Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Electronic shopping
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-04
2001-05-29
Voeltz, Emanuel Todd (Department: 2761)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Electronic shopping
C705S005000, C705S013000, C705S027200, C705S037000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06240396
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to a method and system for facilitating the remote purchase and sale of tickets, and more particularly, to a method and system for electronically facilitating buying and selling tickets for an event, such as the ballet, theater or a sporting event.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Attending an event such as a concert, play, or sporting event generally requires purchasing a ticket in advance. Tickets are traditionally provided by the venue hosting the event and are sold at the venue's box office. Tickets are also available through ticket distributors, in coordination with the hosting venue and the event promoter. Aside from the venue box office, tickets are also available through ticket outlets, ticket brokers, telephone sales, remote ticket printing applications, ticket kiosks and Internet web sites.
It is not uncommon, however, for a venue to sell out quickly for a particular event, whereby available tickets are limited to ticket brokers and “scalpers.” For instance, a popular concert may sell out well before many people interested in attending are aware that the original tickets are available. Thus, these individuals are forced to explore the resale market.
Resellers of tickets are limited in their ability to advertise availability to the public. Resellers may rely on classified advertisements in the newspaper, electronic bulletin boards, established contacts or “chat rooms” on the Internet. Also, resellers usually must complete sales either through the mail, or in person.
A number of shortcomings, however, exist for both buyers and sellers in the present resale market. First, the aforementioned methods of advertising are generally neither efficient nor flexible. The cost of advertising often outweighs the marginal profit gained through advertising, particularly for a single ticket. For instance, an advertiser may pay $30 for a classified ad that results in an additional profit of only $15. Moreover, advertisements are difficult to remove from the public realm once tickets are resold. Thus, a person selling a ticket may get many telephone inquiries after the ticket has been sold. Further, advertising is especially difficult because many transactions need to be completed just before an event occurs. This is problematic because the buyer requires the ticket to attend the event, and delivering the ticket immediately prior to the event may be difficult. Presently, ticket sellers are often forced to leave tickets at will-call windows or with local proprietors for pick up.
Related shortcomings with the current resale market are timing and delivery. Ticket resellers may not have tickets available until very near to the start time of a particular event, and buyers may not decide to attend an event until shortly before it begins. Specifically, the prior art does not allow substantially immediate efficient consummation of an offer to purchase or sell tickets. Accordingly, there is not a system that solves the problems associated with reselling tickets on the day of the event.
For example, if a person holding a ticket to a hockey game discovers two hours before the game begins that he cannot attend, his options for reselling his ticket are severely limited. His best chance to resell his ticket is to stand outside the arena and hope to find a buyer for the ticket. Such conduct is illegal in most states. Using a similar example, if a person decides he would like to attend that game two hours before it begins, his best option to acquire a ticket is to appear outside the arena and search for a ticket reseller. In both cases, the options presented to both the buyer and the seller are limited to particularly inconvenient and unpredictable ways of purchasing and reselling tickets.
Finally, potential buyers often possess a general distrust of ticket resellers. The act of ticket reselling is often perceived as illegal, and potential buyers are sometimes unhappy about resale prices that are significantly higher than those originally determined by the venue. As a result, buyers simply do not trust ticket resellers, but are often forced to use them as a last resort to purchase tickets. Markups on marquis events can often be as high as 500%. Further, unless a buyer is face-to-face with a ticket reseller, the buyer is typically unwilling to pay for tickets without some assurance of delivery. Likewise, a ticket reseller is typically unwilling to deliver tickets without payment in advance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems identified above are solved and a technical advance is achieved by providing, in accordance with the present invention, a system and method for purchasing a ticket for a specified event on a specified date at a specified price.
A method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes: a potential buyer electronically transmitting a guaranteed purchase offer for a ticket to a central controller; the central controller electronically making the offer available to a plurality of potential sellers; a first-accepting seller transmitting an acceptance of the offer to the central controller; and the central controller transmitting this acceptance to the buyer along with a code to use at a venue to verify his purchase of the ticket.
