Free remote lottery system

• US 6,454,650 B1
• Filed: 05/09/2000
• Issued: 09/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Plasmanet Incorporated (Lottogopher Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Plasmanet Incorporated (Lottogopher Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Aronin, Kevin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): SAGER, MARK ALAN
• Application Number:
  US09/568,199
• Time in Patent Office: 868 Days
• Field of Search: 463/17-22, 463/25-27, 463/40-42, 463/30, 463/36, 463/29, 273/138.1, 273/138.2, 273/236-237, 273/269, 379/93.13, 705/14, 705/17, 705/39, 705/41, 705/44
• US Class Current: 463/17
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0212 Chance discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements

Abstract

The free remote lottery system is played by a participant who selects a set of indicia that either fully or partially matches an official winning set of indicia and receives a prize, without wagering any money or purchasing tickets in order to participate in the lottery and qualify for a prize. The participant must select information about one or more products or services in order to participate in the lottery.

Claims

1. In a computer network comprised of a plurality of computers capable of exchanging digital information between at least two of said plurality of computers, at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant and at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with a central host system of a lottery authority, a free lottery gaming system comprising:

a) means for connecting at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority;

b) means for exchanging digital information between at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority;

c) means for identifying each lottery participant connected to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority;

d) means for enabling each identified lottery participant to select a set of indicia by choosing a plurality of characters;

e) means for enabling said lottery participant identified by said central host system to receive information about one or more specific products or services advertized by said lottery authority by clicking on at least one hyperlink associated with at least one of said advertised products or services, said clicking on said hyperlink by said lottery participant being required of said lottery participant in order to participate in the lottery;

f) means for submitting said set of indicia from said computer system of each said lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority; and

g) means for verifying said submission of each said lottery participant by said central host system of the lottery authority; and

h) means for selecting an official winning set of indicia from a plurality of characters during an official lottery drawing, conducted or reported by said lottery authority;

whereby the lottery participant who selects a set of indicia that either fully or partially matches said official winning set of indicia receives a prize, without wagering any money or purchasing tickets in order to participate in said official lottery drawing and qualify for a prize.

2. The lottery gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the prize given to each lottery participant who selects a set of indicia that matches said official winning set of indicia is a pre-determined sum of money or a portion of a pre-determined sum of money.

3. The lottery gaming system according to claim 1, wherein each said lottery participant selects a smaller subset of numbers from a larger set of numbers, said larger set of numbers being chosen by said gaming authority.

4. The lottery gaming system according to claim 1, further comprising the means for counting and limiting the number of lottery selections and submissions that each lottery participant may enter for each official lottery drawing.

5. The lottery gaming system according to claim 1, wherein the exchange of digital information between at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority is established over a secure link between said host system of the lottery authority and said computer of said lottery participant.

6. The lottery gaming system recited in claim 1, wherein the digital information exchanged between at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority is accomplished through the means of encryption of said exchange data.

7. The lottery gaming system according to claim 1, wherein each lottery participant is connected to at least one of plurality of computers being associated with at least one product or service advertized on said central host system of the lottery authority and receives information about at least one said product or service during a pre-determined fixed period of time, while said submission of said participant is verified by said lottery authority.

8. In a computer network comprised of a plurality of computers capable of exchanging digital information between at least two of said plurality of computers, at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant and at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with a central host system of a lottery authority, a method of conducting a free lottery comprising the steps of:

a) connecting at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority;

b) identifying each said lottery participant to said central host system of the lottery authority;

c) enabling each said lottery participant identified by said central host system of the lottery authority to select a set of indicia by choosing a plurality of characters;

d) enabling each lottery participant having selected a set of indicia to receive information about one or more specific products or services advertised by said lottery authority by clicking on at least one hyperlink associated with at least one of said advertized products or services, said clicking on said hyperlink by said lottery participant being required of said lottery participant in order to participate in the lottery;

e) submitting said set of indicia selected by each said lottery participant from said computer system of such participant to said central host system of the lottery authority; and

f) verifying said submission of each said lottery participant by said central host system of the lottery authority; and

g) selecting an official winning set of indicia from a plurality of characters during an official lottery drawing, conducted or reported by said lottery authority;

whereby the participant who selects a set of indicia that either fully or partially matches said official winning set of indicia receives a prize, without wagering any money or purchasing tickets in order to participate in said lottery drawing and qualify for the prize.

9. The method of conducting a lottery recited in claim 8, wherein the prize given to each lottery participant who selects a set of indicia that matches said official winning set of indicia is a predetermined sum of money or a portion of a pre-determined sum of money.

10. The method of conducting a lottery recited in claim 8, where in each said lottery participant selects a smaller subset of numbers from a larger set of numbers, said larger set of numbers being chosen by said gaming authority.

