Patent Publication Number: US-2003236711-A1

Title: E-marker dot promotion

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to electronic music marker devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to method and system for providing a time sensitive merchandise sales discount promotion for items corresponding to marked music clips such as music CDs and related merchandise.  
       [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art  
       [0004] Sony Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary, Sony Electronics, Inc., introduced an electronic music marker device (“e-marker”) which is capable of “bookmarking” a music clip while being played on a radio and, which, when synchronized with a gateway device such as a personal computer, is capable of recalling information related to the bookmarked music clip such as the name of the song, the artist, the album containing the song and so on. Using the e-marker, a user can conveniently recall the music clip information that the user listened to on the radio at a later time without the need to memorize the information or wait hopefully for the disc jockey on the radio to provide that information. In this manner, if the user wants to, for example, purchase the music album which the user has marked using the e-marker, the user can easily identify the necessary information related to the marked music clip from the e-marks provided by the e-marker.  
       [0005] To download or obtain information corresponding to the bookmarked music clips, the user sets up an e-marker account via the gateway device, and connects the music marker device to the server terminal of emarker.com web site. The information corresponding to the bookmarked music clips such as the name of the artist, the name of the song as well as the name of the album, for example, are transmitted from the server terminal to the user&#39;s gateway device for display thereon.  
       [0006] Once logged onto the user&#39;s e-marker account via the user&#39;s gateway terminal (device), in addition to the information related to bookmarked music clips, the user may be provided with information corresponding to the purchase of the music album or related merchandise pertaining to the bookmarked music clip or the music clip artist, such as tee-shirts, music video cassettes, and the like. Given the increasing number of on-line vendors who offer for sale such items, and given that a large number of vendors periodically offer discounts for the purchase of such items, it would be desirable to provide discount information conveniently to the user for items corresponding to the user&#39;s bookmarked music clips.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] In view of the foregoing, a method in one embodiment includes transmitting one or more data marks, and receiving one or more promotion information corresponding to said one or more data marks.  
       [0008] A method of another embodiment includes connecting to a data network, transmitting login information and a data mark, receiving a promotion information for an item corresponding to transmitted data mark, and transmitting a payment information.  
       [0009] A method of yet another embodiment includes receiving a user login data and a data mark, retrieving a promotion information corresponding to said received data mark, and transmitting said retrieved promotion information.  
       [0010] A method of still a further embodiment includes detecting a user login request, receiving one or more data marks, retrieving promotion information based on said data marks corresponding to a purchase of an item, transmitting said retrieved promotion information, and starting a timer corresponding to said retrieved promotion information.  
       [0011] A data marking device vendor promotion system of still yet another embodiment includes a data network, a user terminal coupled to the data network configured to transmit a login data and a data mark, and a server terminal coupled to a data network configured to access one or more storage units in response to said data mark received from said user terminal, and to retrieve and transmit a promotion information corresponding to said data mark to said user terminal.  
       [0012] A data marking device vendor promotion system of a further aspect of the present invention includes means for detecting a user login request, means for receiving one or more data marks, means for retrieving promotion information based on said data marks corresponding to a purchase of an item, and means for transmitting said-retrieved promotion information.  
       [0013] A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for providing a data marking device vendor promotion in yet a further aspect, where the method steps include detecting a user login request, receiving one or more data marks, retrieving promotion information based on said data marks corresponding to a purchase of an item, and transmitting said retrieved promotion information.  
