Docket No. 59BAI IN THE APPLICATION. David Bain FOR A. System for Click Through Contest Voting via Commissions

(1)

Docket No. 59BAI002.11

IN

THE

APPLICATION

OF

David Bain

FOR A

(2)

Docket

No:

59BAI002.C11

IN

THE

UNITED

STATES

PATENT

AND

TRADEMARK

OFFICE

System

forClick

Through

Contest Votingvia

Commissions

BACKGROUND

OF THE

INVENTION

1.

FIELD

OF THE

INVENTION

The

present invention relates toa network

and system

forregistering user preferences

on

a website through a

commission

crediting

system

and

a

method

of

runninga contestthereby.

2.

DESCRIPTION

OF THE

PRIOR

ART

Itiswell

known

topurchase

goods and

servicesover theInternet.

A

buyer connected to a website through a browser can select

goods

through

one

click

purchasingorother

check

out

methods and pay

forthe

goods

usingacredit card.

The

goods

are then shipped or delivered electronicallyto the buyer tocomplete the transaction.

Itisalso

known on

the

web

to creditareferringsiteoragentwitha

commission

forthe

goods

purchased on the

web.

Analogous

topayingasalesclerkinaphysical

store,a person,agent, or referringsitecan

be

creditedwithcausing the usertoselect theparticular

goods

or particularsite

when

purchasing the goods,

and

as a reward the

salessite

pays

acertainpercentageor

amount

tothe person, agentor referringsiteto

encourage

furthersalesbysimilarmethods.

(3)

The

network

and

system according to the present invention takes the

commission

process a stepfurthertoactas

an

information collection service ora

pollingservicebyallowingthepurchasertoselecttherecipientofthe commission. In

apreferred

embodiment

theusercanselectfromat least

one

non-profitorganization

among

the selections resultinginataxdeductiblegift.

By

trackingthe userselections through theassignmentofcommissions,thesystemcan

keep

track ofthepreferences

ofusers.

Inafurtherextensionofthisinvention,the

commission system

can

be used

as a proxyforcalculating votesofusersforcertainorganizations or

causes

orother

entities or

even

principalsrepresentedbycreditingthe

commission

orvoteto particular

organizations,causes,or ideas.

The

votescan

be

tabulatedina contest fashionto

calculatea winning person,organization,

cause

or idea.

The

length oftime which

userswill

be

allowedtovotecan

be

controlledby thesite

dependent on

time, total

money

orvotestabulated,orothercriteria.

None

ofthe

above

inventions

and

patents,takeneither singly orincombination,

is

seen

todescribe theinstantinventionasclaimed.

SUMMARY

OF

THE INVENTION

Accordingly,itisaprincipalobject ofthe invention toprovidea network

and

system

forallowingforuserselection of

where

creditor

commission

forinternetsales

(4)

Itisanotherobject of the inventiontoprovidea network

and

systemfor allowing

vendorsto registertheir sitesto link thevoting buyers withsites wilting to pay

commissions

accordingtothepreferencesofthe buyers.

Itisafurther object of the invention to providea network

and

system which

allowsuserstocreditpurchase commissionsor other credits to particularcauses,

issues,orideasasa

method

ofevidencingpopular support("vote")forthecauses,

issues, or ideas.

Stillanotherobject of the invention istoprovidea system

and

networkfor

allowing credit orcommissionsto

be

appliedtoward anorganization orgroup byvoting

forthe

same

organization orgroup

when

purchasing

goods

or services.

Itis

an

additionalobject ofthisinvention to providea contestinwhichvoters

qualify tovoteby purchasing

goods

from a vendor

and

applyingvotecreditsas a

function ofthepurchase towards aparticular selection.

Itisanobject ofthe invention to provideimprovedelements

and

arrangements

thereofinan apparatusforthepurposes described whichisinexpensive,dependable andfullyeffectiveinaccomplishingitsintended purposes.

These

andother objects of thepresentinventionwill

become

readilyapparent

upon

furtherreviewofthe following specification

and

drawings.

BRIEF

DESCRIPTION

OF

THE

DRAWINGS

Fig.1isa diagramofa network

and

system accordingtoafirst

embodiment

of the invention.