11. The method of conducting a lottery recited in claim 8, further comprising the step of counting and limiting the number of lottery selections and submissions that each said lottery participant may enter for each official lottery drawing.

12. The method of conducting a lottery recited in claim 8, wherein the step of exchanging digital information between at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of said lottery authority is accomplished over a secure link between said host system of the lottery authority and said computer of said lottery participant.

13. The method of conducting a lottery recited in claim 8, wherein the digital information exchanged between at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority is accomplished through the means of encryption of said exchange data.

14. The method of conducting a lottery recited in claim 8, wherein each lottery participant is connected to at least one of plurality of computers being associated with the product or services advertised on said central host system of the lottery authority and receives information about one or more of said products or services during a pre-determined fixed period of time, while said submission of said participant is verified by said lottery authority.

15. A free lottery gaming system comprising:

at least one computer associated with a central host system of a lottery authority capable of connecting through a computer network to at least one computer associated with at least one lottery participant, and further capable of exchanging digital information with said computer of each participant connected to said central host system;

at least one computer associated with at least one lottery participant, capable of connecting and exchanging digital information with said central host system of the lottery authority,

wherein said central host system of the lottery authority processes digital information that is submitted or received from said computer of at least one lottery participant that is connected to said central host system, identifies said lottery participant on the basis of said digital information, enables said lottery participant connected to said central host system to select a set of indicia by choosing a plurality of characters and further enables said lottery participant to receive information about one or more specific products or services advertized on said central host system of the lottery authority by clicking on at least one hyperlink associated with said lottery participant, said clicking on said hyperlink by said lottery participant being required of said lottery participant in order to participate in the lottery, and verifies said selection upon its transmission from said computer of said lottery participant to said central host system of the lottery authority;

an official drawing, wherein the official winning set of indicia is selected from a plurality of characters during an official lottery drawing conducted or reported by said lottery authority;

a notification of winning, sent by said lottery authority to one or more lottery participants who respectively selected a set of indicia that either fully or partially matched said official winning set of indicia, entitling each said participant to receive a prize, without wagering any money or purchasing tickets in order to participate in said official lottery drawing and qualify for the prize.

16. The lottery gaming system according to claim 15, wherein the prize given to each lottery participant who selects a set of indicia that matches said official winning set of indicia is a pre-determined sum of money or a portion of a pre-determined sum of money.

17. The lottery gaming system according to claim 15, wherein each said lottery participant selects a smaller subset of numbers from a larger set of numbers, said larger set of numbers being chosen by the gaming authority.

18. The lottery gaming system according to claim 15, wherein the computer associated with said central host system of a lottery authority counts and limits the number of lottery selections and submissions that each said lottery participant may enter for each official lottery drawing.

19. The lottery gaming system according to claim 15, wherein the exchange of digital information between at least one computer associated with at least one lottery participant and at least one computer associated with said central host system is established over a secure link between said host system of the lottery authority and said computer of said lottery participant.

20. The lottery gaming system recited in claim 15, wherein the digital information exchanged between at least one computer associated with at least one lottery participant and at least one computer associated with said central host system of the lottery authority is accomplished through the means of encryption of said exchange data.

21. The lottery gaming system according to claim 15, wherein each lottery participant is connected to at least one computer associated with the product or services advertized on said central host system of the lottery authority and receives information about one or more of said products or services during a pre-determined fixed period of time, while said submission of said participant is verified by said lottery authority.

22. In a computer network comprised of a plurality of computers capable of exchanging digital information between at least two of said plurality of computers, at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant and at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with a central host system of a lottery authority, a free lottery gaming system comprising:

a) means for connecting at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority;

b) means for exchanging digital information between at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with at least one lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority;

c) means for identifying each lottery participant connected to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority;

d) means for enabling each identified lottery participant to select a set of indicia by choosing a plurality of characters;

e) means for enabling said lottery participant identified by said central host system to interact with one or more specific advertisers of products or services advertised by said lottery authority by clicking on at least one hyperlink associated with at least one of said advertised products or services, said clicking on said hyperlink by said lottery participant being required of said lottery participant in order to participate in the lottery;

f) means for submitting said set of indicia from said computer system of each said lottery participant to at least one of said plurality of computers being associated with said central host system of the lottery authority; and

g) means for verifying said submission of each said lottery participant by said central host system of the lottery authority; and

h) means for selecting an official winning set of indicia from a plurality of characters during an official lottery drawing, conducted or reported by said lottery authority;

whereby the lottery participant who selects a set of indicia that either fully or partially matches said official winning set of indicia receives a prize, without wagering any money or purchasing tickets in order to participate in said official lottery drawing and qualify for a prize.