(12) United States Patent
`Narasimhan et al.
`
`(54) SYSTEM FOR ACCESSING PROMOTION
`INFORMATION AND FOR GENERATING
`REDEEMABLE COUPONS THEREFROM
`
`(75)
`
`Inventors: Ashok Narasimhan; Vas Raman, both
`of Los Altos Hills, CA (US); Bernard
`David, Wilmington, DE (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: InfoSpace, Inc., Redmond, WA (US)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`This patent issued on a continued pros(cid:173)
`ecution application filed under 37 CFR
`1.53(d), and is subject to the twenty year
`patent
`term provisions of 35 U.S.C.
`154(a)(2).
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 08/696,705
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Aug. 14, 1996
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 08/466,270, filed on
`lun. 6, 1995, now abandoned.
`Int. CI.7
`(51)
`(52) U.S. CI
`
`H04N 7/173
`725/23; 725/37; 725/105;
`725/141; 705/14
`(58) Field of Search
`348/6, 7, 12, 10,
`348/13, 460, 473, 552, 2, 553; 455/3.1,
`5.1, 5.2, 6.2; 395/200.47, 200.48, 200.49;
`235/381, 385; 186/52, 55, 56; 705/14
`
`(56) )
`
`References Cited
`
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`
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`
`Ill III IIIIIII III III I III 11IIIII
`
`US006237145B1
`(io) Patent No.:
`US 6,237,145 Bl
`(45) Date of Patent:
`*May 22, 2001
`
`4,825,045
`4,833,308
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`5,128,752
`
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`
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`Smith .
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`McCarthy .
`Von Kohorn .
`
`(List continued on next page.)
`
`Primary Examiner—Chris Grant
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Christensen O'Connor
`Johnson Kindness PLLC; Anthony B. Claiborne
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A system for accessing and displaying promotion informa(cid:173)
`tion and for generating redeemable coupons based on at least
`one of the accessed promotions stores promotion informa(cid:173)
`tion records each of which includes an electronic coupon
`offer and information in connection with a product/service a
`merchant sells. The system also stores a user profile for a
`system user which includes user preference information.
`The stored records are presented according to a hierarchical
`menu structure. The user navigates menus to select promo(cid:173)
`tion information records for presentation. The user electroni(cid:173)
`cally clips the coupon offer of the presented record and the
`electronic clipped coupon is stored. At the merchant, the
`electronic clipped coupon is accessed and reviewed, and a
`paper coupon corresponding to the electronic clipped cou(cid:173)
`pon is selectively generated for redemption by the merchant.
`
`7 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
`
`s*.
`
`^ 1 26
`
`^ L i ne
`
`Home
`Internet
`PC/Appliance
`
`Smart
`Card R/W
`
`Printer
`
`CD-ROM
`
`System
`102
`
`D-12
`
`SWY&KRG 1005 - Page 1
`
`

`
`US 6,237,145 Bl
`Page 2
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5,135,782
`8/1992
`5,173,851
`12/1992
`5,185,695
`2/1993
`5,202,826
`4/1993
`5,216,515
`6/1993
`5,227,874
`7/1993
`5,237,157
`8/1993
`5,249,044
`9/1993
`5,256,863
`10/1993
`5,283,734
`2/1994
`5,285,278 *
`• 2/1994
`5,287,181
`2/1994
`5,287,268
`2/1994
`5,293,310
`3/1994
`5,305,195
`4/1994
`5,305,196
`4/1994
`5,305,197
`4/1994
`5,309,355
`5/1994
`5,319,455
`6/1994
`5,321,604
`6/1994
`5,327,508
`7/1994
`5,346,654
`9/1994
`5,353,218
`10/1994
`
`Rostoker et al. .
`Off et al. .
`Prachnicki .
`McCarthy .
`Steele et al. .
`Von Kohorn .
`Kaplan .
`Von Kohorn .
`Ferguson et al. .
`Von Kohorn .
`Holman
`Holman .
`McCarthy .
`Carroll et al. .
`Murphy .
`Deaton et al. .
`Axler et al. .
`Lockwood .
`Hoarty et al. .
`Peach et al. .