(5)

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently

throughouttheattached drawings.

DETAILED

DESCRIPTION

OF

THE

PREFERRED

EMBODIMENT(s)

The

presentinventionisto a network and

method

forrunningacontestby trackinguser preferences

and

allocatingcredit,votes, orcommissiontouserspecified

selections.

As

best

shown

inFigure1,a Preference ProcessingSite(PPS) 10 operates on a networksuch asthe Internet

20

toutilizethecommunication

and

protocolstandards

allowing multiple usersto accessthe site usingvarious operating systems

(DOS,

WINDOWS,

etc.)

and

variousbrowsers

(NETSCAPE,

INTERNET EXPLORER,

etc.).

Also connected to the Internet are various

Vendors

30 and

various Non-Profit

Organizations

(NPO)

40.

One

skilled in theart would recognize, that it is not necessaryforthe

Vendors

or

NPOs

themselvesto

be

connected asthe

PPS

or

anotherservicecouldtrack information, sales orders,etc.inplaceofthevendorsor

NPOs

orthe telephone,facsimileorothercommunication system could

be

usedto connectnon-Internetconnectedparties. However,itisenvisionedthatthe

maximum

benefits

and

efficienciesofthis system can best beutilized by all parties being connectedtothe web,

and

will

be

explainedasifallparties

were

connected.

Inoperation,vendorsthatwishto offer

goods

forsalethrough the

PPS

must

register (Fig. 2) their store or site with the

PPS.

Organizations (non-profit or

otherwise),causes,orotherentitiesthat

want

to receive votes,credits,orcommissions fromthesalesthroughthe

PPS

must

also register(Fig.3). Users

who

want

to

shop

and have

their

cause

or organizationreceive creditfor theirpurchases

must shop

„4_

(6)

throughthe

PPS

and

selectthe recipientforthe credit(Fig.4) or pre-registertheir

preferences (Fig. 5). Internet sites that wishto run a contest to poll particular

demographic

opinionscanestablish

webpages

accordingtothe presentinvention to

allowuserstovoteon thecontestwinnerbyapplying credit ("votes")from purchases

towards aselected candidate.

The

Internet

20

provides a central connection

and

protocol system for

connectingallof theparties.

The

PPS

providesa centraldatabaseforcollecting

information

on each

ofthevendors,organizations,

and

users

who

shop

through the

PPS.

Information contained in the database through prior registration system

determines

and

controlsthe selections availableon the networktoalaterarrivinguser

determining

where

he can

shop

and

who

canreceive credit for hispurchases. Ina

second

embodiment, describedfurtherbelow, thesystem can also be used as a

systemforcollectingvotesoropinionsonissues to providealobbyingvoiceto

show

the opinion of thebuyingpublicto

add

leveragetothe voice.

Returning tothe present

embodiment

oftheinvention,the networkwill be

described in reference to assigning commissions for purchases to organization

selectedby auser. Whilethe organizations are generally referred toas

NPOs

(Non-profitorganizations) the tax status orentitytypeofthe organization

does

not affect the

operation oftheinvention,and

one

skilledintheart willrecognizethattheuseofa

NPO

isfor illustrationpurposesonly.

Inorderforthe

PPS

tooperateeffectively,a

number

ofvendors

must

register

with the

PPS

and

be

willing to assign commissions, credits, vouchers, orother valuableconsiderationovertothe partieschosen by a purchaser.

The number

of

vendors

who

register with thesite willimpactthevalueofthesite,suchthatthegreater

(7)

-5--number

ofvendor choicesavailabletoa purchaser throughthesite,the

more

likely

thatapurchaserwill

go

throughthesitetopurchase goods. However,thesitecan

work

effectivelywith only

one

vendorregistered.

The

operation of thesitewill

be

explainedwithreference to

one

representativevendor,butitisto

be

understoodthat

more

vendors can registerin a similar fashion

and

will operate in

an

analogous

manner

to thedescribed vendor.

Beforeregistering, the

Vendor and

the

PPS

must

negotiateacontract tosplit

profits orotherwise confercreditsor other valuable consideration tothose parties designatedby the

PPS.

