Abstract:
A method and system for providing games of chance based on partial entries are disclosed. The method comprises exchanging partial entries in a non-intrusive manner amongst participants, and combining partial entries to make complete entries to enter into draws for prizes. A drawing server may implement a variety of reward schemes, and prize certificates or notifications may then be communicated electronically. The disclosed method and system may also be used for product or brand promotions. Prizes certificates may be redeemed online or at a point of sale equipped with a validation terminal in communication with the drawing server.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is entitled to the benefit of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/365,330 filed on 18 Jul. 2010. 
     
    
     COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
       [0002]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
       FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0003]    The invention relates to playing games of chance, and more specifically to a novel method for playing such games based on the concept of partial entries. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0004]    In Lotteries and some other games of chance, a consumer purchases or otherwise acquires a token, and then a drawing takes place according to some predetermined game rules to determine the outcome. The game rules and outcome are used to decide the winnings of a purchased token, if any. 
         [0005]    Businesses have developed a number of marketing schemes to promote products and services of different brands, and one of the simpler schemes involve revealing a token hidden under a label, in the fold of the rim of a coffee cup, under a cap or other cover, and possibly win an instant reward, or collecting a number of such tokens according to some rules to win a prize. Other schemes may involve using a freely provided token or coupon to obtain a sample product, possibly requiring the consumer to provide personal data and perhaps payment information for something like shipping. 
         [0006]    These games and marketing schemes are hindered to one degree or another by the lack of interaction with the game and the sense of having no way of increasing one&#39;s chances except by acquiring or purchasing more tokens. More importantly, none of the existing schemes is known to provide an inherent incentive for one player to invite others, or to inherently yet non-intrusively promote game play. Lottery pools are perceived as a means to enhance the chances of winning, but the games themselves do not promote their formation nor do they promote participation in pools—a player may simply opt to purchase a large number of tickets by himself instead of participating in a pool. Furthermore, marketing schemes based on lottery concepts do not ordinarily use lottery pools. The absence of cooperation in playing games may limit the range of possible reward structures, another factor that hinders the success of games and marketing schemes. 
       OBJECT 
       [0007]    This invention provides lottery companies and other businesses with a method and system for creating new games of chance or extending existing ones, and for brand promotions based on games of chance. 
         [0008]    An object of the present invention is to provide games of chance which make communication amongst game participants indispensible to game play. 
         [0009]    This object is achieved by means of a method and a system that use partial entries, defined as entries that must be combined with other partial entries to form complete entries that may participate in potential winnings in games. 
         [0010]    The same method and system achieve yet another object of the present invention, namely, to provide businesses with effective means for brand promotions that address the challenges faced by current marketing schemes that rely on games of chance. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    In a first aspect the present invention provides a method of enabling entry into a draw, via a computer program, of a partial entry that cannot by itself participate in the draw, the method comprising the steps of: entering a first partial entry into a first program running on a first computer; entering a second partial entry into said first program running on a second computer; exchanging said first partial entry and said second partial entry between said first computer and said second computer; combining said first partial entry with said second partial entry to produce a first complete entry; transmitting said complete entry to a drawing server; receiving a first prize certificate at said first computer; receiving a second prize certificate at said second computer; and presenting said certificate to a prize Validation Terminal at a retail outlet. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  depicts a system according to a non-limiting embodiment of the invention. 
           [0013]      FIGS. 2   a ,  2   b , and  2   c  show examples of Partial Entries and Complete Entries. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3 . provides a data flow diagram describing the operation of a computer program according to various embodiments. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4   a  and  FIG. 4   b  provide flowcharts of the process of exchanging Partial Entries among user terminals according to various embodiments. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5 . provides a data flow diagram describing the operation of a lottery game according to various embodiments. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  provides a data flow diagram describing a system that may be used to provide a game of chance using an API according to various embodiments. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
       [0018]      FIG. 1  depicts a system according to an exemplary and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0019]    User Terminal (UT) may be a mobile computing device, a desktop or notebook computer, a smart phone or a similar networked device. The user of User Terminal (UT) may enter a Partial Entry (PE) that they receive from a Partial Entry Source (PES). A Partial Entry (PE), as illustrated in examples in  FIGS. 2A ,  2 B and  2 C, may be an alphanumeric sequence or a collection of such sequences that is randomly generated or chosen by the user, and printed on a lottery ticket, or may be a fragment of a graphical shape or even be a sound file generated by a program. The Partial Entry Source (PES) of  FIG. 1  may be the printed surface of a bottle cap or of a label, or a dynamic source such as a game or other computer program. The Partial Entry (PE) may be communicated to the user visually in print, as in the case of a bottle cap or a label, or over a network and displayed on a screen or played on a speaker, or captured in a file. Regardless of the form of the Partial Entry (PE), its essential characteristic is that it may not, by itself, win in a game operating in accordance with the method of this invention. Rather, as disclosed in detail below, a Partial Entry (PE) has to be combined with at least one other partial entry to make a Complete Entry (CE) that constitutes an entry in the game. 
