ones of said various combinations including a match formed by aligning a representation of a product or service in one of said series with a representation of said product or service in another of said series; and d) awarding a prize on each play of the game, said prize being selected from the group consisting of said product or service whose representation appears at said reference point in said one of said series, a product or service which is related to said product or service whose representation appears at said reference point in said one of said series, and a retail product or service which is available from said establishment, said prize being awarded in a first magnitude when said one combination does not include said match, and said prize being awarded in a second magnitude greater than said first magnitude when said one combination includes said match. - View Dependent Claims (52)
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53. A promotional game apparatus for inducing potential customers to come to a particular establishment, comprising
a) display means for establishing a reference point and at least two separate series of images, at least one series including representations of products, services or a combination of products and services, said at least two series being independently movable with respect to one another and with respect to said reference point so that an image in one of said series can be aligned at said reference point with an image in another one of said series to form various combinations, select ones of said various combination being winning combinations; -
b) movement means for moving said at least two series with respect to one another so as to form said various combinations randomly; c) activating means for activating said movement means for no consideration; d) means for signaling that one of said winning combinations has been formed; and e) means for awarding a prize upon the formation of said one of said winning combinations, said prize being selected from the group consisting of said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, a product or service which is related to said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, and a retail product or service which is available from said establishment. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A promotional game apparatus for inducing potential customers to come to a particular establishment, comprising
a) display means for establishing a reference point and at least two separate series of images, at least one series including representations of products, services or a combination of products and services, said at least two series being independently movable with respect to one another and with respect to said reference point so that an image in one of said series can be aligned at said reference point with an image in another one of said series to form various combinations, select ones of said various combinations being winning combinations; -
b) movement means for moving said at least two series with respect to one another so as to form said various combinations randomly; c) reading means for reading a code on a game card and for signaling said movement means to move said at least two series in response to said code; d) detection means for determining when one of said winning combinations has been formed at said reference point; and e) means responsive to said detection means for awarding a prize upon the formation of said one of said winning combinations, said prize being selected from the group consisting of said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, a product or service which is related to said products or services whose representations form said one of said winning combinations, and a retail product or service which is available from said establishment. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61)
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Specification