INVENTOR: SPENCER N. CARRUTHERS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of US Utility Patent Application 15230418, filed on Aug. 6, 2016, and incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to sales systems, and more particularly to a system for promoting sales of an item through legitimate sales channels.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

Counterfeit goods such as music CDs, DVDs, books, sports memorabilia, apparel, online and live wagering, and the like sold through illegitimate sales channels result in billions of dollars lost annually to the artists and authors of such works. Such counterfeit goods are alluring to would-be purchasers of such products usually due to lower pricing of the items and lack of concern about copyright infringement by the purchasers. Ticket scalpers and so-called "ticket-bots" often purchase tickets through legitimate channels but then raise the price when selling the on the black market after tickets become scarce. Further, tax revenues to local, state, and federal agencies are often lost when counterfeit goods are sold on the black market and not through legitimate sales channels.

Yet the producers of such items have a tremendous advantage by having legitimate sales channels for such items, and as such in theory they could steer more purchasers away from black market, illegitimate sales channels if there was a system in place to help motivate purchases only through legitimate sales channels, such as traditional record and book stores, on-line stores such as Amazon.com, and the like. Because purchasers of such items are so drawn to the celebrity status of the artists and authors of such items, offering a chance to win a prize associated with the author or artist would be highly motivating for the purchaser to purchase the items through only legitimate sales channels.

Therefore, there is a need for a system that establishes a prize pool of a plurality of prizes associated with an artist or author, and that provides a chance to win such prizes only to those purchasing items such as CDs, DVDs, books and the like through legitimate sales channels. Such a needed invention would be easy to use yet difficult to defraud. Such a needed system would provide means for increasing the prize pool as sales of the items achieve predefined sales milestones, contributing to the excitement of purchasers to purchase the items through the legitimate sales channels. Such a system would result in increased tax revenues at the local, state, and federal levels. The present invention accomplishes these objectives. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present device is a system connected to a network, such as the Internet, for promoting sales of an item through a plurality of legitimate sales channels. A server has at least a processor, a non-volatile storage medium, and a networking module adapted to connect to the network.

A campaign establishment module is configured to assign a plurality of unique codes each to a prize of one of a plurality of prize types. A prize pool comprises all of the prizes of the plurality of prize types.

A plurality of tickets are each imprinted with one of the unique codes. Each ticket is included with one of the items sold through one of the legitimate sales channels. When the item is a physical product, such as a CD, DVD, book, or the like, the ticket is a physically -printed ticket and is included in a sealed package with the item, so as to inhibit theft of the ticket without purchase of the item. When the items are electronic in nature, such as with music downloads, video downloads, e-book downloads, group memberships, and the like, the ticket is an electronically -generated ticket stored in an electronically -transmittable format. As such, purchase of a downloadable item, for example, will result in both the downloadable item and the electronically-generated ticked being sent to or otherwise made available to the purchaser. A prize redemption module is adapted to receive a prize request through the network from a purchaser of the item through one of the legitimate sales channels. The prize redemption module is configured to then compare an entered code from the purchaser with a list of the unique codes to validate the authenticity of the code and therefore the item. A prize notification module is adapted to alert the purchaser through the network of the prize associated with the code entered by the purchaser and how to obtain the prize.

Preferably each prize is associated in some way with the author or artist associated with the item. The prizes types are taken from the group consisting of lottery tickets, back-stage passes for concerts, recording sessions, clothing, jewelry, furniture, automobiles, personal possessions or property, dinner dates, special engagements, tours, in house shopping sprees, photo opportunities, guest appearances, pre-release parties, in-store signings, internships, employment, demos or screen play submissions to the author or artist, meeting opportunities, money, vacation rendezvous, stays at vacation homes, boat parties, after dinner parties, cameos in upcoming media, bills paid, phone calls, legacy media or items of the author or artist, behind-the-scenes insights, special or custom requests, autographs, signed calendars, endorsement or promotion of purchaser products or services, discount on future media or items, admission to shows, concert dedication to fan or charity of choice, kissing booth encounter, video chat, fan-suggested items, and the like.

The present system is a system that establishes a prize pool of a plurality of prizes associated with an artist or author, and that provides a chance to win such prizes only to those purchasing items such as CDs, DVDs, books and the like through legitimate sales channels. The present invention is easy to use yet difficult to defraud. The system provides means for increasing the prize pool as sales of the items achieve predefined sales milestones, contributing to the excitement of purchasers to purchase the items through the legitimate sales channels. The present system would further result in increased tax revenues at the local, state, and federal levels. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a physically-printed ticket packaged with a physical product in a seal package of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. The following explanation provides specific details for a thorough understanding of and enabling description for these embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand that the invention may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words "comprise," "comprising," and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including, but not limited to." Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words "herein," "above," "below" and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the claims use the word "or" in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list. When the word "each" is used to refer to an element that was previously introduced as being at least one in number, the word "each" does not necessarily imply a plurality of the elements, but can also mean a singular element.