       [0014] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0015]FIG. 1 illustrates an overall e-marker dot promotion system in accordance with one embodiment;  
     [0016]FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the electronic bookmarking device shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0017]FIG. 3 illustrates an electronic music marker device and cradle-type docking connection;  
     [0018]FIG. 4 is one embodiment of a database illustration of the bookmarks in a storage unit of the electronic music marker device;  
     [0019]FIG. 5 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of the electronic music marker device operation;  
     [0020]FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of downloading data from the user&#39;s e-marker account to the music marker device;  
     [0021]FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a user terminal of the e-marker dot promotion system shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0022]FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of the server terminal of the e-marker dot promotion system shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0023]FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of a user account database of the server terminal database storage unit shown in FIG. 8;  
     [0024]FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of a playlist database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 8;  
     [0025]FIG. 11 illustrates one embodiment of a user playlist database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 8;  
     [0026]FIG. 12 illustrates one embodiment of a coupon database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 8;  
     [0027]FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing of one embodiment;  
     [0028]FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing of another embodiment;  
     [0029]FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing a further embodiment;  
     [0030]FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing of yet another embodiment;  
     [0031]FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing of still a further embodiment;  
     [0032]FIG. 18 is a graphical illustration of a user terminal display unit illustrating a dot promotion coupon offer in one embodiment;  
     [0033]FIG. 19 is a graphical illustration of a user terminal display unit illustrating detailed dot promotion coupon information in one embodiment; and  
     [0034]FIG. 20 is a graphical illustration of a user terminal display unit illustrating bookmarked music clip album dot promotion coupons in one embodiment. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     [0035]FIG. 1 illustrates an overall e-marker dot promotion system in accordance with one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, e-marker dot promotion system  100  includes a plurality of user terminals  103  each connected to data network  104  such as the internet via connection protocols such as TCP/IP, Appletalk, using connection interface unit (not shown) such as a dial-up modem through an internet service provider (ISP), a broadband network such as a DSL or cable modem, a T1 or LAN connection, or any other means for connecting to the internet. Each user terminal  103  is configured to connect to an electronic music marker device  101  via a cradle type connection unit  102 , and configured to receive, upon synchronization operation with music marker device  101 , bookmark information stored in music marker device  101 . In one embodiment, the bookmark information transmitted from music marker device  101  to user terminal  103  may include music marker device  101  unique device identification code, the number of stored bookmarks, and corresponding date and time stamp for each stored bookmarks.  
     [0036] Also shown in FIG. 1 is server terminal  105  connected to data network  104  for communicating with user terminals  103  for data transfer. Moreover, as further shown in FIG. 1, server terminal  105  is coupled to playlist provider  106 . Playlist provider  106  is configured to transmit playlist information corresponding to registered radio station broadcasts such as the title, artist and album information for the music broadcast from the registered radio station. In one aspect, playlist provider may be configured to periodically transmit information related to the music broadcast from the registered radio stations over a predetermined period of time. For example, depending upon factors such as the target market for the registered radio station or the geographic location of the registered radio station, playlist provider  106  may be configured to transmit broadcast music clip information to server terminal  105  within ten minutes from the termination of the respective music broadcast, or alternatively, within 12 or 24 hours from a predetermined broadcast cutoff time such as 10 PM or midnight. Moreover, while playlist provider  106  is shown as communicating with server terminal  105  via a dedicated connection, within the scope of the present invention, server terminal  105  and playlist provider  106  may communicate via a connection through data network  104  for data transfer.  
     [0037]FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the electronic music marker device shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, music marker device  101  includes memory  201  such as a Random Access Memory (RAM) and a Read-Only Memory (ROM), and stored thereon is a unique bookmarking device identification code  202  which can include a predetermined combination of letters or numbers, or a combination of both. In one embodiment, identification code  202  can include a thirteen-digit number which is unique to each bookmarking device and is pre-stored in the ROM portion of memory  201 .  
     [0038] Further shown in FIG. 2 is controller (CPU)  204  which is configured to control the various components of bookmarking device  101  as shown such as display unit  207 , input units  203 A,  203 B such as bookmarking buttons for bookmarking broadcast music clips over a registered radio or television station, or for bookmarking locations, input/output (I/O) interface  205 , clock/timer  206 , and memory  201 . As can be seen from FIG. 2, upon receiving an input signal from a user of music marker device  101  via input units  203 A,  203 B, controller  204  may be configured to access the various components of device  101  depending upon the input command received from the user, to perform one or a plurality of processings, executing the input command of the user.  
