Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-20
2004-02-10
Layno, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
C463S042000, C273S244200, C273S237000, C273S292000, C273S298000, C273S308000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06688973
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system (method and apparatus) for using “trading cards” interactively through an electronic network, such as the Internet.
The present invention utilizes trading cards in interactive, on-line game playing, in a way which heightens interest in the cards, the associated electronic venues, and the actual sport or theme represented by the cards.
For the purposes of the present disclosure, the term “trading card” shall mean a physical card, made of cardboard, plastic or the like, a “virtual” card, presented as an image to the user by electronic and/or optical means, or some other physical substrate or virtual image, which bears text and/or graphic information about a certain a sport (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, etc.), for which the player's statistics and current actual performance are known.
The trading card industry, currently dominated by sports cards, has existed for over 100 years and has seen significant changes over that period. Initially popularized by cigarette companies, a number of producers of trading cards exist. The primary producers of sports trading cards are Topps (topps.com), Fleer (fleer.com), and Upper Deck (upperdeck.com). Many other producers also exist, and the themes of their trading cards are not limited to sports.
The trading card industry has become extremely competitive. Over the years, it has embraced new printing technologies, new themes, new sports, new packaging ideas, and other innovations such as actual player autographs and embedding small fragments of game-used equipment in the cards, to achieve competitive advantage. The industry has not, however, significantly successfully embraced the new electronic networking or Internet technologies in its search for innovation and competitive advantage.
One use of the Internet involving so-called electronic cards or “e-cards”, allows a card holder to visit a world-wide-web site, enter a code number from a special, limited-production sports trading card, and learn whether he or she is entitled to a prize or an “upgraded” card. Another use of the Internet allows collectors to purchase “virtual” cards which are held by the producer. Since pristine condition is generally required for a card to maintain its maximum monetary value, trading card companies have offered a service whereby a collector can purchase the “deed” to a card on-line. The card is retained in an electronic “vault” for safekeeping. The deeded card can then later be delivered on demand to the owner, or more likely, traded or sold to another collector (without the need to actually physically possess the card).
A number of other electronic sports card trading services and secondary trading markets exist as well. Trading cards (sports and otherwise) are routinely bought and sold on electronic auction sites.
One known set of baseball trading cards has the added feature of being part of a role-playing game, where each card owner/participant can be the manager of a baseball team. A pretend baseball game can be played with the aid of a multi-sided die using statistics listed on each trading card to determine the progress of the game. These cards have interest both as trading cards and as part of the role-playing game.
Over the past 20 years or so, various sports (beginning with baseball) have spawned a now-popular pastime known as “rotisserie” or “fantasy” sports leagues. While there are a great number of different variations in the concept, generally, participants (known as “managers”) select actual players from across all professional teams of a given sport, and record the rosters of these “fantasy” teams on paper or electronically. By utilizing a player's actual results during actual professional sports contests, fantasy team managers accrue points as well.
For example if a fantasy baseball team manager has selected Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees and Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants to be on his or her fantasy team, and if Jeter bats in 2 runs and Bonds bats in 3 runs, in one version of the game that manager would score 5 points, based upon the actual real time performance of the players. There are innumerable variations of scoring and complexity among these leagues, and the example just stated has been simplified for purposes of explanation.
The rise of the Internet has made operating and participating in fantasy sports leagues much easier and much more popular. Many sites exist (some cost free and some which require a participant to pay for the service) that tabulate all of the statistics on a real time or near-real time basis so that enthusiasts can always see how their fantasy team is performing, compared with other teams which might be constructed by their friends, colleagues, or strangers. In general, each player is given a dollar value and, through pari-mutuel trading activity, their values vary. Each player starts with a certain amount of fantasy money in order to staff the team rosters through either a “draft” of players or through pari-mutuel purchase.
In addition to the above, the following U.S. patents disclose various games and specific uses of trading cards:
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,216 to Peppel entitled “Electronic Trading Card” discloses a trading card with an electronic, updateable storage medium, on the card itself. The updatable medium is physically similar in many respects to that used on the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority's “MetroCard”. The card stores electronic information on this medium which includes “multimedia data” such as pictures, sound and text, as well as various other items of information, as desired. These cards may be sold to, and thereafter traded by collectors who may also store their unique password on the updateable medium. These cards are said to be useful for game playing.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,259 to Pearson for a “Video Sports Game System Using Trading Cards” discloses a closed-system video game that uses both human and machine-readable data printed on trading cards. The cardholder can play a game with the cards, either alone or with other players.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,173 to Crowder discloses a “baseball game” which is played with baseball type player trading cards. The game uses physical baseball cards, a die and a deck of standard playing cards. The trading cards are divided into teams, each with a pitcher. The die is tossed to determine which matrix (player or pitcher) is used and a standard playing card is selected to determine which cell in the matrix creates the play.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,204 to Meyer, III discloses a board game for simulating the game of baseball in which baseball trading cards are utilized as playing pieces. The game includes a board having a baseball diamond pictured thereon and a plurality of cardholders into which baseball trading cards may be positioned. A deck of pitcher cards provides a random pitch to a player at bat, such as a strike, ball, or hit, and a deck of action cards provides a random result of the batter's action, such as a hit, out, or homerun. The game pieces are then moved in accordance with the rules of conventional baseball.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,124 to Smith et al. discloses an electronic trading card system wherein trading card software is stored on a removable medium, such as a CD-Rom, in a copy protected form. The trading card software includes trading card data and an executable computer program. Each removable medium contains trading card data that is specific to a particular individual or character or any person, place or thing. The trading card software is interactive. The computer user is able to select one of a number of predetermined displays by selecting interactivity areas on each display.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,561 to Pace and U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,656 to Pace disclose a computer-based trading card collection system using CD-ROMs. The collection items (or more specifically their unlocking keys) are contained in various floppy disks. With the disks inserted into the computer system, the icons of the collection items on
Satloff Dustin N.
Satloff James E.
Layno Benjamin H.
Milde & Hoffberg LLP
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