Depending

ontherelativesize of the

PPS,

thiscontractcan

be

a standardcontract oraccordingto the individuallynegotiated terms

between

the

parties.

The

negotiationcan take placeinperson,overthephone, orbyelectronic

signatureoverthe Internet or other network.

Once

the contractisinplace,the

Vendor

canregisterwiththe

PPS,

preferably through theInternet.

As shown

inFigure2,thevendorinitiatesa vendorregistration

program100.

As

discussed

above

thevendor can agreetoa standard formcontract

110available withthe

PPS

orthe contractingcannegotiated with the

PPS

according

touniqueterms.

Once

the contractisinplace,the

Vendor

proceedsto signingontoa

registration process 120to registerhissitewiththe

PPS.

whom

the

Vendor

isalso registered.

The

use

ofathirdpartyreducesthe likelihood of disputesasto theaccountingofcommissions.

The

commissions can

be

based onsales ofa"traditional"sales vendor having

goods

available for fixed prices, orthesalescan

be

fora

dynamic

pricingsitethat

usesauctions or other

means

todetermineflexiblypricedgoods.

As

appropriate,the

Vendor

may

berequired to install

and

initiatesoftware which providesthe trackingandreceives informationfrom the

PPS

referral site.

Inasimilarmanner, parties thatwishtoreceivecommissions fromthe

PPS

must

also register withthe

PPS.

The

sitesarepreferably non-profit organizations,but

the tax status ofthe organizations (hereinafter"NPO")has no bearing onthe operation

ofthe network.

The

NPOs

register eithertheir sitesothatpurchaserscan review

informationaboutthe

NPO,

or provideabrief

summary

ofthe informationonthe

PPS

forreview.

The

NPO

must

also register eitheran agentoraddresstoreceivethe

commission check,

and

theirtaxidentification

number

alongwithanyothernecessary

„7_

(9)

identifying informationsothatthey

may

bepaid.

The

check

may come

fromthe

Vendor

directlyorfromthethirdpartyverifieratthe appropriatetimeto settlethe commissions

due

tothe

NPO.

Inoperation,asbest

shown

inFigure1,apotentialpurchaser("user")using his browser 50 connectingtoa networksuch asthe internet20 through aservice provider

(not shown) ina well

known

fashion.

The

purchaser signsonto thePreference

ProcessingSite(PPS) 10 throughthebrowser byenteringtheaddressorby otherwise

linkingtothe

homepage

of the

PPS.

The

PPS

stores inan appropriatedatabase

60

a vendorlist

62

ofall the availablevendors

who

haveregistered to

make

goods

available topurchasersandto

distributecommissions accordingto

PPS

direction.

The

PPS

also storesalist

64

of

organizations

(NPOs)

thathaveregisteredtoreceive credit orcommissions

and

have

been

approved by the

PPS

for selection.

The

database

may

furthercontain a

correlationtable

66

suchthat certain

Vendors

62arelistedaccordingtowhich

NPO

64

isselected or vice versa.

The

database

may

furtherhave aninternalor external

historytrackingdatabase

68

fortrackingwhich

NPOs

64

orwhich

Vendors 62

are

selected or for tracking other data.

Once

theuserhas signed ontothe

PPS

10, the

PPS

presentsingraphical,text,

or

number

of

NPO

selections thattheusercan

choose

fromtoassign

commissionsor creditsfromhispurchasestobenefit the

NPO

40.

The

menu may

includeahyperlinktoinformationaboutthe

NPO

or toasite affiliatedwiththe

NPO.

Once

selected,the

PPS

canbuildaprofilefortheuser using a cookie suchthatifthe usersignsontothesite,the

NPO

ispre-selected, ortheuser

may

be

requestedto confirm his selection duringeachvisit.

(10)

-The

PPS

alsopresentsa

number

ofVendors 62that thepurchaser

may

select fromtobuy

goods

orservices from.

The

selectioncan

answered.

The

purchaser50 then purchases

goods

orservicesdirectlythroughthe linked vendorsite("click-throughpurchase"). Informationsentviaa cookieor click-through

purchaseistrackedbythe

PPS

oraffiliatesiteorthe

Vendor

to trackthereferral site

(PPS)

and

thecommission designee (NPO).

