Patent ID: 7580864
Filing Date: 2009-08-25
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A gift certificate service system for managing sales, gifting, and usage of electronic gift certificates according to a request by a user's communication terminal through a wired network, wireless network, or both, comprising: a gift certificate service server for managing purchase, gifting, and usage operations on the electronic gift certificates from the communication terminal; a gift certificate database, accessed by the gift certificate service server, for storing electronic gift certificate information prior to transferring the gift certificate to a transferee, and processing a reply to an inquiry of electronic gift certificate usage from the gift certificate service server; and a network server, accessed by the gift certificate service server and accessed by the user's communication terminal through the wired network, wireless network, or both, for performing a client interface function with the purchase, gifting, and usage of the electronic gift certificates, and transmitting the user's gift certificate purchase particulars and gift certificate information for usage of the corresponding gift certificate to the communication terminal, wherein the electronic gift certificate is a multimedia message including barcode data, wherein the network server is responsive to use of the electronic gift certificate occasioned by displaying the barcode data on the communication terminal, and wherein the electronic gift certificate information stored by the gift certificate database includes at least one of a gifting history of the gift certificates or a usage history of the gift certificates.