Electronic delivery of admission tickets direct to a purchaser

• US 8,201,735 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2009
• Issued: 06/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Oncard Marketing Incorporated (Neptune Retail Solutions)
• Original Assignee: CIAS Incorporated
• Inventors: Frank, Leonard, Storch, Leonard
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Ahshik
• Application Number:
  US12/429,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20090255989A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,152 Days
• Field of Search: 235/382, 235/380, 235/381, 235/375, 705/1, 705/5, 705/26, 705/37
• US Class Current: 235/382
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/045 using payment protocols involving tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/27 with central registration
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/42 for ticket printing or like apparatus , e.g. apparatus for dispensing of printed paper tickets or payment cards

Abstract

Electronic delivery of counterfeit-resistant documents exchangeable for value such as admission tickets, gift certificates, coupons, vouchers, etc. directly to the person who ordered the documents over an open communications network such at the Internet. A first party orders a document from a second party, and the second party electronically delivers the ordered, counterfeit-resistant document to a device designated by the first party. For example, the document may be electronically ordered using a PC, and a printer coupled to the PC may print the document. In one embodiment, the first party transmits unsolicited offers over the open communications network The document may be made counterfeit resistant by assigning unique information to each document of a given type, e.g., admission tickets, and checking the uniqueness of a document and whether the unique information was previously read prior to allowing it to be exchanged for value.

Claims

1. A system by which counterfeit resistant documents are made available over the Internet, comprising:

at least one supplier computer programmed to;

(a) transmit over the Internet for receipt by one or more user computers an unsolicited offer of at least one document without having received a request therefor from the one or more user computers;

(b) receive over the Internet from at least one of the one or more user computers at least one request for the at least one document of the unsolicited offer transmitted over the Internet by the at least one supplier computer; and

(c) transmit over the Internet for receipt by the at least one user computer at least information relating to the at least one document and unique information associated with the at least one document, the transmitted information relating to the at least one document and the unique information being capable of being printed on a medium suitable for functioning as the at least one document, wherein at least the unique information is suitable for rendering the at least one document counterfeit resistant;

means for machine reading from a document with the information relating to the at least one document and the unique information at least the unique information; and

a computer programmed to determine in real time at least from the machine-read unique information whether the machine-read unique information is valid and had been previously read for use.

3. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one supplier computer provides a web site from which the information relating to the document and the unique information is provided for transmission over the Internet.

4. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the document comprises an admission ticket, and wherein the information relating to the document comprises information relating to at least the event or activity to which the ticket provides admission, the date of the event or activity, and the venue for the event or activity.

5. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the document comprises a gift certificate, and wherein the information relating to the document comprises the amount of the gift certificate and the name of an establishment at which the gift certificate can be redeemed.

6. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein at least the unique information is capable of being printed in a scanable bar code on the medium.

2. A system by which counterfeit resistant documents are made available over the Internet, the system comprising:

at least one supplier computer programmed to;

(a) transmit over the Internet for receipt by one or more user computers an unsolicited offer of at least one document without having received a request therefor from the one or more user computers;

(b) receive over the Internet from at least one of the one or more user computers at least one request for the at least one document of the unsolicited offer transmitted over the Internet by the at least one supplier computer; and

(c) transmit over the Internet for receipt by at least one user computer at least information relating to the at least one document and unique information associated with the at least one document, the transmitted information relating to the at least one document and the unique information being capable of being printed on a medium suitable for functioning as the at least one document, wherein at least the unique information is suitable for rendering the at least one document counterfeit resistant.