`Deaton et al. .
`Kodaka et al. .
`De Lapa et al. .
`
`348/10 X
`
`5,353,219
`5,368,129
`5,380,991
`5,436,830
`5,438,356
`5,459,306
`5,467,269
`5,483,049
`5,488,423
`5,500,681
`5,502,636
`5,504,675
`5,515,270
`5,594,493 *
`5,642,279
`5,710,886 *
`5,729,693
`5,761,648 *
`5,774,870
`5,794,210
`5,806,045
`5,832,457
`
`10/1994
`11/1994
`1/1995
`7/1995
`8/1995
`10/1995
`11/1995
`1/1996
`1/1996
`3/1996
`3/1996
`4/1996
`5/1996
`1/1997
`6/1997
`1/1998
`3/1998
`6/1998
`6/1998
`8/1998
`9/1998
`11/1998
`
`Mueller et al. .
`Von Kohorn .
`Valencia et al. .
`Zaltman .
`Ushiki et al. .
`Stein et al. .
`Flaten .
`Schulze, Jr. .
`Walkingshaw et al. .
`Jones .
`Clarke .
`Cragun et al. .
`Weinblatt .
`Nemirofsky
`Bloomberg et al. .
`Christensen et al
`Holda-Fleck .
`Golden et al
`Storey
`Goldhaber et al
`Biorge et al. .
`O'Brien et al
`
`cited by examiner
`
`348/13
`
`705/14 X
`
`705/14
`705/14
`705/14
`
`705/14
`
`SWY&KRG 1005 - Page 2
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`May 22, 2001
`
`Sheet 1 of 5
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`SWY&KRG 1005 - Page 3
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`May 22, 2001
`
`Sheet 2 of 5
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`SWY&KRG 1005 - Page 4
`
`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`May 22, 2001
`
`Sheet 3 of 5
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`SWY&KRG 1005 - Page 5
`
`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`May 22, 2001
`
`Sheet 4 of 5
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`SWY&KRG 1005 - Page 6
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`May 22,2001
`
`Sheet 5 of 5
`
`US 6,237,145 Bl
`
`ELECTRONIC COUPON
`
`14&
`
`XYZ FOOD STORE
`
`Offers good thru 12/26/94
`
`150"
`
`Hothouse Tomatoes $ 1.29/lb.
`regular $1.39 SAVE .10/lb
`
`152'
`
`5-45800-10040
`
`l
`
`*>^b^. t5^
`
`XYZ FOODSTORE
`
`».•«.•
`
`cut here-
`
`SWY&KRG 1005 - Page 7
`
`

`
`US 6,237,145 Bl
`
`1
`SYSTEM FOR ACCESSING PROMOTION
`INFORMATION AND FOR GENERATING
`REDEEMABLE COUPONS THEREFROM
`
`2
`still sift through much product information of no interest to
`the user. Furthermore, both systems are impractical in that
`the cost of placing a coupon generating unit at each user's
`remote location is prohibitive.
`A need exists, then, for a redeemable coupon generation
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
`system that allows a user to quickly access and peruse
`APPLICATION
`promotions or offers that are likely to be of interest to that
`This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application
`u s e r' tha\
`a l l o ws t h^ u s
`er to &mlf? o ne or m
`o re c o uPo ns
`Ser. No. 08/466,270, filed Jun. 6,1995, and entitled "Method
`i
`j
`to take advantage of at least one of the accessed promotions
`
`and Apparatus for Viewing Promotional Information and for ln
`Generating Redeemable Coupons Therefrom", now aban- 10 ^nd 0f^ and that does not require additional equipment
`,
`,
`beyond that which is likely already available to the user.
`
`5
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`R ApKrROUND OF THF TNVFNTTON
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`.
`, .
`, ,
`„
`The aforementioned need is satisfied by a system for
`j.
`J
`.
`Ine present invention relates to a system tor accessing 15
`.
`,.
`,
`. .
`. 0
`J
`, .
`accessing and displaying promotion information and tor
`,
`,.
`,
`.
`and displaying promotion information and tor generating
`..
`i,
`,
`i
`.