The

informationtrackedbythe

PPS

isthenusedtotabulate the

amount

of votesorpreferences by usersforwhich

NPO

theyfavor.

The

votescan

be

correlated

tothe

amount

ofpurchase("dollarsspent")orthe

number

ofvisits("referrals")ora combinationofthesenumbers. Additionally,weighting factors

and

specialscanbe usedtoencourage

consumer

behaviorand determinethe effect of incentives. For

example,the

PPS

could runaspecial fordouble credits/commissionsforallpurchases

made

after

6pm

Pacific

Time

toassistasiteoverloaded by mid-daytraffic.

Or

the

PPS

couldassigndouble commissionsforallpurchasesofshoes from aparticular

shoe

vendororinconjunction witha reducedpriceon

shoes

boughton aparticular

day.

By

tracking thesales data and referrals ("hits") and correlating

them

with

specials orother incentives,the effect of the incentivesonthe

consumers

and on

(11)

In a furtherembodiment, the

PPS

can be used to track public or

more

importantlythepreferencesofpurchaserslinked totheirbuying

power

opinioninthe formofacontest, election,orpoll.

As shown

inFigure3,instead of selecting

NPOs,

orinaddition to selecting

NPOs,

thepurchaser

may

selectaparticular

cause

orissue

tovotefor.

When

making purchases,information pertainingtothe

cause

selectedby

thepurchaseristrackedbythe

PPS.

By

correlatingthe

amount

ofpurchases,the

frequencyofshopping orpurchases

and

other

consumer

informationtoa certain

number

ofvotecredits

and

applying thevotecredits tothe

cause

"selected,"the

PPS

can

match

causestothepreferencesofpurchasers,weighted by the"buyingpower"of

thosevoting forthecause. Thisinformationcouldbeparticularlyimportanttopersons

such as those runningforoffice

who

wishtosupport a causewhileachieving popular

support from thoseconstituentshavingthebuying

power

or

money

to contribute tothe

campaign.

The

tracking leadstoadifferentkindofcredenceor authentication or

credibilityto the choices ofan important

demographic

segment

—

thepurchaser rankedby frequencyor

amount

ofpurchasesorothercriteria.

The

PPS

canalsousethevotesintheformofacontest.

As

an example,the an organization interested in awarding a humanitarian

award

for outstanding

contributions to preserving theenvironment couldestablisha website accordingto the

presentinvention. Iftheaward

was

tobe

base

inwholeorinpartonpublic opinion,

thenthe

PPS

couldpollthevotesforthecontest.

The

candidates being considered

forthe

award

wouldbelistedon the

PPS

inplaceofthe

NPO's

of figure1.

A

user

wouldselect thecandidatethathe

wanted

hisvotecredits togotoas explained above.

The

user would then

make

purchases throughthe

PPS

as explained above. Vote creditsas afunction ofsite visitstovendorsand purchases

made

would

be

applied to

(12)

the

chosen

candidate.

The

contestcouldrununtilacertain

amount

ofvotes

were

cast

to

one

candidateor

were

cast for

any

candidate,untilacertain

amount

ofcommission

orsales

were made,

orothercriteria.

Unlike polls or otheropinion taking deviceswhich

must

factor in a high

percentageerrorvarianceforthose

who

arenot taking thepollseriously,by counting

onlythevotesofpurchasersrankedbythe

money

behind thevote,the accuracyofthe

votingshouldbe increased by discouraging non-seriousparties. Additionally, there

could

be an

incentive forthose wishing to

show

supportfora

cause

to

spend

additional

money

to"enhance"hisopinion,workingtothebenefitofthe

Vendors

and

thecause.

Additional incentivescouldbe providedtothecausesto

encourage

thatthey

signup

on

the

PPS

or to provide charitable contributions to thecauses. This can take

theformof either assigning thecommissiontothe

cause

orahybrid of incentives

and

awards.

It isto

be

understood thatthepresent inventionis not limited tothe sole

embodiment

described above,but

encompasses

any

and

ail

embodiments

withinthe

scope

ofthefollowing claims.