Thus, the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides individuals a quick and easy way to purchase a ticket from a ticket reseller, and allows them to avoid the traditional problems of the ticket resale market. Moreover, ticket resellers can sell a ticket based on a guaranteed purchase offer provided by a potential buyer. In addition, the present invention includes mechanisms which prevent fraud both during and after the transaction.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3573747 (1971-04-01), Adams et al.
patent: 3581072 (1971-05-01), Nymeyer
patent: 3757685 (1973-09-01), Woodie et al.
patent: 3829133 (1974-08-01), Smagala-Romanoff
patent: 3937894 (1976-02-01), Grzybowski et al.
patent: 4247759 (1981-01-01), Yuris et al.
patent: 4449186 (1984-05-01), Kelly et al.
patent: 4522429 (1985-06-01), Gardner et al.
patent: 4553222 (1985-11-01), Kurland et al.
patent: 4677552 (1987-06-01), Sibley, Jr.
patent: 4721954 (1988-01-01), Mauch
patent: 4751728 (1988-06-01), Treat
patent: 4789928 (1988-12-01), Fujisaki
patent: 4799156 (1989-01-01), Shavit et al.
patent: 4867481 (1989-09-01), Gundjian
patent: 4903201 (1990-02-01), Wagner
patent: 4931932 (1990-06-01), Dalnekoff et al.
patent: 4972182 (1990-11-01), Novik et al.
patent: 5018286 (1991-05-01), Zahner
patent: 5021953 (1991-06-01), Webber et al.
patent: 5053612 (1991-10-01), Pielemeier et al.
patent: 5136501 (1992-08-01), Silverman et al.
patent: 5168446 (1992-12-01), Wiseman
patent: 5171040 (1992-12-01), Orndorff
patent: 5191523 (1993-03-01), Whitesage
patent: 5191613 (1993-03-01), Graziano et al.
patent: 5204663 (1993-04-01), Lee
patent: 5224034 (1993-06-01), Katz et al.
patent: 5243515 (1993-09-01), Lee
patent: 5253165 (1993-10-01), Leiseca et al.
patent: 5262941 (1993-11-01), Saladin et al.
patent: 5283731 (1994-02-01), Lalonde et al.
patent: 5290068 (1994-03-01), Gundjian
patent: 5291243 (1994-03-01), Heckman et al.
patent: 5297031 (1994-03-01), Gutterman et al.
patent: 5317135 (1994-05-01), Finocchio
patent: 5329589 (1994-07-01), Fraser et al.
patent: 5331546 (1994-07-01), Webber et al.
patent: 5338066 (1994-08-01), Gundjian
patent: 5338067 (1994-08-01), Gundjian
patent: 5354723 (1994-10-01), Gundjian
patent: 5361199 (1994-11-01), Shoquist et al.
patent: 5375055 (1994-12-01), M. Togher, et al.
patent: 5404291 (1995-04-01), Kerr et al.
patent: 5420914 (1995-05-01), Blumhardt
patent: 5421869 (1995-06-01), Gundjian et al.
patent: 5424266 (1995-06-01), Gundjian
patent: 5426281 (1995-06-01), Abecassis
patent: 5444630 (1995-08-01), Dlugos
patent: 5451052 (1995-09-01), Behm et al.
patent: 5467269 (1995-11-01), Flaten
patent: 5476830 (1995-12-01), Gundjian
patent: 5491752 (1996-02-01), Kaufman et al.
patent: 5499816 (1996-03-01), Levy
patent: 5500793 (1996-03-01), Deming, Jr. et al.
patent: 5516362 (1996-05-01), Gundjian et al.
patent: 5517555 (199
Jorasch James A.
Lech Robert R.
Schneier Bruce
Sparico Thomas M.
Van Luchene Andrew S.
Hayes John W.
Morgan & Finnegan , LLP
priceline.com Incorporated
Todd Voeltz Emanuel
LandOfFree
Conditional purchase offer management system for event tickets does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Conditional purchase offer management system for event tickets, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Conditional purchase offer management system for event tickets will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2572235