     [0039] Moreover, I/O interface  205  of music marker device  101  shown in FIG. 2 may be configured to, under the control of controller  204 , interface with server terminal  105 . Display unit  207  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma-type display, and the like, configured to display text or image data, or a combined text and image data. Furthermore, as discussed above, the input unit  203 A,  203 B may include spring-loaded type input buttons for operation by the user&#39;s finger. Alternatively, input unit  203 A,  203 B may include a touchpad-type screen integrated with display unit  207  for simultaneously inputting and displaying information, where the user can tap the pressure-sensitive screen using a stylus or the like to enter input commands. Timer/clock  206  of music marker device  101  in accordance with one aspect of the present invention may be configured to provide actual time information as well as generate an elapsed time information depending upon the input command from the user under the control of controller  204 .  
     [0040]FIG. 3 illustrates an electronic music marker device and cradle-type docking connection of one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, music marker device  101  includes a housing comprising body  301  and cap  302 . Body  301  is provided with e-mark button  303  which is configured for user input commands. Also provided on body  301  are display panels  304   a  and  304   b  which are configured to display the number of user inputted e-marks and the type of registered broadcast station for the corresponding e-marks, respectively. Finally, body  301  includes communication port  305  such as a USB port which is integrated onto body  301  such that, as will be discussed in further detail below, body  301  may be placed on top of cradle type connection  102  with communication port  305  capable of being plugged into the corresponding port on cradle  102 .  
     [0041] Cap  302  can be attached to body  301  when access to communication port  305  is unnecessary. As shown, cap  302  is provided with a pair of release/lock buttons  306  on either side of cap  302  such that by depressing release/lock buttons  306  when cap  302  is locked with body  301 , cap  302  can be released from a locked position and communication port  305  may be accessed. Furthermore, cap  302  is provided with hole  307  substantially at its edge position such that link chain  308  can be looped through hole  307  to allow the user to attach the music marker device  101  to a key chain or the like.  
     [0042] Referring back to FIG. 3, cradle-type connection  102  is provided with cradle base  310  substantially flat on its bottom surface (not shown) to rest cradle  102  on a flat surface such as a desktop and a book shelf. On the other side of the bottom surface of cradle  102  is receiving section  311  substantially positioned on the middle of cradle  102 , where communication port  312  such as a USB port is provided for connection to communication port  305  of the music marker device  110 . Also shown in FIG. 3 is cable  313  attached to cradle connection  102  with a communication port  314  at its other end. In this manner, cradle  102  may be connected to user terminal  103  accessing the user&#39;s e-marker account over an internet connection.  
     [0043] Additional detailed information relating to the operation of the electronic music marker device  110  may be found in pending application Ser. No. 09/126,007 filed on Jul. 29, 1998 and application Ser. No. 09/401,105 filed on Sep. 22, 1999, both assigned to Sony Corporation, joint-assignee of the present application with Sony Electronics, Inc., a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, the disclosures of each of which are herein incorporated in their entirely by reference for all purposes.  
     [0044]FIG. 4 is one embodiment of a database illustration of the bookmarks in a storage unit of the electronic music marker device. Referring to FIG. 4, storage unit such as a random access memory (RAM) and/or a read-only memory (ROM) may be configured to store device ID unique for each marker device  101  in device ID field  410 . Additionally, storage unit of marker device  101  may also be configured to store bookmarks input by the user in bookmark field  420 , with a corresponding date and time information (for example, a time stamp) for the respective bookmarks in date field  430  and time field  440 , respectively. In this manner, when music marker device  101  is connected to server terminal  105  via user terminal  103 , information stored in marker device storage unit such as the bookmarks and the corresponding date and time stamp information may be transmitted to server terminal  105 .  
     [0045]FIG. 5 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of the electronic music marker device operation. Referring to FIG. 5, at step  510 , electronic music marker device  101  detects user&#39;s input operation of e-mark buttons  203 A,  203 B. Then, at step  520 , music marker device  101  illuminates or flashes a corresponding e-mark display panel  304   a,    304   b.  As discussed above, in one embodiment, the corresponding e-mark display panel  304   a,    304   b  may be configured to display time and/or date information of the user&#39;s input operation of e-mark buttons  203 A,  203 B.  