`^
`^
`r^i
`generating redeemable coupons based on at least one ol the
`o
`r
`j or
`o
`redeemable coupons theretrom. More particularly, the
`,
`_,
`^
`,
`. „
`i.
`,,
`accessed promotions. 1 he system has a promotion intorma-
`, ,
`,
`,
`,
`^ .
`r,
`present invention relates to such a system where the access-
`.
`.
`, ^
`,
`/
`,.
`i.
`r
`..
`• • n
`tion record storage device tor storing a plurality of promo-
`.
`,
`,
`ii
`,
`i. 0
`ing and generating lor each particular user is influenced by
`i.
`,
`„,
`,-
`• ^
`. r
`i-
`,.,
`j- ?,
`^„ tion information records. Each promotion
`information
`a user profile tor the user.
`20
`.
`.
`record includes an electronic coupon otter in connection
`with a product or service a merchant sells and information
`relating to the product or service being promoted. The
`system also has a user profile storage device for storing a
`Discount coupons and other similar "tokens" are conven-
`user profile for a system user. The user profile includes user
`tionally offered by manufacturers and retailers in
`preference information based on preferences of the user. The
`newspapers, in magazines, by direct mail, and the like to
`user has a unique system identifier.
`entice members of the public to buy a particular product or
`A presentation device presents the stored promotion infor-
`service. As is well known, such coupons are usually targeted
`mation records according to a hierarchical menu structure
`to specific types of consumers, and such targeting may be
`performed in a highly sophisticated manner. Nevertheless, 30 which includes a main menu and a plurality of hierarchically
`the fact remains that the redemption rate for coupons in
`l i n k ed sub-menus. Each sub-menu includes a plurality of
`many situations may be in the range of one to two percent.
`choices and the user navigates among the main menu and
`A major reason for such a low rate is that many coupons
`sub-menus to select promotion information records for pre-
`offered to a particular consumer are rejected by that con-
`sentation. An electronic coupon clipping device allows the
`sumer simply for lack of interest. Further, even if a consumer 35 u s er to electronically clip the coupon offer of the presented
`wishes to take advantage of a coupon offer, the consumer
`promotion information record. The electronic clipped cou-
`may be prevented from doing so based on the inability to
`p0n 0ffer is stored in an electronic clipped coupon database
`redeem the coupon before the expiration date. As a result,
`in connection with the user profile for the user.
`. „
`ninety-eight percent or more of all offered coupons are never
`.•
`,
`•
`• ,
`. .
`A
`, J
`^
`A paper coupon generating device is located at a mer-
`f
`40 chant. With the paper coupon generating device, the unique
`system identifier of the user is entered, the electronic clipped
`Systems have been proposed to increase the rate of
`coupon offer from the electronic clipped coupon database is
`redemption of coupons. For example, in one system, product
`accessed, the user reviews the electronic clipped coupon
`information (i.e., listings, specifications, prices, discounts or
`0ffer; anci a paper coupon corresponding to the electronic
`other information for a product or service including depic-
`tion by language or graphics) is broadcast from a central 45 dipped coupon offer may be selectively generated for the
`location to a user's remote location, either as an over-the-air
`u s e r. T he p aper coupon is then redeemable by the merchant.
`broadcast television signal or a cable television signal. In
`response to the transmitted product information, the user can
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`print a redeemable coupon at a generating unit at the user's
`„,
`.
`„
`,
`.
`„
`.
`,
`r
`_
`.
`,
`..
`,
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`..
`1 he toregoing summary, as well as the lollowme detailed
`remote location based upon the transmitted information, so •
`,.
`r
`,
`,
`,
`. .
`r
`r
`,
`,
`,.
`•
`.,
`c
`„ ,
`.
`description of a preferred embodiment of the present
`.
`While such system may increase the percentage of coupons
`K
`.,, ,
`,
`,
`,
`,
`, .
`.
`.
`,
`, .,
`.
`/
`•
`j-
`invention, will be better understood when read in coniunc-
`,
`4
`•
`t, \ t.
`J.„
`redeemed, the system has a serious disadvantage in that the
`.
`.,
`,
`, , ,
`„
`,
`r
`.
