Abstract:
Apparatus and article of manufacture for processing electronic rebates are disclosed. In one embodiment, a purchase identifier is linked to a purchase of a product. The purchase identifier is listed on a receipt upon the purchase of the product or contained in an electronic mail message sent to an electronic mail address accessible using a user computer system. Information is then received via a network from a user of the user computer system to complete a rebate claim for the purchased product. The received information is verified to determine whether the purchase identifier was provided. The rebate claim is granted if the received information is verified as correct.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/835,731, filed Apr. 16, 2001, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to computer systems and computer software. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing electronic rebates. 
         [0004]    2. Background of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Companies and manufacturers often use promotions to increase sales of its products. One common type of promotion is to provide a rebate to a purchaser of a particular product. Initially, the customer purchases an item or product. To claim the rebate, a customer must complete a rebate form, obtain proof of purchase information, e.g., a receipt and product code, and submit the rebate for processing. The customer waits for the rebate, while the company receives the rebate request, validates the rebate and issues a check to the customer. The customer then cashes the issued check from the company. 
         [0006]    Although the rebate claim process enables a company to sell more products and a customer to purchase a product at a cheaper price, there are some disadvantages to this rebate process. For example, the current rebate process often takes a long time, e.g., often eight to twelve weeks, to complete. The customer is also required to obtain the original sales receipt, the product code and complete a rebate form prior to submitting the rebate claim. Moreover, the company must have employees to process and validate the rebates as well as issuing rebate checks. 
         [0007]    Therefore, a need exists in the art to provide a solution for processing rebates without the disadvantages associated with the current processing of rebates. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    Embodiments of the invention provide apparatus and article of manufacture for processing electronic rebates. In one embodiment, a purchase identifier is linked to a purchase of a product. The purchase identifier is listed on a receipt upon the purchase of the product or contained in an electronic mail message sent to an electronic mail address accessible using a user computer system. Information is then received via a network from a user of the user computer system to complete a rebate claim for the purchased product. The received information is verified to determine whether the purchase identifier was provided. The rebate claim is granted if the received information is verified as correct. 
         [0009]    The electronic processing of rebates provides several advantages over the current (manual) processing of rebates. The customer is no longer required to cut the product code, e.g., UPC symbol, from the product, gather the original sales receipt, manually fill a rebate form, and send the contents to the manufacturer or third party used to process rebates. Moreover, the manufacturer does not have to manually verify the rebates submitted from the purchaser of the product. The processing of electronic rebates is potentially much faster than the current processing of rebates. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  depicts a block diagram of a computer system to implement the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  depicts a flow diagram of a method as embodied in an electronic rebate program; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  depicts a flow diagram of a method for processing a request to purchase a product; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  depicts a flow diagram of a method for processing a request to process a rebate. 
       
    
    
       [0015]    To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0016]      FIG. 1  depicts a block diagram of a computer system  100  for processing electronic rebates (e-bates). In one embodiment, the computer system  100  comprises a rebate server computer  102  and store computer system  104  and a user computer system  106 . The rebate server computer  102  interacts with the store computer system  104  and the user computer system  106  to process electronic rebates. 
         [0017]    One embodiment of the rebate server computer  102  comprises a central processing unit (CPU)  112  that is coupled to a memory  110 , a database  114  and a network interface  118  via a bus  116 . The memory  110  includes an operating system  120 , an electronic rebate program  122 , a http (Hypertext Protocol) server  124  and electronic documents  126 . The memory  110  may comprise one or a combination of memory devices, including Random Access Memory, nonvolatile or backup memory, (e.g., programmable or Flash memories, read-only memories, and the like). In addition, memory  110  may include memory physically located elsewhere in the server computer system  102 , for example, any storage capacity used as virtual memory or stored on a mass storage device or on another computer coupled to the computer system  100  via bus  116 . 
         [0018]    The CPU  112  is a processor that executes the electronic rebate program  122  to implement electronic rebates. The database  114  may comprise either a permanent or removable direct access storage device (DASD) used to store information used to process electronic rebates. One embodiment of stored information is in the form of a data structure  136 . The data structure  136  may contain information about a particular purchase of a product. Such information may include a purchase identifier  134  and other information used to process an electronic rebate claim from a customer. The data structure  136  may also contain information entered from the user in electronically submitting the rebate claim. The network interface  118  enables the server computer  102  to communicate with the store computer system  104  and the user computer system  106  via the network  108 . Examples of the network interface  118  include a modem and a network interface card. 
