Controlled entertainment spending account

• US 7,653,595 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2006
• Issued: 01/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Restricted Spending Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation), Third Act, LLC
• Original Assignee: Restricted Spending Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Inventors: Butch, Peter J. III, Picciallo, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kazimi; Hani
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kanervo; Virpi H
• Application Number:
  US11/549,065
• Publication Number:
  US 20070118475A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,202 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/2295 Parent-child type, e.g. where parent has control on child rights
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

A computer-based method for allocating parental funds in preestablished accounts for use by children, including the steps of:

• • providing a bank or credit account containing parental funds for allocation to at least one child;
  • creating a secondary account file with an internet video file supplier accessible by a child for spending on internet video file purchases; and
  • periodically transferring directly and automatically to the secondary account file from the bank or credit account an allowance payment for use by the child to purchase and transfer video files over the internet using a personal computer;
  • wherein the steps of creating a secondary account file and periodically transferring funds from the bank or credit account to the secondary account are performed using information supplied by the parent over the internet using a personal computer.

Claims

1. A computer-based method for allocating parental funds in pre-established accounts for use by children, comprising:

providing a bank or a credit account containing said parental funds for allocation to at least one child;

creating, by a computer, a secondary account file with an internet video file supplier accessible by a child for spending on internet video file purchases; and

periodically transferring, by a computer, directly and automatically to said secondary account file from said bank or said credit account an allowance payment for use by said child to purchase video files over the internet using a personal computer;

wherein creating said secondary account file and periodically transferring said allowance payment from said bank or said credit account to said secondary account file are performed using information supplied by a parent over the internet using a personal computer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing information on said internet video file purchases.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising supplying to said parent said purchase information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said supplying is performed periodically.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said allowance payment is transferred weekly or monthly.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising limiting how said allowance payment in said secondary account file may be spent in response to command instructions from a funds depositor, wherein a limit on said allowance payment is a limit on a transaction amount or a limit according to video content.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said limit on said allowance payment is a content limit.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said content limit is according to an artist, a genre, or a content rating.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a limit on said allowance payment is a limit on a transaction amount.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said limit on said transaction amount is a periodic limit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said limit on said transaction amount is a weekly or a monthly limit.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said video file is a music video.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said video file is a movie.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said video file is a video game.