         [0020]      FIG. 3 . depicts a data flow diagram describing the operation of a computer program according to an exemplary and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, and shows the program&#39;s interaction with external entities. Specifically,  FIG. 3  may apply to a system which may be used to play a lottery game, or for brand promotion based on a lottery scheme. In  FIG. 3 , the dashed box depicts UT Program ( 1 ) for a game of chance according to the invention, which program may run on the User Terminal (UT) of  FIG. 1 . The disclosure will continue to refer to UT Program ( 1 ) as running on said terminal, but it may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that it may also run on a web or similar server and displayed in a browser or similar application program running on the User Terminal (UT). The UT Program ( 1 ) comprises several processes that run in response to different events or conditions as described individually. It should be noted that the same UT Program ( 1 ) runs on all user terminals (UT), and references to User Terminal (UT) and Partner User Terminal (PUT) are made only to clarify the steps in the method at certain points in time; otherwise, all user terminals are equal. 
         [0021]    The disclosure made herein uses non-limiting examples to describe the method and system according to the invention. In  FIG. 3 , Source X could be any Partial Entry Source (PES) described in paragraph 0 above, and the UT Program ( 1 ) may support a plurality of sources of Partial Entry (PE). For example, PE Source X may be the printed surface of a cereal box to promote the cereal brand X; PE Source Y of a different set of Partial Entries may be a web application issuing partial entries for a lottery to win a product of brand Y. Source Z may be a lottery machine. Thus, reference may be made to Source X, brand X or game X, depending on context. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the User enters at least one Friend Address into UT Program ( 1 ), which generates a Friends List (FL) in process ( 1 . 1 ). A Friend Address could be an email address, a Facebook or other social network user id, the address of a mobile device on a data-capable wireless network, or any such address that may be used to reach a user terminal. The User may enter Friend Address in a variety of ways: by manually typing it, or by selecting it from an address book on User Terminal (UT), or by providing UT Program ( 1 ) with access to the user&#39;s address book on a different system. The purpose of a Friends List is to select from it a Partner List (PL) of those friends whose User Terminal (UT) already have UT Program ( 1 ) installed and support Source X. Process ( 1 . 2 ) generates such a Partner List (PL) by sending a query (Source X?) to each address in the Friends List. If a friend&#39;s user terminal has a UT Program ( 1 ) already installed, it may answer by Yes or No depending on whether it supports Source X; otherwise it may not supply an answer—the three possibilities are indicated with the dashed arrow and its label. The answer to said query is preferably carried out automatically by the friend&#39;s UT Program ( 1 ) in accordance with the friend&#39;s preferences that he may enter into his program (not shown in figures). In one embodiment, if no answer is received by the process ( 1 . 2 ) after a certain amount of time, it may send to the friend address, on behalf of User, a text message or another kind of message as may be accepted by the friend&#39;s user terminal, providing information about the game. 
         [0023]    If at least one friend&#39;s user terminal supplies a Yes answer, the result of handshaking at process ( 1 . 2 ) is a Partner List (PL) which is used in process ( 1 . 3 ). Each address on the Partner List (PL) terminates at a Partner User Terminal (PUT) of a partner that has installed an instance of UT Program ( 1 ) which may accept a Partial Entry (PE) from Source X. Now UT Program ( 1 ) sends own Partial Entry (PE) to each such Partner User Terminal (PUT) on Partner List (PL) and may receive back one or more Partner Partial Entry (PE). The process of exchanging partial entries is further explained in detail in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0024]    A UT Program ( 1 ) support for a particular Partial Entry Source (PES), say Source X, means that it can recognize a Partial Entry (PE) from Source X and can combine partial entries to make a Complete Entry (CE), and that it knows the address of the DS where it may send the Complete Entry (CE). This may be accomplished through the use of a configuration file that may be installed on User Terminal (UT) and periodically updated to add support for a new Partial Entry Source (PES). Such configuration file would comprise, for each PES, the structure or pattern of a corresponding PE, the rules for combining partial entries into complete entries, and the corresponding DS. 