     [0046] At step  530 , music marker  101  determines whether all available e-mark display panels  304   a,    304   b  are being used (for example, illuminated or flashing in response to user&#39;s input operation of e-mark button  203 A,  203 B). If it is determined that there are e-mark display panels  304   a,    304   b  available, music marker device  101  waits for further input operation by the user at step  510 . On the other hand, if it is determined at step  530  that all available e-mark display panels  304   a,    304   b  are in use, then at step  540 , electronic music marker device  101  generates an output signal to inform the user that music marker device  101  has reached its maximum number of e-marks that it can handle, and the procedure ends. In one embodiment, the output signal from music marker device  101  to inform the user that it has reached its maximum number of e-marks it can handle may be an audible output signal such as an audible tone via an audio output terminal (not shown). Alternatively, music marker device  101  may be configured to flash all e-mark display panels  203 A.  203 B simultaneously for a predetermined period of time to visually indicate to the user that it has reached its maximum number of e-marks that it can handle.  
     [0047]FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of downloading data from the user&#39;s e-marker account to the music marker device. Referring to FIG. 6, at step  610 , music marker device  101  detects a connection to user terminal  103  connected to the internet. After the user enters the user&#39;s account information and performing necessary e-marker account access steps at user terminal  103 , at step  620 , data corresponding to the e-marks (bookmarks) stored in music marker device  101  is transmitted to the user&#39;s e-marker account via gateway terminal  130 , and in response, the corresponding text and/or image (including video) data are retrieved from server terminal  105  of e-marker.com web site and transmitted to the user&#39;s e-marker account. Then, at step  630 , the text and/or image data corresponding to each e-marks are downloaded onto music marker device  101 . At step  640 , the downloaded text and/or image data are displayed on each corresponding e-mark display panel  304   a,    304   b  on music marker device  101 .  
     [0048] When the user disconnects music marker device  110  from user terminal  103 , the termination of the is detected at step  650 , arid at step  660 , music marker device  101  is reset such that previously stored e-marks inputted by the user may be erased from the storage unit of music marker device  101 , and correspondingly, the illuminated e-mark display panels  304   a,    304   b  are turned off. The user may then operate e-mark button  203 A,  203 B again to input additional bookmarks of music clip broadcasts from registered radio and television broadcast stations.  
     [0049]FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a user terminal of the e-marker music find system. Referring to FIG. 7, user terminal  103  in one embodiment may include controller  710 , storage unit  720 , I/O interface unit  730 , input unit  740 , output unit  750  and clock  760 . Storage unit  720  of user terminal  103  may include one or more of an internal or an external storage device such as a hard disc drive (HDD), a CD-RW drive, or a zip drive. Input unit  740  of user terminal  103  may include one of or a combination of a keyboard, a mouse, a touchpad input device and a voice-recognition type input terminal including a microphone with corresponding software installed in user terminal  103  for performing input operations by voice commands. Controller  710  is coupled to input unit  740  and accordingly, may be configured to process the input data received from input unit  740 . Storage unit  720  is similarly coupled to controller  720 , and may be configured to store inputted data received from input unit  740  or other data received by user terminal  103 . Clock  760  also coupled to controller  710  may be configured to provide time information to controller  710  which, in turn, may be stored in storage unit  720  as discussed in further detail below.  
     [0050] Referring back to FIG. 7, I/O interface unit  730  in one embodiment may be coupled to controller  710 , and may be configured to interface with other user terminals  103  in the network or to communicate with server terminal  105 . In one embodiment, I/O interface circuit  730  of user terminal  103  may include a communication port configured to connect to the date network  104  such as the internet via connections such as, but not limited to, a modem dial-up through an internet service provider (ISP), a DSL or cable modem-type connection, and a T1, IDSN or LAN type connection. Communication port integrated in I/O interface circuit  230  may include, among others, one of a USB port, a serial port, a parallel port, an IEEE 1394 communication port, a IrDA communication port, and a Bluetooth enabled communication port.  