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a system 10 connected to a network 18, such as the Internet, for promoting sales of an item 15 through a plurality of legitimate sales channels 16. The items 15 may be music CDs, video DVDs, books, sports memorabilia, apparel, on-line and live wagering, downloadable files such as music, video, or e-book files, concert tickets, theater tickets, and the like.

A server 20 has at least a processor 30, a non-volatile storage medium 40, and a networking module 50 adapted to connect to the network 18. A campaign establishment module 60 is configured to assign a plurality of unique codes 70, such as a bar code, QR code, or the like, each to a prize 1 1 of one of a plurality of prize types 13. A prize pool 14 comprises all of the prizes 11 of the plurality of prize types 13. Artists and authors of the items 15 are encouraged to donate personal items, time, social media and in-person appearances, and the like to the prize pool 14 to increase the chances of a purchaser 17 of winning one of the prizes 1 1.

A plurality of tickets 80 are each imprinted with one of the unique codes 70. Each ticket 80 is included with one of the items 15 sold through one of the legitimate sales channels 16. When the item 15 is a physical product, such as a CD, DVD, book, or the like, the ticket 80 is a physically-printed ticket 81 and is included in a sealed package 140 with the item 15, so as to inhibit theft of the ticket 81 without purchase of the item 15. When the items 15 are electronic in nature, such as with music downloads, video downloads, e-book downloads, group memberships, and the like, the ticket 80 is an electronically-generated ticket 82 stored in an electronically - transmittable format. As such, purchase of a downloadable item 15, for example, will result in both the downloadable item 15 and the electronically-generated ticked 82 being sent to or otherwise made available to the purchaser 17.

A prize redemption module 90 is adapted to receive a prize request through the network 18 from a purchaser 17 of the iteml 5 through one of the legitimate sales channels 16. The prize redemption module 90 is configured to then compare an entered code from the purchaser 17 with a list of the unique codes 70 to validate the authenticity of the code and therefore the item 15. A percentage of the unique codes 70 are each assigned to one of the prizes 1 1, and the rest of the unique codes 70 are not associated with a prize 11 or they are associated with a low-value prize 1 1, such as an automatically-generated email from the artist or author to the purchaser 17 thanking them for their legitimate purchase and perhaps offering a link to a rare video of the artist or the like.

In the event that the entered code 70 from the purchaser 17 is associated with one of the prizes 1 1 , a prize notification module 100 is adapted to alert the purchaser 17 through the network 18 of the prize 11 associated with the code 17 entered by the purchaser and how to obtain the prize 1 1. Preferably the prize redemption module 100 is further adapted to receive through the network 18 an indication that a particular prize 11 has been awarded, and to indicate a prize request as previously redeemed upon receipt of a subsequent request for the prize 1 1.

Preferably each prize 1 1 is associated in some way with the author or artist associated with the item 15. The prizes types 13 are taken from the group consisting of lottery tickets, back-stage passes for concerts of the artist, recording sessions with the artist, clothing of the author or artist, jewelry of the author or artist, furniture of the author or artist, automobiles of the author or artist, personal possessions or property of the author or artist, dinner dates with the author or artist, special engagements with the author or artist, tours with the author or artist, in house shopping sprees with the author or artist, photo opportunities with the author or artist, guest appearances with the author or artist, pre-release parties with the author or artist, in-store signings with the author or artist, internships with the author or artist, employment with the author or artist, demos or screen play submissions to the author or artist, meeting

opportunities with the author or artist, money, vacation rendezvous with the author or artist, stays at vacation homes of the author or artist, boat parties with the author or artist, after dinner parties with the author or artist, cameos in upcoming media with the author or artist, bills paid, phone calls with the author or artist, legacy media or items 15 of the author or artist, behind-the-scenes insights of the author or artist, special or custom requests, autographs of the author or artist, signed calendars by the author or artist, endorsement or promotion of purchaser products or services of the author or artist, discount on future media or items 15 of the author or artist, admission to shows of the author or artist, concert dedication to fan or charity of choice by the author or artist, donation to charity of choice by the author or artist, kissing booth with the author or artist, video chat with the author or artist, and fan-suggested items such as a particular outfit worn by the artist in a particular movie or at a particular concert, for example.

In some embodiments of the invention, additional prizes 12 are added to the prize pool 14 as "stretch goals" as sales of the item 15 through the legitimate sales channels 16 are achieved. For example, if a music CD reaches sales of one million units, the artist might donate a personal automobile to the prize pool 14. In some embodiments, used items 15 previously purchased (such as CDs or albums, for example) may be repackaged with the ticket 80 and resold, thereby generating additional tax revenue for local, state and federal governments.

While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the present invention calls for at least two different prize types 13, but may in fact include many prizes 1 1 and prize types 13, such as 20, 30, 50 or more. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims. Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention.

The above detailed description of the embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above or to the particular field of usage mentioned in this disclosure. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Also, the teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.

All of the above patents and applications and other references, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporated herein by reference.

Aspects of the invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various references described above to provide yet further embodiments of the invention.

Changes can be made to the invention in light of the above "Detailed Description." While the above description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. Therefore, implementation details may vary considerably while still being encompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated.

While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventor contemplates the various aspects of the invention in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the inventor reserves the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the invention.