`,
`, . •
`.• „
`c
`tion with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illus-
`r.
`•
`. &,
`user must endure what is essentially an unending series of
`.
`,
`. ^
`.
`,
`•
`,
`,
`•,
`* L- L
`c
`J*
`tratmg the invention, there is shown in the drawings an
`, , ••
`television commercials, many of which are tor products
`,
`,.
`, . ,
`.
`,
`„
`, f, ,
`, T
`,,
`•
`r
`. ,
`. .
`,,
`embodiment which is presently preferred. It should be
`. J
`and/or services of no interest to the user.
`,
`. . ..
`,
`. ,
`,
`,
`.
`understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the
`In an improvement to the aforementioned system, the
`p r e c i se a r r a n g e m e nts a nd instrumentalities shown. In the
`transmitted product information from the central location is
`drawings-
`,.
`,
`.
`.
`,
`.
`stored in a storage unit at the user's remote location. The
`^^
`.
`,,
`1 u 1
`-J
`u
`j £t-c
`J ti.
`FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a system tor accessing
`user can then play back, rewind, and tast forward through
`,
`,
`.
`,.
`.
`..
`.
`.
`^ , r
`.,
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`j
`j 4 • r
`.•
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`and displaying promotion information and tor generating
`,
`r, ,J
`b r
`the stored product inlormation, and can print a redeemable 60
`,
`.
`,
`° ,
`"
`.
`..
`•.
`. ..
`,
`.
`,
`.•
`redeemable coupons theretrom in accordance with a pre-
`.
`r
`,. y
`coupon at a generating unit at the user s remote location
`.
`,
`,
`. ,
`.
`, • r
`.,
`•
`terred embodiment ot the present invention;
`,
`,
`.tf
`,
`rj,,
`based upon the stored information, the storage unit can be
`r
`configured to store all transmitted product information or
`F I G S- 2 a nd 3> respectively, are a main menu and a
`only the transmitted product information that meets pre-
`sub-menu displayed by the system of FIG. 1;
`selected requirements (e.g., product information for food 65
`FIG. 4 is visual information from a promotion presented
`products only). However, the improved system shares the
`by the system of FIG. 1; and
`same disadvantage as the previous system in that a user must
`FIG. 5 is a coupon generated by the system of FIG. 1.
`
`c<
`
`SWY&KRG 1005 - Page 8
`
`

`
`US 6,237,145 Bl
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals
`are used to indicate like elements throughout, there is shown
`in FIG. 1 an interactive promotion system 100 for accessing
`and presenting promotions to a user at the user's remote
`location and for generating redeemable electronic coupons
`based on the promotions in accordance with a preferred
`embodiment of the present invention. The system 100 is a
`subscriber-based system that allows a user-subscriber to
`selectively choose from a plurality of promotions during a
`promotion browsing session with the aid of the user's own
`personal or other computer or PC appliance ("user PC") 102
`at the user's remote location (i.e., the user's home, office,
`etc.), where the chosen promotions are presented on the user
`PC 102. Each promotion includes an offer from a vendor in
`connection with a product or service ("product/service") the
`vendor sells, leases, distributes, renders, or otherwise
`provides, and visual and/or audio information related to the
`product/service being promoted. An example of such visual
`information 146 is shown in FIG. 4. Each promotion may be
`ongoing or may be time sensitive, and may be a percentage
`discount, a dollar cost discount, a special price, location
`sensitive, etc. Each vendor may be a retail or wholesale store
`vendor, a manufacturing or outlet vendor, a service vendor,
`or the like.
`Preferably, the information for each promotion is in the
`form of a promotion information record, where each pro(cid:173)
`motion information record includes listings, specifications,
`prices, discounts and other information about a product/
`service ("detail information"). The promotion information
`for each promotion information record may be in the form
`of
`textual
`information, graphic
`information, video
`information, and/or audio information relating to the
`product/service being promoted.
