Method and system for conducting a contest using a network

• US 6,631,404 B1
• Filed: 05/11/2000
• Issued: 10/07/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Jack A. Turpin, RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: LV Partners LP (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Philyaw, Jeffry Jovan
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrell, Robert B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le, Hieu C.
• Application Number:
  US09/568,754
• Time in Patent Office: 1,244 Days
• Field of Search: 709/214, 709/238, 709/207-208, 709/217-218, 709/245, 709/249, 235/454, 707/3, 707/4, 707/513, 705/23, 705/26, 705/14
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/208 Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0212 Chance discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0225 Avoiding frauds
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/301 Name conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 : Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 : Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 : Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 : Query formulation, input preparation, or translation

Abstract

A method for conducting a contest using a network. A selected article of commerce is identified to a plurality of users remotely disposed at user locations on the network which bears an indicia encoding an identification code which corresponds to the selected article in accordance with an extrinsic standard. An unvalidated entry message packet is then received at a reference location which was transmitted across the network from a user location in response to scanning at the user location an indicia on an article of commerce. The indicia on the scanned article of commerce encodes an identification code which corresponds to the article in accordance with an extrinsic standard. A reference database is provided at the reference location which has a plurality of article codes and routing information for target locations on the network and associates the routing information with at least one of the article codes. The reference database is accessed and the routing information associated with the article code received and the unvalidated entry message packet retrieved. A reply message packet is created including the routing information and then transmitted across the network to the user location from which it was received. A validated entry message packet is then received at a target. It is then determined whether the validated entry message packet constitutes an accepted entry. Finally, it is determined if a user submitting an accepted entry is a winner of the contest.

Claims

1. A method for conducting a contest using a network, comprising the steps of:

identifying a selected article of commerce to a plurality of users remotely disposed at user locations on the network, the selected article bearing an indicia encoding an identification code corresponding to the selected article in accordance with an extrinsic standard;

receiving at a reference location an unvalidated entry message packet transmitted across the network from a user location in response to scanning at the user location an indicia on an article of commerce, the scanned indicia encoding an identification code corresponding to the article in accordance with an extrinsic standard and the unvalidated entry message packet comprising an article code derived from the scanned indicia;

accessing a reference database, the reference database having a plurality of article codes and a plurality of routing information for target locations on the network and associating each of routing information with at least one of the article codes, and retrieving therefrom the routing information associated with the article code in the unvalidated entry message packet;

creating a reply message packet including the routing information and transmitting the reply message packet across the network to the user location;

receiving at a target address a validated entry message packet transmitted across the network from the user location in response to receipt of the reply message packet, the validated entry message packet comprising user information and being routed to the target address using routing information received in the reply message packet;

determining whether the validated entry message packet constitutes an accepted entry; and

determining if a user submitting an accepted entry is a winner of the contest.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of identifying includes simultaneously depicting the selected article of commerce to the plurality of users.

3. A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein the selected article of commerce is depicted in a television transmission at a predetermined time, the television transmission being receivable at the user locations.

4. A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein the selected article of commerce is depicted in a radio transmission at a predetermined time, the radio transmission being receivable at the user locations.

5. A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein the selected article of commerce is depicted at a predestined network location at a predetermined time, the predetermined network location being accessible from the user locations.

6. A method in accordance with claim 5, wherein the predetermined network location is an Internet web site.

7. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the indicia on the selected article of commerce is encoded in machine readable format.

8. A method in accordance with claim 7, wherein the indicia on the selected article of commerce is a bar code.

9. A method in accordance with claim 7, wherein the indicia on the selected article of commerce is a digital watermark.

10. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce is a Universal Product Code (“

UPC”

).

11. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce is an International Standard Book Number (“

ISBN”

).

12. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce is an International Standard Serial Number (“

ISSN”

).

13. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce is an EAN European Article Numbering code.

14. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the article code is the entire identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce.

15. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the article code is a predetermined portion of the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce.

