Method and apparatus for making secure electronic payments
First Claim
1. A method of performing at least one transaction between a consumer and a merchant the merchant presenting a plurality of products on at least one computing device connected to a network, said plurality of products including at least one of good and services having prices, the transaction having an offer by the merchant to sell and a bid by the consumer to purchase at least one product of said plurality of products, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving by the merchant the bid to purchase the at least one product, the at least one product being identified in the bid to purchase;
sending to the merchant by said consumer an identification number associated with real money value stored within a token which is a digital representation of monies deposited residing on a clearing server;
requesting a token or fractional token by the merchant from said clearing server, said token representing a real stored money value;
requesting by the merchant from a clearing server an update key during a processing of the bid to authorize making changes to a value field of said token, said update key being unique for said token;
receiving by the clearing server during the processing of the bid a transaction information upload on said clearing server from a previous merchant where said token was used last by polling the previous merchant to obtain the transaction information, said transaction information including any changes to the value field of said token; and
processing the bid by the merchant; and
making monetary value changes on said consumer'"'"'s token by said merchant utilizing said key from the clearing server.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In accordance with the present invention, a consumer communicates a request for purchase of goods and services to a merchant, the goods and/or services being selected from these listed together with their price quotes on the merchant'"'"'s computer or website connected to a network, such as the Internet. The merchant then communicates a request for a token and an update key to the clearing server, the token being previously purchased by the consumer and residing on a clearing server device. The update key is used as an authorization to modify the value of the token, i.e., to decrement and to increment. The merchant forwards the purchased merchandise to the consumer. When consumer discontinues making purchases at the selected merchant, the merchant returns the updated token to the clearing server. A new key is necessary to make the next purchase. This is the case even where the requesting merchant is the same as that from whom the last purchase was made. When the token is requested, if the token was used after its initial purchase, the present value of the token is made certain by receipt on the clearing server of informational downloads from the merchants.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. A method of performing at least one transaction between a consumer and a merchant the merchant presenting a plurality of products on at least one computing device connected to a network, said plurality of products including at least one of good and services having prices, the transaction having an offer by the merchant to sell and a bid by the consumer to purchase at least one product of said plurality of products, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving by the merchant the bid to purchase the at least one product, the at least one product being identified in the bid to purchase; sending to the merchant by said consumer an identification number associated with real money value stored within a token which is a digital representation of monies deposited residing on a clearing server; requesting a token or fractional token by the merchant from said clearing server, said token representing a real stored money value; requesting by the merchant from a clearing server an update key during a processing of the bid to authorize making changes to a value field of said token, said update key being unique for said token; receiving by the clearing server during the processing of the bid a transaction information upload on said clearing server from a previous merchant where said token was used last by polling the previous merchant to obtain the transaction information, said transaction information including any changes to the value field of said token; and
processing the bid by the merchant; andmaking monetary value changes on said consumer'"'"'s token by said merchant utilizing said key from the clearing server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of performing at least one transaction between a consumer and a merchant the merchant presenting a plurality of products on at least one computing device connected to a network, said plurality of products including at least one of a good and service having a price, the transaction having an offer to sell by the merchant and a bid by the consumer to purchase at least one product of said plurality of products, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving by the merchant the bid to purchase the at least one product, the at least one product being identified in the bid to purchase; sending to the merchant by said consumer an identification number associated with real money value stored within a token which is a digital representation of monies deposited residing on a clearing server; requesting by the merchant from a clearing server an update key to authorize making changes to a value field of a token, said update key being unique for each transaction; making monetary value changes on said consumer'"'"'s token by said merchant utilizing said key from the clearing server; receiving by the clearing server, after the update key is requested, a transaction information upload from a previous merchant where the token was used last by polling the previous merchant to obtain the transaction information, the transaction information including a change to the value field of the token; and updating by the clearing server said value field in accordance with said price of the product of the bid and said update key; and
waiting by the merchant to receive a new bid to purchase the at least one product. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A method of performing at least one transaction between a consumer and a merchant the consumer and the merchant utilizing at least one computing device, the at least one computing device being connected to a network, said method comprising the steps of:
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communicating by the consumer to the merchant a request for a purchase said request including at least one item from a plurality of goods and services, said plurality of goods and services including associated prices being shown on the computing device utilized by the merchant; sending to the merchant by said consumer an identification number associated with real money value stored within a token which is a digital representation of monies deposited, residing on a clearing server; requesting by the merchant from a clearing server an update key, said update key being used as an authorization to modify a value of a token; making monetary value changes on said consumer'"'"'s token by said merchant utilizing said key from the clearing server; determining by the clearing server an amount paid by the consumer to a previous merchant by polling the previous merchant to obtain the amount paid to the previous merchant, and modifying the value of the token based on the obtained amount paid to the previous merchant; and providing by the clearing server to the merchant said update key and said token.
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22. A method of performing a transaction between a consumer and a merchant, the consumer and the merchant utilizing computing devices connected to a network, the method comprising the steps of:
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funding a token which is a digital representation of monies deposited, by adding money value for an amount determined by said consumer, said token or fractional token residing on a preselected clearing server, and said consumer receiving an identification number corresponding to said token; communicating, during a financial transaction, by the consumer to the merchant a request to purchase from the merchant at least one of a good and service, the request including supplying by the consumer to the merchant an identification number corresponding to a real stored money value on said token; communicating, during the financial transaction, an authorization request by the merchant to a clearing server, the authorization request including the supplied identification number; receiving from the clearing server by the merchant a token associated with said consumer having real money value; receiving from the clearing server by the merchant a key for the merchant to have authorized access to change the monetary value of said token; making monetary value changes on said consumer'"'"'s token by said merchant utilizing said key from the clearing server; and ascertaining, by the clearing server during the financial transaction, for the merchant an amount paid by the consumer to a previous merchant during a prior financial transaction by polling the previous merchant to obtain the amount paid to the previous merchant; modifying, by the clearing server during the financial transaction, the real stored money value of the token corresponding to the identification number received from the consumer said modification being based on the net amount debited or credited by the previous merchant to said token for transactions at said previous merchant; and authorizing the financial transaction by applying to the new stored money value of said token a debit or credit for the amount required in the financial transaction for the at least one of a good and service. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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40. A method of performing micro-payment transactions between a consumer and a merchant, the consumer and the merchant utilizing computing devices connected to a network, the method comprising the steps of:
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funding a token which is a digital representation of monies deposited, with additional money value determined by said consumer, said token or fractional token residing on a preselected clearing server, and said consumer receiving an identification number corresponding to said token; communicating, during a financial transaction, by the consumer to the merchant a request to purchase from the merchant at least one of a good and service, the request including supplying by the consumer to the merchant an identification number corresponding to real stored money value on said token; communicating, during the financial transaction, an authorization request by the merchant to a clearing server, the authorization request including the supplied identification number; receiving from the clearing server by the merchant a token associated with said identification number having real money value; receiving from the clearing server by the merchant a key for the merchant to have authorized access to change the stored money value of said token; making monetary value changes on said consumer'"'"'s token by said merchant utilizing said key from the clearing server; modifying, during the financial transaction, the stored money value of the token corresponding to the identification number supplied by the consumer; and enabling the consumer to perform repeated financial transactions for small monetary amounts wherein said multiplicity of small transactions will not require having the merchant contact the clearing server to authorize each transaction or to issue a new token, said multiplicity of transactions continuing until said token expires, or its stored money value is exhausted or the consumer stops transacting.
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Specification