Methods and apparatus wherein a lottery entry is entered into lottery drawings until the lottery entry is identified as a winner
First Claim
1. A method of operating a lottery, comprising:
- (a) receiving a result of a lottery drawing;
(b) comparing said result to a plurality of stored lottery entries;
(c) if said result corresponds to one of said plurality of stored lottery entries, identifying said one entry as a winning lottery entry;
(d) identifying a first lottery entry of said plurality of stored lottery entries as a non-winning lottery entry;
(e) repeating said steps (a), (b), (c) and (d) for subsequent lottery drawings until said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry; and
(f) after said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry, arranging for said first lottery entry to not be included in subsequent lottery drawings.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and process for generating, distributing, and processing lottery tickets guaranteed to win a drawing-based prize. Tickets are appropriately priced, and are validated at point of sale by a central server in which the ticket information is stored. Subsequent to each lottery drawing, the winning lottery numbers are compared to the entries in a never-lose ticket database to determine if any of the entries match the winning numbers. Winning entries are appropriately identified and tagged as inactive, while entries that have not yet won a drawing-based prize remain active for future drawings.
Ticket pricing methodology is provided for appropriately pricing never-lose tickets. A method and apparatus are further provided whereby a ticket holder may query the status of a never-lose ticket directly from the server.
291 Citations
76 Claims
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1. A method of operating a lottery, comprising:
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(a) receiving a result of a lottery drawing; (b) comparing said result to a plurality of stored lottery entries; (c) if said result corresponds to one of said plurality of stored lottery entries, identifying said one entry as a winning lottery entry; (d) identifying a first lottery entry of said plurality of stored lottery entries as a non-winning lottery entry; (e) repeating said steps (a), (b), (c) and (d) for subsequent lottery drawings until said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry; and (f) after said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry, arranging for said first lottery entry to not be included in subsequent lottery drawings. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus for operating a lottery, comprising:
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a processor; a memory connected to said processor, said memory storing a result of a lottery drawing, and a plurality of stored lottery entries; said processor operative to (a) identify, if said result corresponds to one of said plurality of stored lottery entries, said one of said plurality of stored lottery entries as a winning lottery entry, (b) identify a first lottery entry of said plurality of stored entries as a non-winning lottery entry, (c) repeat operations (a) and (b) for results of subsequent lottery drawings until said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry, and (d) after said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry, arranging for said first lottery entry to not be included in subsequent lottery drawings. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus for operating a lottery, comprising:
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first means for receiving a result of a lottery drawing; second means for comparing said result to a plurality of stored lottery entries; third means, if said result matches one of said plurality of stored lottery entries, for identifying said one of said plurality of stored lottery entries as a winning lottery entry; fourth means for identifying a first lottery entry of said plurality of stored lottery entries as a non-winning lottery entry; said first, second, third and fourth means continuing to operate for subsequent lottery drawings until said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry; and fifth means for, after said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry, arranging for said first lottery entry to not be included in subsequent lottery drawings.
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14. A computer program product, comprising:
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a computer useable medium having program code thereon for operating a lottery, said program code comprising; first program code for receiving a result of a lottery drawing; second program code for comparing said result to a plurality of stored lottery entries; third program code, if said result matches one of said plurality of stored lottery entries, for identifying said one of said plurality of stored lottery entries as a winning lottery entry; fourth program code for identifying a first lottery entry of said plurality of stored lottery entries as a non-winning lottery entry; said first, second, third and fourth program code continuing to operate for subsequent drawings until said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry; and fifth program code for, after said first lottery entry is identified as a winning lottery entry, arranging for said first lottery entry to not be included in subsequent lottery drawings.
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15. A method for processing lottery entries usable in a plurality of lottery drawings, comprising:
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receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry; receiving with said request an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and storing said lottery entry. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for processing lottery entries usable in a plurality of lottery drawings, comprising:
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a processor; a memory connected to said processor; said processor operative to receive a lottery entry, and receive with said lottery entry an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a final lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner, and store said lottery entry in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. An apparatus for processing lottery entries usable in a plurality of lottery drawings, comprising:
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means for receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry; means for receiving with said request an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a final lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and means for storing said lottery entry.
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22. A computer program product, comprising:
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a computer useable medium having program code thereon for processing lottery entries, said program code comprising; program code for receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry; program code for receiving with said request an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a final lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and program code for storing said lottery entry.