         [0019]    The operating system  120  manages the operation of the rebate server computer  102  to process electronic rebates. Examples of the operating system  120  may include IBM OS/400, UNIX, IBM AIX, Microsoft Windows, Windows NT, Linux and the like. The electronic rebate program  122  enables the rebate server computer  102  to electronically process rebates. The electronic processing of rebates provides several advantages over the current (manual) processing of rebates. First, the customer is no longer required to cut the product code, e.g., UPC symbol, from the product, gather the original sales receipt  132 , manually fill a rebate form, and send the contents to the manufacturer or third party used to process rebates. Second, the manufacturer does not have to manually verify the rebates submitted from the purchaser of the product. Third, the processing of electronic rebates is potentially much faster than the current processing of rebates. One embodiment to implement the electronic rebate program  122  is further described with respect to  FIGS. 2-4 . 
         [0020]    The http server  124  is a computer program that enables the rebate server computer  102  to process rebate claims from the user computer  106 . The electronic documents  126  include web pages that the rebate server computer  102  provides to the user computer system  106 . These electronic documents  126  may include web pages used to enable the user to enter information for a rebate claim. 
         [0021]    The rebate server computer  102  is coupled to the store computer system  104  via a network  108 . The store computer system  104  interacts with the rebate server computer  102  to exchange information on the purchase of the product eligible for rebate. One type of information exchange is a unique purchase identifier  134  used for rebate purposes. The store computer system  104  may print the purchase identifier  134  on a receipt  132  for the purchase or send the purchase identifier  134  in an electronic mail (e-mail) message  140  to an electronic mail address specified by the purchaser of the product, e.g., accessible using the user computer system  106 . The purchase identifier  134  may also be in an e-mail message from the rebate server computer  102 . To implement these functions, the store computer system  104  executes various application programs  128 . 
         [0022]    The store computer system  104  may interact via the network  108  with server computer  102  when a customer purchases a product from a store. Information relating to the purchase is exchanged between the server computer  102  and the store computer system  104 . More specifically, a purchase identifier  134  is linked to a purchase of the product at a store. The purchase identifier  134  comprises a unique identifier, e.g., a tracking code, to enable the server computer  102  to verify the purchase of the product by the customer. The rebate server computer  102  uses the purchase identifier  134  to subsequently verify the purchase of the product during the processing of the electronic rebate. 
         [0023]    In one embodiment, the store computer system  104  creates the purchase identifier  134  upon purchase of the product. The purchase identifier  134  is then sent from the store computer system  104  to the server computer  102  via the network. In another embodiment, the store computer system  104  generates a request for a purchase identifier  134  during the purchase of the product by the customer. The server computer  102  receives the request, generates the purchase identifier  134  and transmits the purchase identifier  134  back to the store computer system  104 . The purchase identifier  134  is then printed on the receipt  132  for the product or sent in an e-mail message to an e-mail address specified by the purchaser of the product. 
         [0024]    The rebate server computer  102  is also coupled to the user computer system  106  via the network  108 . The user computer system  106  may represent any type of computer, computer system or other programmable electronic device, including a client computer, a portable computer, an embedded controller, and the like. In one embodiment, the user computer system  106  is an AS/400 computer available from International Business Machines of Armonk, N.Y. In another embodiment, the user computer system  106  is a personal digital assistant (PDA) device. 
         [0025]    The user computer system  106  runs different application programs including a web browser  130  and an electronic mail program  138 . The web browser enables a user of the user computer system  106  to access the rebate server computer  102  via the network  108 . The electronic mail program  138  enables the user of the user computer system  106  to access, e.g., receive and open, an incoming electronic mail message  140  from either the store computer system  104  or the server computer  102 . The electronic mail program  138  also enables the transmission of an electronic mail message  140  from the user computer system  106  and the storage of electronic mail message  140  within a memory in the user computer system  106 . The electronic mail message  140  may also contain the purchase identifier  134  (although not shown in  FIG. 1 ). 
