Facsimile and static presentation processing – Static presentation processing – Communication
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-23
2003-03-18
Coles, Edward (Department: 2722)
Facsimile and static presentation processing
Static presentation processing
Communication
C358S001140, C705S026640, C705S027200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06535294
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for preparing customized printed products, such as pressure-sensitive labels, business cards, business and personal stationary, personal greeting cards, and the like, wherein preselected, user-defined indicia may be provided on the printed products. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for preparing a customized printed product, wherein the printed product is prepared by an end-user thereof over a quasi-public communications network, such as the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printed products, such as pressure-sensitive labels, business cards, business and personal stationary, personal greeting cards, and the like, are widely used by businesses and individuals alike to uniquely identify that business or individual and to convey certain information thereby. For example, a sales representative oftentimes carries a plurality of business cards having information such as the representative's name, business address, telephone number, e-mail address, and the name of the representative's business organization, preprinted thereon. In addition to information of the type listed above, the business card may likewise contain certain images or graphics, such as a company logo or other original artwork, preprinted thereon to uniquely identify the business or individual and to give the business card a visually-pleasing appearance.
Similarly, many businesses and individuals alike oftentimes include certain information, such as a business address, business telephone number, Internet web site “home page”, and the like, as well as certain images or graphics, such as a company logo or other original artwork, preprinted on letter-quality paper which uniquely identifies the business or individual and gives any written communication made thereby a visually-pleasing appearance.
The number and variety of printed products typical of those used by many businesses for similar purposes is nearly endless. For example, promotional materials, such as advertising postcards, coupons, pressure-sensitive labels, and the like, are used by many businesses. Such promotional materials typically include various indicia preprinted thereon which are unique to that business. In most such cases, preparing and ordering the printed products is oftentimes a time-consuming process. For example, to obtain a desired quantity of customized, pre-printed products, an end-user business typically prepares a layout design of the desired printed product design (which may include original artwork, such as a company logo or the like), contacts a print shop, submits the design layout and all the necessary artwork for the print shop to prepare a draft printed product, receives the draft printed product from the print shop, revises the draft printed product and resubmits the revised draft to the print shop for final printing. The end-user must then wait for the print shop to prepare the necessary equipment, print the desired quantity of the printed product and ship the finished product to the end-user. During this process, the end-user and the print shop typically communicate with one another by telephone, facsimile or mail, oftentimes resulting to significant delays in the end-user's obtaining the finished product.
It is desirable, then, to provide a system and method for preparing customized printed products. Even further, it is desirable to provide a system and method for preparing customized printed products, wherein an end-user thereof uses a quasi-public communication network, such as the Internet, to communicate directly with a print shop, thereby providing an expedited method for preparing the customized printed products.
For example, the on-line desktop publishing service sold by Digital-Net, Inc., of Saint Paul, Minn., under the claimed trademark VIRTUAL PRE-PRESS permits an end-user thereof to connect via the Internet to the Digital-Net VIRTUAL PRE-PRESS order processing system through a hypertext link from a subscribing third-party print shop web site, prepare a customized printed product, such as a business card, using the VIRTUAL PRE-PRESS system, and submit a formatted, digital file copy of the customized printed product attached to an e-mail sent from the VIRTUAL PRE-PRESS system to the third party print shop over the Internet. The third party print shop receives the e-mail (and file attached thereto containing the digital copy of the customized printed product), prints the indicated quantity of the finished products according to the end-user's design and ships the finished products directly to the end-user.
The end-user is connected to the Digital-Net web server computer (having the domain name www.digital-net.com) during preparation of the customized printed product; once completed, the digital file copy of the customized printed product is attached as a file to an e-mail which is sent from the Digital-Net system to the print shop web site, where the print shop processes the digital file to prepare and print the order. After the end-user is transferred from the print shop web site to the Digital-Net web server computer, it is unnecessary for the end-user to reconnect to the print shop web site. Further, the Digital-Net system does not print the finished product, but merely interjects itself between the end-user and the print shop to provide customized layout design features which assist the end-user in instructing the print shop how to lay out and print the finished printed product. As such, users may only connect to the Digital-Net system via web sites of print shops which have access to printing equipment. A print shop which does not have access to bulk printing equipment, such as, for example, a commercial photocopy kiosk, cannot offer the VIRTUAL PRE-PRESS system to its retail customers, as the VIRTUAL PRE-PRESS system will not permit an end-user retail customer to order printed products therefrom. Thus, it is desirable to provide a system and method for preparing a desired quantity of customized printed products, wherein an end-user thereof connects to, communicates with and submits an order to an anonymous wholesaler print shop, directly, thereby permitting the end-user to order printed products from a retail print shop which does not have access to bulk printing equipment, such as a commercial photocopy kiosk. It is even further desirable to provide a system and method for preparing a desired quantity of customized printed products, wherein an end-user thereof connects to, communicates with and submits an order to an anonymous wholesaler print shop, directly, via a subscribing retailer web site.
It is also desirable to provide a system and method for preparing customized printed products, wherein an end-user thereof uses a product design, layout and preparation system over a quasi-public communications network, such as the Internet, to prepare, in realtime, the customized printed products thereby.
It is also desirable to provide a system and method for preparing customized printed products, wherein an end-user thereof is capable of quickly recreating customized printed products which were previously designed and purchased by the end-user. It is therefore desirable to provide a system and method for preparing customized printed products, wherein the system includes at least one database for storing end-user data therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is for a system and method for preparing customized printed products, such as pressure-sensitive labels, business cards, business and personal stationary, personal greeting cards, and the like, wherein the printed products may include preselected, user-defined indicia thereon, and wherein the printed product is prepared by an end-user thereof over a quasi-public communications network, such as the Internet.
An end-user connects to the Internet, and particularly, to the World Wide Web thereof, using conventional browser software installed locally on the end-user's co
Arledge, Jr. Sol E.
Pasquantino Bernard D.
Wakefield G. Steve
Coles Edward
Discount Labels, Inc.
Ghee Ashanti
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