Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – In a chance application
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-09
2002-09-24
Sager, Mark (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
In a chance application
C463S029000, C463S042000, C705S014270
Reexamination Certificate
active
06454650
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of conducting sweepstake-type games in lottery format over a computer network, and in particular to a method of and system for allowing each individual participant to use his or her personal computer to connect over the Internet to a Web server of a lottery authority operating on the host computer system, submit his or her lottery selection to the lottery authority, and participate in the lottery drawing by receiving a chance to qualify for a substantial prize without any purchase of a lottery ticket or any other form of wagering or payment. The lottery system according to the present invention is structured in way that automatically links the submission of each lottery participant containing numbers chosen by that participant to information about products and services advertised by various Internet vendors and each lottery participant, who must agree to receive such information as a condition for participation in the lottery.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, lottery games are conducted as a state-wide governmental system where the participants make their selections and participate in the game, usually by wagering a small amount (e.g., one dollar ($1.00)) for each selection submitted to the lottery authority. In addition, as a confirmation that the chosen selection has been processed and sent to the lottery authority, each participant usually receives a lottery ticket with that participant's lottery selection, i.e. the numbers selected for a particular lottery drawing, printed thereon. This wagering and submission of the selected numbers by each participant is usually done at the local lottery ticket dispensing facilities, which relay to the lottery authority the selections of all participants that wagered or purchased their selection at those facilities. The participants may usually place new or additional wagers (by purchasing tickets at the local lottery ticket dispensing facilities) during a designated time period prior to the lottery drawing that is scheduled for a particular day and time. Then, after the close of that period, the lottery authority conducts a lottery drawing, during which a series of random numbers is selected by the lottery authority or another agency running the lottery drawing. The randomly selected numbers for a particular lottery drawing, i.e. the winning combination, are posted at all local lottery ticket dispensing facilities and may be announced through the mass media. The participants whose selections match the winning combination for a specific lottery drawing become eligible to receive a substantial monetary prize, the so-called jackpot, often in millions of dollars, by presenting their confirmation tickets to the lottery authority. The participants whose selections only partially match the winning combination may also become eligible to receive monetary prizes in lesser amounts.
Automated systems for submission of the selections chosen by the participants and confirmation of those selections through an automated telephone system or a computer network are known in the art. Examples of such systems are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,149, issued to Xidos et. al., the U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,278, issued to Markowitz, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,910,047, 5,904,619, 5,415,416, 5,816,919 and 5,823,877, issued to Scagnelli. Another example of such automated system is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,424, which discloses a remote gaming system that enables the player to participate in a lottery from a remote location though the computer network. Similarly, PCT International application No. PCT/US97/08457, published on Dec. 31, 1997, discloses the use of the Internet to communicate their selections to the central computer or a network of computers of the lottery authority that conducts lottery drawings, and to allow for verification of the submitted selections.
While the systems that utilize the Internet to conduct a lottery and provide for an automated submission, verification and processing of a selection from each lottery participant are known and described in the prior art, the known systems and method all require either placement of some wager by a participant, a charge against the participant's account or credit card, or some other type of consideration that is required in order for the participant to participate in the lottery and become eligible to receive a winning prize if his or her selection matches the winning combination. In the lottery systems known and described in the art, the jackpot and other prizes (i.e. large sums of money that are payed to the winners of the lottery) are derived from the funds received from the millions of lottery participants making their purchases or placing small wagers on their selections. Given the tremendous popularity of the lottery games with the public, as demonstrated by the fact that millions participate in numerous state lotteries weekly, there exists a need for a system to conduct a lottery where the participants would not need to wager their own funds or make any purchases in order to subsidize the winning jackpots for a relatively few winners of the lottery.
Additionally, with growing popularity of lotteries in the United States, where millions of people participate in the government-sponsored lottery games, the use of the lottery system where all participants must contribute and spend their money on a purchase of tickets for a small chance to become a winner of a large jackpot has been criticized as an unfair tax system that derives most of its revenue from the low and middle income communities that generally purchase most lottery tickets. These concerns for the disproportionate impact of the large-scale lottery games upon global economics emphasize the known shortcomings of the existing lottery systems and underline the substantial need for a free lottery system where the revenues used to pay for the jackpot prices and the expenditures and profits of the lottery authority would not be derived from the wagers and purchases of individual participants. Further, the popularity of the Internet has enhanced the value of lottery-type games.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a system to conduct a truly free lottery, where individual participants are not required to wager any of their own funds or make any purchases in order to be eligible to participate in the lottery drawing held or supervised by the lottery authority and receive an equal chance at winning the large jackpot prize or a number of smaller prizes. Accordingly, the present invention provides a method and a system in which the submission of each selection chosen by a lottery participant is automatically linked to information about products or services advertised by various Internet vendors, i.e. companies that place their banner advertisements on the Web site running on the host computer system of the lottery authority, and each lottery participant must agree to receive such information. The participants in the lottery according to the current invention are not required to purchase any of the vendors' advertised products or services in order to submit their selections to the lottery authority or be eligible to participate in the lottery. Instead, the lottery method and system of the current invention provides for an automated system to satisfy the growing demand among vendors of products and services on the Internet to reach a wider sector of the public with information about their products and services by utilizing the growing interest of the public in playing lottery games over the Internet and their willingness to receive advertising information in exchange for the shift in cost for the participation in the lottery from individual participants onto the Internet vendors.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an Internet-based lottery system where the central host computer system that operates a Web server of the lottery au
Amster Rothstein & Ebenstein
Sager Mark
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