16. A method in accordance with claim 15, wherein the article code is a predetermined portion of the identification code which is associated with the manufacturer of the selected article of commerce.

17. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the scanning of the indicia at the user location is performed with a scanning device.

18. A method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the scanning device is an optical scanner.

19. A method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the unvalidated entry message packet further comprises a user code, the user code being derived from a serial number associated with the scanning device.

20. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the unvalidated entry message packet further comprises a user code derived from a software application on a computer at the user location.

21. A method in accordance with claim 20, wherein the user code is derived from a serial number associated with the software application on the computer at the user location.

22. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the unvalidated entry message packet further comprises a user code, the user code being derived from a cookie file on a computer at the user location.

23. A method in accordance with claim 22, wherein the cookie file on the computer at the user location resulted from a registration procedure.

24. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the reference database has at least one table containing the article codes and routing information.

25. A method in accordance with claim 24, wherein tables are distributed over a plurality of computers.

26. A method in accordance with claim 24, wherein the muting information in the reference database includes a Universal Resource Locator (“

URL”

).

27. A method in accordance with claim 24, wherein the routing information in the reference database includes a network address.

28. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of creating a reply message packet further comprises:

assembling supplemental validation data with the routing information before transmitting the reply message packet to the user location.

29. A method in accordance with claim 28, wherein the supplemental validation data comprises time-stamp information indicating the time at which the unvalidated entry message packet was received.

30. A method in accordance with claim 28, wherein the step of assembling supplemental validation data further comprises:

accessing a user information database including a plurality of user codes and a plurality of user information and associating each of user codes with at least one user information; and

retrieving user information associated with the use code.

31. A method in accordance with claim 30, wherein the user information includes a telephone number for the user location.

32. A method in accordance with claim 30, wherein the user information includes a post office address for the user location.

33. A method in accordance with claim 30, wherein the user information includes demographic data regarding persons at the user location.

34. A method in accordance with claim 28, wherein at least a portion of the supplemental validation data is encrypted.

35. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether the validated entry message packet constitutes an accepted entry further comprises:

assigning sequential numbers to each validated entry message packet as it is received at the target location; and

comparing the assigned number of each of the validated entry message packets to at least one predetermined range of numbers chosen to constitute accepted entries.

36. A method in accordance with claim 35, wherein a plurality of predetermined ranges of numbers chosen to constitute accepted entries are provided, each of said plurality of predetermined ranges constituting a different class of accepted entries.

37. A method in accordance with claim 36, wherein accepted entries in different classes of accepted entries are eligible to receive different classes of prizes.

38. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether the validated entry message packet constitutes an accepted entry further comprises:

determining whether the validated entry message packet includes a complete identification code which was encoded in the indicia on the scanned article of commerce; and

if so, determining whether the complete identification code received matches one of the codes on a predetermined list of identification codes, in which case the entry constitutes an accepted entry;

otherwise, determining that the entry does not constitute an accepted entry.

39. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the step of determining if a user submitting an accepted entry is a winner of the contest further comprises:

identifying the user as a latent winner;

transmitting special routing information to the user location of the latent winner;

declaring the latent winner to be a winner of the contest if the latent winner responds within a predetermined time interval to a predetermined location using the special routing information.

40. A method in accordance with claim 39, wherein the special routing information is a predetermined telephone number.

41. A method in accordance with claim 39, wherein the special routing information is an address on a network.

42. A method in accordance with claim 41, wherein the address on a network is an Internet web site.

43. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the network is a packet switched public data network (“

PSPDN”

).

44. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the network is a global communication network.