         [0026]    To process the rebate request, e.g. a rebate claim, from the user computer system  106 , the server computer  102  provides a web page upon a request for rebate, e.g., a customer depresses an option or button on the web page or accesses a particular web page. In one embodiment, the customer is only required to enter the purchase identifier  134 . In another embodiment, the customer is required to enter at least some of the information listed on a typical rebate form. Examples of such rebate information include an address of the customer, a product code (e.g., UPC label) of the product purchased, a model number of the product, the store where the product was purchased, and the purchase identifier  134 . 
         [0027]    Once the customer has entered the required rebate information, the rebate server computer  102  determines whether to accept or reject the rebate request. If the request is accepted, the computer  102  issues the request with a check sent to the customer or an electronic funds transfer (EFT). Prior to accepting the request, the rebate server  102  verifies whether the request is valid. To perform this verification, the rebate server  102  determines whether information entered from the customer matches the purchase identifier  134  linked at or upon the purchase of the product. The server  102  may determine whether the user has previously processed the same rebate, returned the product at the store, or processed the rebate over a limit allowed for the product. 
         [0028]    The network  108  may comprise any computer or telephone network to transmit the signals between the server computer  102  and the store computer system  104  and/or the user computer system  106 . In one embodiment, the network  108  comprises a collection of networks known as the Internet. Individual networks within the Internet may comprise a point to point network, e.g., a plain old telephone system (POTS) network, a broadcast network, e.g., a wireless or RF network, and the like. Transmission of information, e.g., data files and control signals, via the network  108  is performed in accordance with standard transmission formats, e.g., TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) and the like. In another embodiment, the network  108  comprises a local area network (LAN). 
         [0029]    Different types of network may be used depending on information transferred between the remote server  102  and the store computer system  104  and the user computer system  106 . In one embodiment, the transfer of the purchase identifier  134  may occur via a LAN between the server computer  102  and the store computer system  104 . The transfer of rebate information between the server computer  102  and the user compute system  106  may occur over the Internet. 
         [0030]    Although the illustrative computer system  100  only shows one of each type of computer system, i.e., rebate server computer  102 , the store computer system  104  and the user computer system  106 , the computer system  100  may include multiple computer systems of a particular type. For example, a single rebate server computer  102  may interact with hundreds of store computer systems  104  and thousands of user computer systems  106 . 
         [0031]    In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of the invention, whether implemented as part of an operating system or a specific application, component, program, object, module or sequence of instructions are in the electronic rebate program  122 , or the program  122 . The program  122  typically comprises one or more instructions that are resident at various times in various memory and storage devices in the computer system  100 . When read and executed by one or more processors  102  in the computer system  100 , the program  122  causes that computer system  100  to perform the steps necessary to execute steps or elements embodying the various aspects of the invention. Moreover, while the invention has and hereinafter will be described in the context of fully functioning computers and computer systems, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various embodiments of the invention are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that the invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing or computer readable media used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of signal bearing or computer readable media include, but are not limited to, recordable type media such as volatile and nonvolatile memory devices, floppy and other removable disks, hard disk drives, optical disks (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD, and the like), among others. 
         [0032]    In addition, various programs and devices described hereinafter may be identified based upon the application for which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of the invention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular program or device nomenclature that follows is used merely for convenience, and the invention is not limited to use solely in any specific application identified and/or implied by such nomenclature. 