         [0025]    Process ( 1 . 3 ) results in the exchange of Partial Entries between the User Terminal (UT) and Partner User Terminals on the Partner List (PL). Process ( 1 . 3 ) is described in detail in the flowcharts of  FIG. 4   a  and  FIG. 4   b . Referring to  FIG. 4   a , process ( 1 . 3 . 1 ) runs continuously and listens for incoming messages from other User Terminals at step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 1 ). A message from a User Terminal (UT) comprises at least the sender&#39;s address and a Partial Entry (PE), and may also comprise other information, such as a draw date, name of the game, brand name, or a promotional message. At step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 3 ), if the received message is in response for a request sent out earlier by process ( 1 . 3 . 2 ), as explained below in step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 4 ), then the replying partner&#39;s address and the Partial Entry (PE) is written to the Partial Entry (PE) store at step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 5 ) and the process goes back to waiting for new messages. Otherwise, this message is a request to enter into the game by sending own Partial Entry (PE); therefore, at step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 4 ), if the sender is not on the Friend List or the Partner List, the process checks whether the sender should be added to the Partner List, based on user preferences (not shown in figures), the test for which is performed at step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 6 ). If the sender is not supposed to be added to the Partner List, the message is ignored and the process goes to wait for a new message. 
         [0026]    At step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 7 ) the sender of the message is added to the Partner List, and this User Terminal (UT) has a request for Partial Entry (PE), now from a partner. At step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 8 ), if own Partial Entry (PE) has already been entered by the user as explained in step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 1 ), this User Terminal (UT) enters the game by supplying, at step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 10 ), own Partial Entry (PE) and address in response to the request, and writing the Partial Entry (PE) and the sender (requester) address to Partial Entry (PE) Store at step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 11 ). If own Partial Entry (PE) has not been entered, this User Terminal (UT) cannot participate at present, but the User may at some point enter a suitable Partial Entry (PE), therefore the process writes the sender address and Partial Entry (PE) to a Pending Partner List (PPL) at step ( 1 . 3 . 1 . 9 ), and goes back to wait for a new message. 
         [0027]      FIG. 4   b  shows process ( 1 . 3 . 2 ), which runs in response to a User command to enter a new “own” Partial Entry (PE). In a preferred embodiment, the structure or pattern of the Partial Entry (PE) and Complete Entry (CE) from PE Source X is unique, which provides for simplifying interaction with the User since the program may recognize the source or game by examining the PE, eliminating the need for the user to enter an identifier of PE Source. 
         [0028]    After accepting own Partial Entry (PE) from the User at step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 1 ), the process may optionally validate the PE with the DS at step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 2 ). Such validation ensures that the PE has indeed been issued from a Partial Entry Source as part of the game and is not fake, and may be performed by in communication with the DS or any other server that may keep track of issued Partial Entries in the game. If the PE is valid (step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 3 ), then at step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 4 ) the process writes own Partial Entry (PE) to the Partial Entry (PE) Store and sends it at step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 5 ) along with the User Terminal (UT) address to Partner User Terminals on the Pending Partner List (PPL) to satisfy pending requests for a Partial Entry (PE) from these partners. Now that this User Terminal (UT) is in the game with own Partial Entry (PE), it writes the partner Partial Entries and addresses stored in PPL to the Partial Entry (PE) Store at step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 6 ). Finally, at step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 7 ) the process sends a request for Partial Entries from partners on Partner List (PL) but not on the PPL. 
         [0029]    In a preferred embodiment, the request sent by step ( 1 . 3 . 2 . 7 ) comprises the necessary configuration data that enables a partner user terminal receiving the request to process it even without having been updated to support the PE and the corresponding game. Such configuration data includes, for each game, the structure or pattern of a PE, the rules for combining partial entries into complete entries, and the address of the corresponding DS. This may simplify the handshake process ( 1 . 2 ) or eliminate it for friends&#39; user terminals that have UT Program ( 1 ) installed. For example, if a friend&#39;s User Terminal (UT) has installed UT Program ( 1 ), then it may accept a Partial Entry (PE) in process ( 1 . 3 ) in accordance with the friend&#39;s preferences, making it a Partner&#39;s User Terminal without the handshaking process ( 1 . 2 ). In this preferred embodiment, a Friend List may be synonymous with a Partner List. 