45. A method in accordance with claim 44, wherein the global communication network is the Internet.

46. A method for conducting a contest using a network, comprising the steps:

identifying a selected article of commerce to a plurality of users remotely disposed at user locations on the network, the selected article of commerce bearing an identifying indicia;

inducing a user to transmit an unvalidated entry message packet across the network from a user location to a reference location the unvalidated entry message packet comprising an article code derived from an identifying indicia on an article of commerce at the user location;

accessing a computer database, the computer database having a plurality of article codes and a plurality of routing information for target locations on the network and associating each of routing information with at least one of the article codes, and retrieving therefrom the routing information associated with the article code in the unvalidated entry message packet;

creating a reply message packet including the routing information and transmitting the reply message packet from the reference location across the network to the user location;

whereby, upon receiving the reply message packet, the user may transmit a validated entry packet across the network using the routing information to a target location for further processing to determine if the user is a winner of the contest.

47. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the step of identifying includes simultaneously depicting the selected article of commerce to the plurality of users.

48. A method in accordance with claim 47, wherein the selected article of commerce is depicted in a television transmission at a predetermined time, the television transmission being receivable at the user locations.

49. A method in accordance with claim 47, wherein the selected article of commerce is depicted in a radio transmission at a predetermined time, the audio transmission being receivable at the user locations.

50. A method in accordance with claim 47, wherein the selected article of commerce is depicted at a predetermined network location at a predetermined time, the predetermined network location being accessible from the user locations.

51. A method in accordance with claim 50, wherein the predetermined network location is an Internet web site.

52. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the indicia on the selected article of commerce is encoded in machine readable format.

53. A method in accordance with claim 52, wherein the indicia on the selected article of commerce is a bar code.

54. A method in accordance with claim 52, wherein the indicia on the selected article of commerce is a digital watermark.

55. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the indicia on the selected article of commerce encodes an identification code corresponding to the selected article of commerce in accordance with an extrinsic standard.

56. A method in accordance with claim 55, wherein the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce is a Universal Product Code (“

UPC”

).

57. A method in accordance with claim 55, wherein the article code is the entire identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce.

58. A method in accordance with claim 55, wherein the article code is a predetermined portion of the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce.

59. A method in accordance with claim 58, wherein the article code is a predetermined portion of the identification code which is associated with the manufacturer of the selected article of commerce.

60. A method in accordance with claim 55, wherein the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce is an International Standard Book Number (“

ISBN”

).

61. A method in accordance with claim 55, wherein the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce is an International Standard Serial Number (“

ISSN”

).

62. A method in accordance with claim 55, wherein the identification code encoded in the indicia on the selected article of commerce is an EAN European Article Numbering code.

63. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the article code is derived from the indicia by scanning the indicia with a scanning device at the user location.

64. A method in accordance with claim 63, wherein the scanning device is an optical scanner.

65. A method in accordance with claim 64, wherein the optical scanner is a bar code reader.

66. A method in accordance with claim 64, wherein the optical scanner is a digital watermark reader.

67. A method in accordance with claim 63, wherein the unvalidated entry message packet further comprises a user code, the user code being derived from a serial number associated with the scanning device.

68. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the unvalidated entry message packet further comprises a user code derived from a software application on a computer at the user location.

69. A method in accordance with claim 68, wherein the user code is derived from a serial number associated with the software application on the computer at the user location.

70. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the unvalidated entry message packet further comprises a user code, the user code being derived from a cookie file on a computer at the user location.

71. A method in accordance with claim 70, wherein the cookie tile on the computer at the user location resulted from a registration procedure.

72. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the computer database has at least one table containing the article codes and routing information.

73. A method in accordance with claim 72, wherein tables are distributed over a plurality of computers.

74. A method in accordance with claim 72, wherein the routing information in the computer database includes a Universal Resource Locator (“

URL”

).

75. A method in accordance with claim 72, wherein the routing information in the computer database includes a network address.

76. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the step of creating a reply message packet further comprises:

assembling validation data with the routing information before transmitting the reply message packet to the user location.

77. A method in accordance with claim 76, wherein the validation data comprises time-stamp information indicating the time at which the unvalidated entry message packet was received at the reference location.

78. A method in accordance with claim 76, wherein the unvalidated entry message packet further comprises a user code and the step of assembling validation data further comprises:

accessing a computer database including a plurality of user codes and a plurality of user information and associating each of user codes with at least one user information; and

retrieving user information associated with the user code received in the unvalidated entry message packet.