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23. A method for processing lottery entries usable in a plurality of lottery drawings, comprising:
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receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry; receiving with said request an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and transmitting said request with said indicator to a remote lottery authority. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. An apparatus for processing lottery entries usable in a plurality of lottery drawings, comprising;
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a processor; a memory connected to said processor and storing a request to purchase a lottery entry, an indicator, with said request, that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and said processor operative to transmit said request with said indicator to a remote lottery authority. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. An apparatus for processing lottery entries usable in a plurality of lottery drawings, comprising:
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means for receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry; means for receiving with said request an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and means for transmitting said request with said indicator to a remote lottery authority.
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36. A computer program product, comprising:
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a computer useable medium having program code thereon for processing lottery entries, said program code comprising; program code for receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry; program code for receiving with said request an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and program code for transmitting said request with said indicator to a remote lottery authority.
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37. A method for generating lottery entries usable in a plurality of lottery drawings, comprising:
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receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry; receiving with said request an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; generating a ticket number for said lottery entry to validate said lottery entry and said indicator; and transmitting said ticket number to a remote terminal. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. An apparatus for generating lottery entries usable in a plurality of lottery drawings, comprising:
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a processor; a memory connected to said processor and storing a request to purchase a lottery entry, and an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; said processor operative to generate a ticket number for said lottery entry to validate said lottery entry and said indicator, and transmit said ticket number to a remote terminal. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. An apparatus for generating lottery entries usable in a plurality of lottery drawings, comprising:
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means for receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry; means for receiving with said request an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; means for generating a ticket number for said lottery entry to validate said lottery entry and said indicator; and means for transmitting said ticket number to a remote terminal.
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49. A computer program product, comprising:
a computer useable medium having program code thereon for generating lottery entries, said program code comprising; program code for receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry; program code for receiving with said request an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; program code for generating a ticket number for said lottery entry to validate said lottery entry and said indicator; and program code for transmitting said ticket number to a remote terminal.
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50. A method of pricing a lottery entry, comprising:
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receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry, said request including an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; calculating a price for said lottery entry, said price based at least in part on the inclusion of said indicator. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. An apparatus for pricing a lottery entry, comprising:
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a processor; a memory connected to said processor and storing a request to purchase a lottery entry, said request including an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; said processor operative to calculate a price for said lottery entry, said price based at least in part on the inclusion of said indicator, and store said price in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59)
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60. An apparatus for pricing a lottery entry, comprising:
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means for receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry, said request including an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; means for calculating a price for said lottery entry, said price based at least in part on the inclusion of said indicator.
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61. A computer program product, comprising:
a computer useable medium having program code thereon for pricing lottery entries, said program code comprising; program code for receiving a request to purchase a lottery entry, said request including an indicator that said lottery entry is to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and program code for calculating a price for said lottery entry, said price based at least in part on the inclusion of said indicator.
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62. A method of reporting the status of a lottery entry, comprising:
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receiving a request for a status of a lottery entry, said lottery entry of a type to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and outputting said status of said lottery entry. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66)
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67. An apparatus for reporting the status of a lottery entry, comprising:
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a processor; a memory connected to said processor and storing a lottery entry of a type to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; said processor operative to receive a request for a status of said lottery entry, and output said status of said lottery entry. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71)
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72. An apparatus for reporting the status of a lottery entry, comprising:
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means for receiving a request for a status of a lottery entry, said lottery entry of a type to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and means for outputting said status of said lottery entry.
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73. A computer program product, comprising:
a computer useable medium having program code thereon for reporting a status of lottery entries, said program code comprising; program code for receiving a request for a status of a lottery entry, said lottery entry of a type to (i) be entered into a plurality of lottery drawings until a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner and (ii) not be entered into lottery drawings after a lottery drawing identifies said lottery entry as a winner; and program code for outputting said status of said lottery entry.
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74. A method of operating a lottery, comprising:
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arranging for each of a plurality of players to be associated with a plurality of lottery entries, the plurality of players providing payment of a plurality of entry fees; conducting a lottery drawing to determine that a first lottery entry is a winning lottery entry; arranging for a player associated with the first lottery entry to receive a payment including at least a portion of the plurality of entry fees; and automatically entering a second lottery entry in at least one subsequent lottery drawing based on the performance of the second lottery entry in at least one previous lottery drawing. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76)
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Specification