         [0030]    It may be apparent to those skilled in the art that UT Program ( 1 ) may be readily extended by forwarding requests from partners for a Partial Entry (PE), in addition to replying to them, to friends of the recipient, of course always respecting user preferences. Back to  FIG. 3 , process ( 1 . 4 ) reads Partial Entries stored in the Partial Entry (PE) Store and combines the Partial Entries entered by the User with Partner Partial Entries to produce Complete Entries that may participate in a game. For example, assuming User A has supplied the address of User B as a partner, and has supplied the Partial Entry (PE) “344X” shown in  FIG. 3   b  from a Source X, with User B having supplied Partial Entry (PE) “931Y” from the same Source X, then process ( 1 . 3 ), running on both User A and User B terminals, will result in each terminal storing a copy of the Partial Entry (PE) of the other user in its respective Partial Entry (PE) Store. Process ( 1 . 4 ) on User A terminal may then read the two Partial Entries to produce the Complete Entry (CE) “344X931Y”, and Process ( 1 . 4 ) on User B terminal may also read the two Partial Entries to produce the Complete Entry (CE) “344X931Y” as well, or should the game rules require, “931Y334X”; but in all cases, the result of combining Partial Entries are Complete Entries eligible for participation in the game X corresponding to Source X. In a preferred embodiment, Process ( 1 . 4 ) may be performed automatically without user interaction: every time a new Partner Partial Entry (PE) is added to the Partial Entry (PE) Store, the process produces a new Complete Entry (CE). However, some games may require user input in combining Partial Entries to produce Complete Entries as an element of skill, in which case Process ( 1 . 4 ) may involve interaction with and input from the user, e.g., to inspect Partial Entries in the form of graphical objects, and manipulate them to form a Complete Entry (CE). When Process ( 1 . 4 ) is performed automatically, a game may be played by the Partner and he may participate in the winnings, in accordance with the game&#39;s rules, without his involvement other than having provided a Partial Entry (PE) to his copy of the UT Program ( 1 ) and has preferences set to accept partial entries from other users. 
         [0031]    Process ( 1 . 5 ) now submits the Complete Entry (CE) to the Drawing Server DS. Although not shown in the figures, Process ( 1 . 5 ) submits the Complete Entry (CE) as part of a message that comprises sufficient information for receiving a prize certificate (PC) and redeeming it, possibly including identification and authentication information as may be required by the game. After a drawing is performed in accordance with the game rules, the DS may send to the User Terminal (UT) a message, received at Process ( 1 . 6 ), comprising a Prize Certificate (PC) if the Complete Entry (CE) has won a prize, or information indicating otherwise. If a Prize Certificate (PC) is received, Process ( 1 . 6 ) stores the Prize Certificate (PC) in a Prize Certificate (PC) Store, and may notify the User in a variety of ways depending on user preferences and on available means for notification. 
         [0032]    The User may now redeem the prize certificate stored on the User Terminal (UT) by activating process ( 1 . 7 ). In a system being used for brand promotion of a product or service distributed at retail, as in the case of that depicted in  FIG. 3 , process ( 1 . 7 ) may transmit the Prize Certificate (PC) to a Validation Terminal (VT) of the retailer when activated by the User; alternatively, either process ( 1 . 7 ) or the retailer&#39;s Validation Terminal (VT) may employ a discovery protocol using, for example, Bluetooth technology in the case of a brick and mortar store, and allow process ( 1 . 7 ) to transmit the Prize Certificate (PC). The Validation Terminal (VT) may then exchange messages (Validate PC) with the DS in order validate the Prize Certificate (PC). In the event of successful Prize Certificate (PC) validation, the Validation Terminal (VT) notifies the retailer accordingly, receives a “redeemed” message or command once the prize is released to the User, and sends a certificate-redeemed (CRD) message back to process ( 1 . 7 ) on the User Terminal (UT), which marks the Prize Certificate (PC) accordingly. Similarly, although not shown in  FIG. 3 , the Validation Terminal (VT) may send a CRD message to the DS to mark its copy of the Prize Certificate (PC) as redeemed as well. In one embodiment, process ( 1 . 6 ) and process ( 1 . 7 ) are made optional. Since all Complete Entries are stored at the DS, the User may claim a prize by presenting the Partial Entry (PE) to a retailer Validation Terminal (VT), which may query the DS to discover whether the Partial Entry (PE) is part of a winning Complete Entry (CE) in accordance with game rules. 
