Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – In a chance application
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-26
2001-08-07
Layno, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
In a chance application
C273S269000, C283S094000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06270406
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to instant scratch-off lottery games in general, and to means for preventing fraudulent alteration of the ticket.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Instant scratch-off lottery tickets are being increasingly sold around the world.
Instant scratch-off lottery tickets contain hidden preprinted winning and losing game data which distinguish this form of lottery from the various other forms in which winning numbers are drawn some time after the sale of the ticket (conventional state lottery).
This scratch-off lottery utilizes a ticket, card, or other paper imprinted with indicia such as information relating to certain numbers, symbols, words and the like which indicate whether the bearer has won a prize. Such tickets must obscure the win-indicating information from observation by both the ticket distributor and the ticket purchaser as well until after the ticket has been sold. In this way, neither the ticket distributor nor the purchaser can determine which of a large number of tickets contain the win-indicating information.
After the ticket is purchased, the purchaser removes the material which obscures the information imprinted thereon. Once this coating is removed, the purchaser will know if he holds a winning ticket.
The games of the instant lotteries are generally of five main types:
1—Match three amounts or symbols and win that amount.
2—Match any of your preprinted numbers to another set of preprinted numbers and win a predetermined amount.
3—Bingo-type game
4—Compare your preprinted numbers or playing cards to a preprinted number(s) or playing cards. You win if you get higher numbers, etc.
5—You win if you have a preprinted winning symbol in your card.
All of the above categories of games and all the other currently available instant lottery games have a predetermined number of winning tickets. The tickets that have the winning indicia are sold randomly among the other tickets. The purchaser has no role in making the ticket he buys a winning one, nor has he the choice of entering his lucky numbers as he does in purchasing the conventional lottery ticket.
Players feel more satisfaction if they can choose their own numbers compared to having a ticket with preprinted winning indicia.
The current invention provides the combined advantages of the conventional lottery by allowing the purchaser to enter his chosen number and the advantage of the instant scratch-off lottery tickets by enabling the purchaser to immediately learn if the ticket is a winner or loser.
It is, therefore, a prime object of the current invention to provide a novel type of instant lottery scratch-off game in which any ticket could be a winning one if the player entered the correct numbers printed on that particular ticket.
It is another object of the present invention to provide endless new varieties of games where only the player has a major input and contribution to make the ticket a winning one.
It is another object of this invention to provide the player with prior knowledge of the amount of the prize and the probability of winning for each particular game.
It is another object of the current invention to create more trust and confidence in the lottery agency by letting the player choose his own numbers.
It is another object of the current invention to provide a method for defeating any technique for nondestructive premature reading of the winning number printed on the card by providing a security bar code over-printed on the scratch-off material which covers the boxes which correspond to each number.
The security bar codes will enable the ticket distributor to transfer the information to a central computer of the lottery agency to approve or disapprove the payment of the prizes of the winning tickets.
It is still another objective to allow reading of the information of the ticket rapidly and accurately to determine whether the ticket is valid and whether it is a winning ticket, and also to prevent fraud and counterfeiting.
In view of the above shortcomings of the instant lottery tickets, there is a need in the lottery business for new types of games which combine the advantages of traditional lottery games by allowing players to choose their own numbers and the advantage of the instant scratch-off ticket by allowing immediate learning if the ticket is a winner or loser.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The current invention relates to the structure of a game card of the instant scratch-off type of lotteries.
The current invention provides the combined advantages of the conventional lottery which allows the player to choose his own number to determine his chance of winning, and the advantage of the instant scratch-off lottery tickets by enabling the player to immediately learn if the ticket is a winning or a losing one.
The invention ensures that the ticket is not invalidated by revealing more data than the player is allowed to reveal. This is achieved by a bar code, readable to a scanner, covering each box representing the number of the set of numbers printed on the card.
The current invention provides a plurality of games allowing the player to pick his own number, which varies with each particular game, which could be pick 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or more numbers from a set of numbers. Each number of this set is represented by a box covered by the scratch-off material which is over-printed with an appropriate bar code readable to a scanner (such scanners are already widely used in stores).
The winning number for each ticket is chosen randomly by a central processor of the lottery agency and stored in its data associated with the serial number of the ticket which, in one embodiment of the invention, is also printed on the card as a scanner readable bar code. The winning numbers are marked by symbols inside the corresponding boxes and are hidden by the scratch-off material and the over-printed security bar code. The winning numbers are unique for each card.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the serial number is not printed on the ticket body as a code. Rather, the ticket includes a readable magnetic strip which contains the serial number of the ticket. The magnetic strip may also include other information besides the serial number. With such an embodiment, the card may be readable using a conventional magnetic strip reader as is known in the art.
The player is instructed to remove only the material covering the boxes which corresponds to the numbers chosen. If the player reveals more boxes than allowed for that particular game, the card is invalidated and the player loses even if he reveals the correct numbers.
For example, if the player is playing the Pick 3 games, he is instructed to choose only three numbers of a set of numbers printed on the card. He has to remove only the scratch-off material covering the boxes (or fields) of his three selected numbers.
The ticket distributors are provided with scanners (not part of the invention-already available in the market), that can read the serial number of the ticket and the security bar code for each box number to verify that winning numbers are revealed and that only certain numbers of the fields are revealed and the covering security bar codes of the rest of the fields are not violated. The information thus obtained is transferred to the central processor of the lottery agency to approve or disapprove the payment of the prizes. Such a scanner may include a magnetic strip reader, if necessary.
In another embodiment of the invention; the scanner-readable code is placed in all the fields, including the winning fields. The scratch-off material covers all the fields and codes, along with the winning symbols. The scanner may verify that the proper number of fields have been revealed and that the ticket is valid by scanning the codes that are revealed. A winning ticket would be determined as above by the symbols in the revealed fields.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5074566 (1991-12-01), Desbiens
patent: 5109153 (1992-04-01), Johnsen
patent: 5118109 (1992-06-01), Gumina
patent: 5217258 (1993-06-01), Sanderson
patent: 528606
Layno Benjamin H.
Mendiratta Vishu K.
Wood Herron & Evans L.L.P.
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