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System and method for distribution, redemption and processing of electronic coupons

  • US 8,046,257 B2
  • Filed: 12/01/2008
  • Issued: 10/25/2011
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2007
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A computer-implemented method of executing a transaction using an electronic coupon, comprising:

  • providing coupon campaign information to an engine, the coupon campaign information defining a discount value, a product family and a number of coupons to be distributed, each coupon within the coupon campaign having a coupon identification (ID);

    providing coupon publications including a machine-readable portion, the machine-readable portion encoding coupon data describing the coupon campaign information;

    retrieving the coupon data from the machine-readable portion of the coupon publication using a personal electronic device;

    using the coupon data to retrieve a coupon ID from the engine, the coupon ID being stored in the personal electronic device;

    using near-field communications (NFC) to transmit the coupon ID to a point of sale (POS) system using the personal electronic device, the personal electronic device being one of an NFC-enabled global system for mobile communications (GSM) station and an NFC-enabled code division multiple access (CDMA) phone, the personal electronic device operating a Java Card Applet for coupon management and a Java MIDlet for user interfacing, the POS system communicating with the engine to verify a validity of the coupon ID;

    applying a discount to a transaction in accordance with the discount value; and

    after the transaction is complete, modifying the coupon data on the personal electronic device to indicate a coupon associated with the coupon ID has been activated.

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