`Preferably, at least a portion of each of a plurality of the
`promotion information records are delivered to each user in
`the form of at least one CD-ROM disk 104 which is played
`on a CD-ROM drive 106 connected to or associated with the
`user PC 102. More preferably, the higher bandwidth infor(cid:173)
`mation for each of the plurality of promotion information
`records, such as the graphic information, video information,
`and/or audio information, is stored on the CD-ROM disk
`104, and the lower bandwidth information (including the
`detail information) is available only from a central server
`108. Accordingly, it is preferable that the user be connected
`to the server 108 during each promotion browsing session.
`As should be understood, a promotion information record
`can likely be presented to the user more efficiently when the
`bulk of the information (the high bandwidth information) is
`on a CD-ROM disk 104 local to the user PC 102.
`The CD-ROM disk 104 is preferably delivered to each
`user periodically (e.g., monthly, every six weeks), on a
`subscription basis. The promotion information on the
`CD-ROM disk 104 delivered to a particular user has only
`some general demographic relevance to that user. That is, the
`contents of the CD-ROM disk 104 are not highly
`individualized, and many people in a particular geographic
`area may receive
`identical CD-ROM disks 104.
`Accordingly, the CD-ROM disks 104 can be mass-produced.
`Preferably, the lower bandwidth information (including
`the detail information) on the server 108 may be updated
`with update information as necessary before the user is
`provided with a new CD-ROM disk 104. For example, such
`update information may include a new purchase price for a
`product/service, or a new, different discount for a product/
`
`service, among other things. Also preferably, new promotion
`information records may be supplied as new information
`from the server 108 directly to the user before the user is
`provided with a new CD-ROM disk 104. As may be
`understood, such new information would likely not include
`the higher bandwidth information normally stored on the
`CD-ROM disk 104. Accordingly, changes to promotions and
`new promotions may be quickly effectuated.
`As seen in FIG. 1, the server 108 may be connected to the
`user PC 102 either directly by a direct dial-up service 110,
`indirectly by a network dial-up (Intranet) service provider
`112, through the Internet by an Internet service provider 114,
`or the like. If the Internet is employed, it is preferable that
`the system 100 include a web server 142 connected to or
`associated with the system server 108 to facilitate such
`Internet connection.
`As should be understood, in an alternate embodiment of
`the present invention, the server 108 can provide the pro(cid:173)
`motion information records directly to the user PC 102
`during the session, and the CD-ROM disk 104 and
`CD-ROM drive 106 can be dispensed with. If a relatively
`large amount of information is to be downloaded from the
`server 108 during a session, it is preferable that only a
`portion of such information be initially provided, and that
`additional information be provided only if the user so
`requests. The portion of such information provided may be
`portions of each of several promotion information records,
`complete versions of selected promotion
`information
`records, or the like.
`Preferably, the server 108 is one or more UNIX computers
`acting as servers. Preferably, the server 108 includes or is
`interfaced to an authoring system 140 to author the promo(cid:173)
`tion information in a form that can be accessed by the user
`PC 102. As should be understood, the authored promotion
`information preferably resides on a vendor promotions data(cid:173)
`base 134 connected to or associated with the server 108 and
`is employed to produce the CD-ROM disk 104. As seen in
`FIG. 1, the authoring system 140 has access to an advertising
`media database 144 for obtaining advertising media data
`necessary to author the promotion information.
`Preferably, the user employs a "navigator" to browse the
`promotions based on user-defined search criteria. Also
`preferably, the promotions are presented to the user in a
`manner customized to that particular user's interests, in
`accordance with a user profile for
`that user. More
`specifically, the server 108 includes a user profile database
`116 with user profile data for each user of the system 100.
`Based on the user profile for a particular user, that user is
`guided to but not limited in browsing the promotions.
`Preferably, an initial user profile is generated by the server
`108 based upon a questionnaire completed by the user upon
`first using the system 100, although it will be recognized that
`the questionnaire could be completed at other appropriate
`times and by other means without departing from the spirit
`and scope of the present invention. To complete the
`questionnaire, the server 108 prompts the user to provide
`basic information by which the presentation of promotion
`information can be tailored. For example, the user may be
`asked for information relating to the user's income, family,
`dates such as anniversaries and birthdays, special interests,
`product preferences, types of automobiles owned, and type
`of residence, among other things. With the user profile for
`each user, the server 108 may target certain promotions to
`certain users based on factors such as income, product
`preferences, geographic location, and the like.