         [0033]      FIG. 2  depicts a flow diagram of a method  200  as embodied in the electronic rebate program  122 . Specifically, the method  200  starts at step  202  and proceeds to step  204  where an event is processed. Such events include commands from the store computer system  104  and the user computer system  106 . At step  206 , a query determines whether the event is a request for a purchase identifier  134 . The store computer system  104  may transmit such a request when a customer purchases a product eligible for rebate. If the event is a request to purchase a product, the method  200  proceeds to process the request at step  208  and to retrieve the next event at step  204 . One embodiment of step  208  is further described with respect to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0034]    If the event is not a request to purchase for a purchase identifier  134 , the method  200  proceeds to step  210  where a query determines whether the event is a request for a rebate of a previously purchased product. The request for rebate is transmitted from the user computer system  106  after a customer has purchased the product from a store. If the event is a request for rebate, the method  200  proceeds to process the request at step  212  and proceeds to retrieve the next event at step  204 . One embodiment of step  212  is further described with respect to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0035]    If the event is not a request for rebate, the method  200  proceeds to step  214  where other events are processed. For example, if a customer returns a product at the store, the event may comprise a request from the store computer system  104  as to whether the customer has already claimed the rebate for a previously purchased product. In this case, step  214  would determine whether the rebate has been claimed for a particular purchase identifier  134  and transmit the result to the store computer system  104 . Other events are also contemplated. If the event includes the receipt of the purchase identifier  134  from the store computer system  104 , step  214  would store the purchase identifier  134  in the data structure  136  stored in the database  114 . If the event includes a request for electronic documents  126 , e.g., web pages, from the user computer system  106 , step  214  would render or provide the requested web page to the user computer system  106  to enable a customer to proceed with a rebate claim. Step  214  may also include the transmission of an electronic mail message  140  containing the purchase identifier  134  to an electronic mail address accessible using the user computer system  106 . After step  214 , the method  200  proceeds to retrieve the next event at step  204 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 3  depicts a flow diagram of a method  300  for processing a request to purchase a product. In one embodiment, the request is initiated from the store computer system  104  when a customer purchases a product at a store. The method  300  is embodied as step  208  described above with reference to  FIG. 2 . Specifically, the method  300  starts at step  302  and proceeds to step  304  where a purchase identifier  134  is created for a particular purchase of a product. At step  306 , product information, e.g., UPC identifier and model number of the product, and customer information is obtained for the purchase of the product. The customer identifier may include a customer identifier at the store, a social security number, a previous identifier established with the server computer  102 , and the like. The method  300  proceeds to step  308  where the purchase identifier  134  is configured for transmission to the store computer system  104 . After step  308 , the method  300  proceeds to end at step  310 . 
         [0037]      FIG. 4  depicts a flow diagram of a method  400  for processing a request to process a rebate or rebate claim for a previously purchased product, i.e., following the completion of a purchase of a product from a store. In one embodiment, the rebate claim or request to process the rebate originates from the user computer system  106 . A user may execute the web browser to access a web page provided by the rebate server computer  102  and initiate the request via the web page. The method  400  is embodied as step  212  described above with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
         [0038]    Specifically, the method  400  starts at step  402  and proceeds to step  404  where a prompt for rebate information is provided. In one embodiment, the prompt for information is provided in a web page. At step  406 , a query determines whether a user or customer has entered rebate information in response to the prompt at step  404 . If the rebate information was not entered, the method  400  proceeds to reject the request for rebate at step  420  and ends at step  422 . If the rebate information was entered, the method  400  proceeds to step  408  where rebate information is received from the consumer or user. 
         [0039]    The method  400  proceeds to step  410  where a query determines whether the rebate information received at step  408  matches with the product code and customer number received at step  306 . Namely, step  410  determines whether the customer has previously purchased the product. If the rebate information does not match the purchase identifier  134 , the method  400  proceeds to reject the request for rebate at step  420  and ends at step  422 . If the rebate information matches the purchase identifier  134 , the method  400  proceeds to step  412  where a query determines whether a request for rebate was already processed. Step  412  prevents multiple rebate requests for the same purchase. 
         [0040]    If the rebate was already processed, the method  400  proceeds to reject the request for rebate at step  420  and ends at step  422 . If the rebate has yet to be processed, the method  400  proceeds to step  414  where a query determines whether a limit of rebates has been exceeded for a particular customer. For example, the manufacturer may limit the number of rebates to one per household or residence. If the number of rebates exceeds the limit, the method  400  proceeds to reject the request for rebate at step  420  and ends at step  422 . If the number of rebates does not exceed the limit, the method  400  proceeds to step  416  where a query determines whether the previously purchased product has been returned. Step  416  prevents a customer from receiving a rebate if a previously purchased product has already been returned. 
         [0041]    If the product has been returned, the method  400  proceeds to reject the request for rebate at step  420  and ends at step  422 . If the product has not been returned, the method  400  proceeds to step  418  where the rebate claim or request is accepted. Step  418  may also include the issuance of a rebate check or the performance of an electronic funds transfer (EFT). After step  418 , the method  400  proceeds to end at step  422 . 
         [0042]    Although steps  406 ,  410 ,  412 ,  414  and  416  are conditions precedent for issuing a rebate, the method  400  is not limited to these conditions. In another embodiment, the method  400  may test whether the rebate was processed prior to an expiration date. Moreover, the method  400  may require the user answer additional questions prior to issuing the rebate. 
         [0043]    Although various embodiments which incorporate the teachings of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, those skilled in the art can readily devise many other varied embodiments that still incorporate these teachings.