System and method for facilitating the purchase and sale of lottery tickets online

• US 6,277,026 B1
• Filed: 05/27/1998
• Issued: 08/21/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: eLOT, Inc.
• Original Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Archer, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Martin-Wallace, Valencia
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kasick, Julie
• Application Number:
  US09/085,130
• Time in Patent Office: 1,182 Days
• Field of Search: 463/16, 463/17, 463/18, 463/19, 463/25, 463/29, 463/40, 463/41, 463/42
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/081 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards

Abstract

A system and method for facilitating the sale of a lottery ticket online includes and involves a data storage system and a data processing system. The data storage system is used for storing information related to a lottery ticket purchased online and to a purchaser of the lottery ticket. The lottery ticket includes a lottery game value. The data processing system is coupled to the data storage system and is operative to receive an online request from the purchaser to purchase the lottery ticket, to generate a secure lottery ticket purchase code, and to issue a purchase confirmation notice related to the lottery ticket to the purchaser. The purchase confirmation notice includes the secure lottery ticket purchase code. The data processing system is further operative to store the information and the lottery ticket purchase code in the data storage system.

Claims

1. A system for facilitating the purchase and sale of a lottery ticket online, comprising:

a data storage system for storing information related to a lottery ticket purchased online and to a purchaser of said lottery ticket, said lottery ticket including a lottery game value, and

a data processing system coupled to said data storage system and operative to receive an online request from said purchaser to purchase said lottery ticket, to generate a secure lottery ticket purchase code in response to the request, and to issue an electronic purchase confirmation notice related to said lottery ticket to said purchaser, said purchase confirmation notice including said secure lottery ticket purchase code, said data processing system further operative to store said lottery ticket purchase code in said data storage system;

wherein

the information related to the purchaser of the lottery ticket includes personal information of the purchaser, the personal information including at least one of a name, address, and telephone number of the purchaser, the personal information being used by the system to verify a winning lottery ticket by matching the stored information relating to the lottery ticket to the personal information of the purchaser attempting to redeem the winning lottery ticket.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said data processing system is further operative to communicate said information and said secure lottery ticket purchase code to a lottery commission system operated by a lottery commission.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said data processing system is further operative to receive a confirmation message from said lottery commission system that said lottery ticket has been sold by said lottery commission to said purchaser, and to store said confirmation message from said lottery commission system in said data storage system.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said request is received by said data processing system via the Internet.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein said secure lottery ticket purchase code is a unique, randomly generated string of digits.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said purchase confirmation notice is issued to said purchaser via the Internet.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein said information and said lottery ticket purchase code are stored in a secure, encrypted table within said data storage system.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein said data processing system is further operative to generate a random number, said lottery game value being set based on said random number.

9. A method for facilitating the purchase and sale of a lottery ticket online, comprising the steps of:

receiving an online request from a purchaser to purchase a lottery ticket in the context of a lottery operated by a lottery authority, said request including information related to said purchaser and to a lottery game value to be associated with said lottery ticket;

generating a secure lottery ticket purchase code in response to the online request;

issuing an electronic purchase confirmation notice related to said lottery ticket to said purchaser, said purchase confirmation notice including said secure lottery ticket purchase code;

and retrievably storing said information, said lottery game value, and said secure lottery ticket purchase code in a data storage system to be accessed by said lottery authority in operating said lottery;

wherein

the information related to the purchaser of the lottery ticket includes personal information of the purchaser, the personal information including at least one of a name, address, and telephone number of the purchaser, the personal information being used to verify a winning lottery ticket by matching the stored information to the personal information of the purchaser attempting to redeem the winning lottery ticket.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising a step of:

communicating said information and said secure lottery ticket purchase code to a lottery commission system operated by said lottery authority.

11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a confirmation message from said lottery commission system that said lottery ticket has been sold by said lottery authority to said purchaser; and

retrievably storing said confirmation message from said lottery commission system in said data storage system.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein said online request is received via the Internet.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein said secure lottery ticket purchase code is a unique, randomly generated string of digits.

14. The method according to claim 9, wherein said purchase confirmation notice is issued to said purchaser via the Internet.

15. The method according to claim 9, wherein said information and said lottery ticket purchase code are stored during said retrievably storing step in a secure, encrypted database table.

16. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

generating a random number; and

setting said lottery game value based on said random number.

17. A system for facilitating a lottery payoff based on a lottery ticket purchased online, comprising:

a lottery ticket issuance system storing information related to a lottery ticket purchased online, a secure lottery ticket purchase code, and personal information of a purchaser of said lottery ticket, said lottery ticket having an associated lottery game payoff amount; and

a lottery management system operated by a lottery authority and coupled to said lottery ticket issuance system, said lottery management system operative to receive a request from said purchaser to receive said payoff amount associated with said lottery ticket, said request including a request code and personal information, said management system further operative to access and query said lottery ticket issuance system to determine if said request code matches said secure lottery ticket purchase code and said personal information matches the personal information of the purchaser that is stored in the lottery ticket issuance system, to receive a match status message from said lottery ticket issuance system, said match status message indicating whether said request code matches said secure lottery ticket purchase code and the personal information matches the personal information stored in the lottery ticket issuance system, said lottery management system further operative to notify said lottery authority that said payoff amount may be paid to said purchaser when said match status message indicates a match.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein said secure lottery ticket purchase code is a random, unique string of digits.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein said lottery ticket issuance system and said lottery management system are coupled via the Internet.

20. The system according to claim 17, wherein said lottery ticket issuance system stores said secure lottery ticket purchase code in a secure database table.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the personal information of the purchaser includes at least one of a name, address, and telephone number of the purchaser.

22. A method for facilitating a lottery payoff based on a lottery ticket purchased online, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request from a purchaser to receive a payoff amount associated with a lottery ticket purchased online, said request including a request code and personal information;

accessing and querying a lottery ticket issuance system to determine if said request code matches a previously stored secure lottery ticket purchase code and if said personal information matches previously stored personal information relating to the purchaser;

receiving a match status message from said lottery ticket issuance system, said match status message indicating whether said request code matches said previously stored secure lottery ticket purchase code and whether the personal information matches the previously stored personal information; and

notifying a lottery authority that said payoff amount may be paid to said purchaser when said request code matches said secure lottery ticket purchase code and said personal information matches the previously stored personal information.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein said previously stored secure lottery ticket purchase code is a random, unique string of digits.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein said lottery ticket issuance system is accessed via the Internet.

25. The method according to claim 22, wherein said previously stored lottery ticket purchase code is stored in a secure database table.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the personal information related to the purchaser includes at least one of a name, address, and telephone number of the purchaser.