`Preferably, a user profile for a user not only guides the
`user in accessing promotions but is updated upon the user's
`
`10
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`15
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`20
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`SWY&KRG 1005 - Page 9
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`US 6,237,145 Bl
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`6
`5
`profile for the user. For example, if the user profile for the
`to reflect such accessions.
`accessing of promotions
`user indicates that the user usually chooses a first store and
`Accordingly, the user profile for the user can change with the
`almost never chooses a second, similar store, the user profile
`user and can adapt to new wants and needs that the user may
`for
`the user would require that the first store be listed or
`have. For example, a user that accesses a number of pro-
`motions for a certain type of automobile may be presumed 5 ordered before the second store if both stores appear in the
`to be interested in purchasing such type of automobile, and
`same sub-menu
`.
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`the user profile for such user can be updated accordingly.
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`Preferably, the system is dynamic and can create user-
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`Preterably, the user profile tor the user is dynamically
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`specific hierarchical branches based on the user profile lor
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`if
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`updated during each promotion browsing session in
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`response to each user accession, as appropriate.
`t he u sf • F or example, if the user frequently selects promo-
`4,
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`10 tions from a particular store, those trequently selected pro-
`m an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the
`.
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`user is not continuously connected to the server 108 during
`m°t l o ns m ay be organized into a specific sub-menu under a
`each promotion browsing session. Instead, the session is
`sub-menu relating to the particular store,
`based only on promotion information available on the
`In response to the user having chosen a specific promotion
`CD-ROM disk 104 at the user PC 102. In such an alternate
`f or presentation, and as seen in FIG. 4, visual information
`embodiment, the user profile for the user is preferably 15 1 46 f r om
`t he promotion information record relating to the
`downloaded to the user from the user profile database 116 by
`selected promotion is presented on the user PC 102. If the
`way of the server 108 each time that user logs on to the
`promotion information record relating to the selected pro-
`system 100. Prior to the user logging off the system 100 or
`motion also contains audio information, such audio infor-
`at some time after the session is completed, the updated user
`mation is presented via the speakers 124 associated with the
`profile data for the user is uploaded to the user profile
`lLsel "C 102.
`database 116 by way of the server 108.
`Preferably, a user may selectively prevent the listing and
`In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and
`presentation of certain specific types of promotions or
`again referring to FIG. 1, the server 108 also stores user
`groups of promotions. For example, if the user is a male, he
`account data, vendor billing data, and vendor account data in 25 may not care to be bothered with promotions for female-
`respective databases 132, 136, 138. Such databases allow
`oriented products. Likewise, the user may not want to see
`the server 108 to add new users and vendors to the system,
`promotions for certain adult-oriented products/services,
`and to bill each vendor and user for use of the system.
`Such repudiated types of promotions would then be appro-
`Preferably, the server is linked to individual vendor com-
`priately noted in the user profile for the user,
`puters (not shown) for updating promotion information and
`Preferably, and still referring to FIG. 4, each displayed
`the like.
`promotion contains a reward or "coupon" option. When the
`As may be understood, the databases 116, 118, 132,134,
`user wishes to take advantage of a promotion, the user
`136, 138 may be organized geographically or by other
`selects the coupon option to mark or "clip" an electronic
`means. Further, more than one server 108 may be employed,
`coupon for the promotion, and the "clipped coupon" is
`where each server 108 preferably is dedicated to one area 35 electronically stored in a clipped coupon database 118
`(geographic or otherwise). If servers 108 are geographically
`connected to or associated with the server 108. Preferably,
`allocated, each server 108 preferably contains user informa-
`the clipped coupon database 118 is organized according to
`tion relative to users in the respective geographic region.
`the user profiles in the user profile database 116. More
`Preferably, the promotion information records are pre-
`preferably, the user profile database 116 includes the clipped
`sented to the user by way of a hierarchical structure of 40 coupon database 118 and the electronic clipped coupon offer
`menus. For example, and as seen in FIG. 2, when the user
`is stored in the clipped coupon database 118 in connection
`first enters the system 100 (by, for example, powering up the
`with the user profile for the user.