         [0033]      FIG. 5  depicts a system, that may be used to play a social lottery game or provide a social extension to an existing lottery system, as an exemplary and non-limiting embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the Receive Prize Certificate process ( 1 . 6 ), and Redeem Certificate process ( 1 . 7 ) of  FIG. 3  are removed in favor of existing practice, where the User or player presents a lottery ticket at a retail location to claim a prize. Thus, the social extension may extend an existing lottery game without changes to the system at the retail level and with a minor change to the current lottery server: the same ticket, currently scanned at the lottery terminal, may be considered a Partial Entry (PE), and the current Lottery Server may simply query the social Lottery Extension Server for the Complete Entries in which the scanned ticket has participated in the social lottery extension of the game. 
         [0034]    For example, in the 6/49 lottery game, the winnings of a given ticket are determined by how many of the 6 numbers on the ticket match those in the randomly picked winning combination. In a social extension to the game, a given ticket is considered a Partial Entry (PE), and its combination with another ticket produces a Complete Entry (CE), a set of numbers which may again be tested against the winning combination, and may be subject to a different prize structure. For example, assuming User A has supplied the address of User B as a partner, and has supplied the ticket “4 8 9 10 30 49” shown in  FIG. 2C  as a Partial Entry (PE) to a social extension of the lottery, with User B having supplied a second Partial Entry (PE) “8 11 30 31 33 34” from the same  FIG. 2C , then the Complete Entry (CE) would be the combination of “4 8 9 10 11 30 31 33 34 49”, also shown in  FIG. 2C . Now, assuming a winning combination of “4 9 11 15 31 40”, neither of the Partial Entries, standing alone as tickets in the standard 6/49 game, is a winner. However, in a social extension of the game, 4 numbers of the combination of the two tickets (Complete Entry) match the winning ticket, and some winnings may be attached to this result. Thus, the social extension may motivate more players to play the original game. In addition, it adds another level of excitement since the players have some control over increasing their chances of winning: the more the partners, the higher the chances of winning. 
         [0035]      FIG. 6  depicts a system that may be used to provide a game of chance in accordance with an exemplary and non-limiting embodiment of the invention. The system of  FIG. 6  may be used in conjunction with a computer game or other computer Program X, where interaction between the User and the UT Program ( 1 ) is carried out through the Program X, and where game prizes may be virtual objects or features of Program X, or services made available through Program X. In this embodiment, the system comprises an Application Programming Interface (API) which may be used by Program X to communicate with different processes of UT Program ( 1 ) and the DS. Program X may accept a plurality of Friend Addresses from the User, and generate the Partial Entries either internally or through a network connection to a PE Source maintained by the publisher of Program X. Using the API, Program X may submit Friend Addresses and Partial Entries to the appropriate processes of UT Program ( 1 ), receive the Prize Certificate (PC), and validate it with the DS, before it releases a Prize to the User. Various embodiments of the invention may be implemented using a conventional general purpose or specialized digital computer(s) and/or processor(s) programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the computer art. Appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the software art. The invention may also be implemented by the preparation of integrated circuits and/or by interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component circuits, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Various embodiments include a computer program product which is a storage medium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in which can be used to program a general purpose or specialized computing processor(s)/device(s) to perform any of the features presented herein. The storage medium can include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: any type of physical media including floppy disks, optical discs, DVDs, CD-ROMs, microdrives, magneto-optical disks, holographic storage, ROMs, RAMs, PRAMS, EPROMs, EEPROMs, DRAMs, VRAMs, flash memory devices, magnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs); paper or paper-based media; and any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/or information. Various embodiments include a computer program product that can be transmitted in whole or in parts and over one or more public and/or private networks wherein the transmission includes instructions which can be used by one or more processors to perform any of the features presented herein. In various embodiments, the transmission may include a plurality of separate transmissions. 
         [0036]    Stored one or more of the computer readable medium (media), the present disclosure includes software for controlling both the hardware of general purpose/specialized computer(s) and/or processor(s), and for enabling the computer(s) and/or processor(s) to interact with a human user or other mechanism utilizing the results of the present invention. Such software may include, but is not limited to, device drivers, operating systems, execution environments/containers, user interfaces and applications. 
         [0037]    The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to the practitioner skilled in the art. Embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the relevant art to understand the invention. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.