79. A method in accordance with claim 78, wherein the user information includes a telephone number for the user location.

80. A method in accordance with claim 78, wherein the user information includes a post office address for the user location.

81. A method in accordance with claim 78, wherein the user information includes demographic data regarding persons at the user location.

82. A method in accordance with claim 76, wherein at least a portion of the validation data is encrypted.

83. A method in accordance with claim 46, further comprising the step:

receiving at a target address a validated entry message packet transmitted across the network from the user location, the target address being associated with the routing information corresponding to the article code in the unvalidated entry message packet.

84. A method in accordance with claim 83, further comprising the step of determining whether the validated entry message packet constitutes an accepted entry.

85. A method in accordance with claim 84, wherein the step of determining whether the validated entry message packet constitutes an accepted entry further comprises

assigning sequential numbers to each validated entry message packet as it is received at the target location;

and

comparing the assigned number of each of the validated entry message packets to at least one predetermined range of numbers chosen to constitute accepted entries.

86. A method in accordance with claim 84, wherein the step of determining whether the validated entry message packet constitutes an accepted entry further comprises:

determining whether the validated entry message packet was received at a predetermined network location within a predetermined time interval constituting the time for receipt of accepted entries.

87. A method in with claim 84, further comprising the step of determining if a user submitting an entry is a winner of the contest.

88. A method in accordance with claim 87, wherein the step of determining if a user submitting an accepted entry is a winner of the contest further comprises:

identifying the user as a latent winner;

transmitting special routing information to the user location of the latent winner;

declaring the latent winner to be a winner of the contest if the latent winner responds within a predetermined time interval to a predetermined location using the special routing information.

89. A method in accordance with claim 88, wherein the special routing information is a predetermined telephone number.

90. A method in accordance with claim 88, wherein the special routing information is an address on a network.

91. A method in accordance with claim 90, wherein the address on a network is an Internet web site.

92. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the network is a packet switched public data network (“

PSPDN”

).

93. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein the network is a global communication network.

94. A method in accordance with claim 93, wherein the global communication network is the Internet.

95. A system for conducting a contest using a network, comprising:

a plurality of user computers remotely disposed at user locations on the network, each of the user computers operably connected to a scanning device for scanning indicia on articles of commerce and having a software application capable of creating unvalidated entry message packets in to scanning of the indicia;

a reference computer disposed on the network, the reference computer being operably connected to a computer database, the computer database having a plurality of article codes and a plurality of routing information for target locations on the network and associating each of routing information with at least one of the article codes;

wherein a selected article of commerce is identified to the plurality of users, the selected article beating an identifying indicia(corresponding to the selected article/manufacturer);

wherein, upon scanning of the indicia on the selected article of commerce at a user location, the user computer transmits an unvalidated entry message packet across the network to the reference computer, the unvalidated entry message packet comprising an article code derived from the scanned indicia;

wherein, upon receipt of the unvalidated entry message packet, the reference computer accesses the computer database and retrieves therefrom the routing information associated with the article code in the unvalidated entry message packet;

wherein, the reference computer creates a reply message packet including the routing information and transmits the reply message packet across the network to the user location;

wherein, upon receiving the reply message packet, the user computer may transmit a validated entry message packet across the network using the routing information to a target location for further processing to determine if the user is a winner of the contest.

96. A system in accordance with claim 95, further comprising a contest computer disposed on the network at the target location.

97. A system in accordance with claim 96, wherein the contest computer is adapted for:

receiving a validated entry message packet transmitted across the network from the user location;

determining whether the validated entry message packet constitutes an accepted entry; and

determining if a use submitting an accepted entry is a winner of a prize.

98. A system in accordance with claim 95, wherein the network is a packet switched public data network (“

PSPDN”

).

99. A system in accordance with claim 95, wherein the network is a global communication network.

100. A system in accordance with claim 99, wherein the global communication network is the Internet.