`user PC 102 and executing a local program on the user PC
`Preferably, each displayed promotion also contains a
`102), a main menu 144M is displayed on the user PC 102.
`"list" option that, when selected, adds the promoted product/
`Additionally, a welcoming audio signal may be reproduced 45 service to a "shopping list". Such a shopping list may then
`on speakers 124 associated with the user PC 102. The main
`be printed on a printer 126 connected to or associated with
`menu may have a list of different areas of interest to the user
`the user PC 102. The printer 126 may also be employed to
`(e.g., leisure, dining, shopping, events, services, products,
`print out promotion-related information including maps,
`groceries). The user has the option of selecting any item
`addresses, telephone numbers, and the like,
`listed in the main menu 144M.
`50 When the user wishes to redeem one or more of the
`Typically, and as seen in FIG. 3, such selection would
`clipped coupons, the user need only visit a participating
`result in the display of one of several sub-menus 144S listing
`merchant. Preferably, each user is provided with a unique ID
`more specific choices from which the user could select. For
`card 120 which is inserted into an ID card reader connected
`example, a dining sub-menu 144S may list different types of
`to a coupon-printing merchant device 122 at the participat-
`restaurants (e.g. fast food, sandwich shops, luncheonettes, 55 ing merchant. Based on the unique ID card 120 for the user,
`etc.) and/or different types of available food (e.g., Italian,
`the merchant device 122 communicates with the server 108
`French, Chinese, Southern, Kosher). As may be understood,
`to access the list of clipped electronic coupons for the user,
`the user works his or her way through the hierarchical
`As shown in FIG. 1, such communication preferably occurs
`structure of menus until he or she can actually view and/or
`indirectly by the network dial-up (Intranet) service provider
`listen to promotion information records for each of several go 112. However, one skilled in the art will appreciate that such
`available products/services. Preferably, and as seen in FIG.
`communication may also occur directly by a direct dial-up
`3, each sub-menu 144S in the system contains options that
`service 110, through the Internet by an Internet service
`the user may employ to navigate the hierarchical structure
`provider 114, or the like without departing from the spirit
`and to obtain answers to queries regarding the use of the
`and scope of the present invention,
`system.
`65 Once the merchant device 122 communicates with the
`Preferably, in any sub-menu, the order of presentation of
`server 108 to access the list of clipped electronic coupons for
`the choices that the user may select from is based on the user
`the user, the user may then view the clipped coupons by way
`
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`US 6,237,145 Bl
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`may require upgrading to support the use of the printer 130,
`of a display 156 connected to the merchant device 122, and
`smart card reader/writer 128 and/or the display 156, and to
`select by way of the merchant device 122 one or more
`support the communications with the server 108.
`clipped coupons to be redeemed at the merchant. Preferably,
`Preferably, the user may update his or her own user profile
`a paper copy of each selected coupon is printed at a printer
`130 connected to or associated with the merchant device 122 5 as necessary. For example, the user may request a specific
`to maintain a paper trail. Preferably, and as seen in FIG. 5,
`type of promotion and/or indicate that he or she wishes to be
`each paper coupon 148 includes coupon terms 150 and
`presented with promotions from a specific geographic area,
`optionally a bar code 152 that identifies the coupon to the
`if the server 108 determines from the updated profile that
`retailer's point-of-sale equipment.
`appropriate promotion information records are not stored on
`As one skilled in the art will recognize, the ID card 120 10 the CD-ROM disk 104 local to the user, then the user can
`may be a credit card-like plate with a magnetic stripe and
`direct the server 108 to undertake an extended search,
`identifying information encoded on the magnetic stripe; an
`including interfacing with other central servers 108, perhaps
`afEnity credit card or debit card with a magnetic stripe and
`those in other geographic areas.
`traditional credit card information and additional identifying
`Preferably, at appropriate times in relation to events noted
`information encoded on the magnetic stripe; or even an 15 in the user profile for the user (e.g., an anniversary, a
`integrated circuit or smart card without departing from the
`birthday) the central server 108 causes the user to be guided
`spirit and scope of the present invention. In add