Postage printing system having variable subsidies for printing of third party messages
First Claim
1. A system, comprising:
- a printing system including a printer for printing on an item intended for a recipient;
a data center in operative communication with the printing system, the printing system being located remotely from the data center, the data center including a plurality of advertiser accounts and a plurality of user accounts, each of the plurality of advertiser accounts including respective message data representative of a message, each of the plurality of user accounts including respective user profile data;
a control system in operative communication with the data center and the printing system for;
using user profile data from a selected one of the plurality of user accounts to identify a subset of messages available for printing on the item.
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Abstract
A postage printing system, comprising a computer, a data center and a control system. The computer is in operative communication with a printer for printing a postal indicia on an envelope. The data center is in operative communication with the computer which in turn is located remotely from the data center. The data center includes a plurality of user accounts and a plurality of advertiser accounts where each of the plurality of advertiser accounts includes respective ad data including message data and restriction data. The control system is in operative communication with the data center and the computer and is for: (i) establishing a transaction session between a user of the computer corresponding to one of the plurality of user accounts and the data center; (ii) obtaining the user profile data from the user; and (iii) using the user profile data to identify message data available for printing on the envelope in conjunction with the postal indicia.
130 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a printing system including a printer for printing on an item intended for a recipient;
a data center in operative communication with the printing system, the printing system being located remotely from the data center, the data center including a plurality of advertiser accounts and a plurality of user accounts, each of the plurality of advertiser accounts including respective message data representative of a message, each of the plurality of user accounts including respective user profile data;
a control system in operative communication with the data center and the printing system for;
using user profile data from a selected one of the plurality of user accounts to identify a subset of messages available for printing on the item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
the control system is further for;
receiving from a user an indication of a selected message from the subset of messages that the user authorizes for printing.
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3. The system of claim 2, wherein:
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the control system is further for;
compensating the selected one of the plurality of user accounts for printing the selected message; and
charging the advertiser account corresponding to the selected message for printing the selected message.
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4. The system of claim 3, wherein:
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each of the user profile data, respectively, includes classification data indicative of a business type; and
each of the plurality of advertiser accounts, respectively, includes advertiser'"'"'s restriction data indicative of a desired business type for the message; and
the control system is further for;
using the classification data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts and the advertiser'"'"'s restriction data of the plurality of advertiser accounts to identify the subset of messages available for printing.
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5. The system of claim 4, wherein:
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each of the user profile data, respectively, includes preference data indicative of a preferred advertiser list; and
the control system is further for;
using the preference data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts to limit the plurality of advertiser accounts participating in identifying the subset of messages available for printing.
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6. The system of claim 1, wherein:
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each of the user profile data, respectively, includes classification data indicative of a business type; and
each of the plurality of advertiser accounts, respectively, includes advertiser'"'"'s restriction data indicative of a desired business type for the message; and
the control system is further for;
using the classification data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts and the advertiser'"'"'s restriction data of the plurality of advertiser accounts to identify the subset of messages available for printing.
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7. The system of claim 1, wherein:
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each of the user profile data, respectively, includes preference data indicative of a preferred advertiser list; and
the control system is further for;
using the preference data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts to limit the plurality of advertiser accounts participating in identifying the subset of messages available for printing.
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8. A method of operating a data center, the method comprising the step(s) of:
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maintaining a plurality of advertiser accounts, each of the plurality of advertiser accounts including respective message data representative of a message for printing on an item intended for a recipient;
maintaining a plurality of user accounts, each of the plurality of user accounts including respective user profile data; and
using user profile data from a selected one of the plurality of user accounts to identify a subset of messages available for printing on the item. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
receiving an indication of a selected message from the subset of messages that is authorized for printing.
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10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step(s) of:
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compensating the selected one of the plurality of user accounts for printing the selected message; and
charging the advertiser account corresponding to the selected message for printing the selected message.
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11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step(s) of:
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storing classification data indicative of a business type for each of the plurality of user accounts, respectively;
storing restriction data indicative of a desired business type for the message for each of the plurality of advertiser accounts, respectively; and
using the classification data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts and the advertiser'"'"'s restriction data of the plurality of advertiser accounts to identify the subset of messages available for printing.
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12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step(s) of:
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storing preference data indicative of a preferred advertiser list for each of the plurality of user accounts, respectively; and
using the preference data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts to limit the plurality of advertiser accounts participating in identifying the subset of messages available for printing.
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13. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step(s) of:
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storing classification data indicative of a business type for each of the plurality of user accounts, respectively;
storing restriction data indicative of a desired business type for the message for each of the plurality of advertiser accounts, respectively; and
using the classification data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts and the advertiser'"'"'s restriction data of the plurality of advertiser accounts to identify the subset of messages available for printing.
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14. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step(s) of:
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storing preference data indicative of a preferred advertiser list for each of the plurality of user accounts, respectively; and
using the preference data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts to limit the plurality of advertiser accounts participating in identifying the subset of messages available for printing.
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15. A memory system accessible by an application program being executed on a data processing system, comprising:
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advertiser account information including a plurality of advertiser accounts, each of the plurality of advertiser accounts including respective message data representative of a message for printing on an item intended for a recipient; and
user account information including a plurality of user accounts, each of the plurality of user accounts including respective user profile data for use in identifying a subset of messages available for printing on the item. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
an indication of a selected message from the subset of messages that is user authorized for printing.
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17. The memory system of claim 16, comprising:
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compensation information for a selected one of the plurality of user accounts for printing the selected message; and
charge information for the advertiser account corresponding to the selected message for printing the selected message.
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18. The memory system of claim 17, comprising:
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classification information indicative of a business type corresponding to each of the plurality of user accounts, respectively;
advertiser'"'"'s restriction data indicative of a desired business type for the message corresponding to each of the plurality of advertiser accounts, respectively; and
wherein the classification data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts and the advertiser'"'"'s restriction data of the plurality of advertiser accounts to identify the subset of messages available for printing.
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19. The memory system of claim 18, comprising:
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preference information indicative of a preferred advertiser list corresponding to each of the plurality of user accounts, respectively; and
wherein the preference data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts to limit the plurality of advertiser accounts participating in identifying the subset of messages available for printing.
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20. The memory system of claim 15, comprising:
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classification information indicative of a business type corresponding to each of the plurality of user accounts, respectively;
advertiser'"'"'s restriction data indicative of a desired business type for the message corresponding to each of the plurality of advertiser accounts, respectively; and
wherein the classification data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts and the advertiser'"'"'s restriction data of the plurality of advertiser accounts to identify the subset of messages available for printing.
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21. The memory system of claim 15, comprising:
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preference information indicative of a preferred advertiser list corresponding to each of the plurality of user accounts, respectively; and
wherein the preference data of the selected one of the plurality of user accounts to limit the plurality of advertiser accounts participating in identifying the subset of messages available for printing.
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Specification