     [0051] Referring again to FIG. 7, output unit  750  of user terminal  103  may include display unit  751  and speakers  752 . Display unit  751  may be configured to output text, image (for example, in .jpg or .gif formats) or video data (for example, in .avi or .mpeg formats) while speakers may be configured to output sound data in the form of, for example, .wav file format. In this manner, user terminal  103  in one embodiment may be configured to communicate with server terminal  105  over the internet connection  104 .  
     [0052]FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a server terminal in the e-marker dot promotion system. Referring to FIG. 8, server terminal  105  includes display unit  820 , input unit  810 , controller  830 , input/output (I/O) interface unit  840 , memory (RAM/ROM)  850 , and storage unit  860 . Display unit  820  may be configured to display various information including the status of server terminal  105  connection, data transfer processing status, data upload information, and any other information related to the operation of server terminal  105 .  
     [0053] Input unit  810  of server terminal  105  may be configured to provide input means for operations such as server terminal maintenance, data backup, data query and so on. As can be seen, both display unit  820  and input unit  810  are coupled to controller  830 . In one embodiment, controller  830  may be configured to control the display of information on display unit  820  in accordance with input operations received from input unit  810 . Alternatively, server terminal  105  may exclude display unit  820 .  
     [0054] Referring back to FIG. 8, controller  830  of server terminal  105  is further coupled to memory  850 , storage unit  860  and I/O interface unit  840 . In one embodiment, controller  830  may be configured to control data access, retrieval and updating of the stored data in storage unit  860 . Moreover, controller  830  may further be configured to control the operation of I/O interface unit  840  which communicates with other terminals connected in the network over the internet connection  104 . In one embodiment, I/O interface circuit  840  may include a communication port configured to connect to other terminals in the network via connections such as, but not limited to, a modem dial-up through an internet service provider (ISP), a DSL or cable modem-type connection, and a T1, ISDN or LAN type connection. Communication port integrated in I/O interface circuit  840  may include, among others, one of a USB port, a serial port, a parallel port, an IEEE 1394 communication port, a IrDA communication port, and a Bluetooth enabled communication port.  
     [0055] Referring again to FIG. 8, storage unit  860  of server terminal  105  may include internal or external storage devices such as a hard disc drive (HDD), a CD-RW drive, or a zip drive. In one embodiment, storage unit  860  may be configured to storage a variety of data received by server terminal  105  and processed by server terminal  105 . In particular, storage unit  860  may include user account database  861 , playlist database  862 , user playlist database  863 , and coupon database  864 . User account database  860  as discussed in further detail below may be configured to store information related to the registered users of the e-marker system such as, for example, user name, address, account name, account password, and account status. Playlist database  862  may be configured to store playlists for each registered radio station broadcasts periodically received from playlist provider  106 . Additionally, user playlist database  863  may be configured to store music clip broadcast playlists corresponding to the user&#39;s bookmarks.  
     [0056] Moreover, coupon database  864  may be configured to store information corresponding to music album and related merchandise vendors and the coupon information for the discounted sale of the music album CD or related merchandise. In one aspect, as discussed in further detail below, coupon database  864  may include expiration information for each product discount coupon defined for example, by a predetermined time frame from the time the user receives the coupon, a corresponding promotion code for each coupon, user preference information such as frequency of bookmarked broadcast stations, user classification group such as gender, age group, and geographic location of the users, where the user preference information in one embodiment comprising the basis of generating a product target criteria. In one aspect, the product target criteria may be provided to the merchandise vendors periodically such that the vendors may offer coupons for the merchandise based on the product target criteria. Indeed, merchandise vendors may reformulate the discount coupons for the particular music album CDs and related merchandise available to e-marker users based on frequency of bookmarked music clips, user age group, gender, as well as frequency of the user&#39;s visits to the vendor&#39;s on-line stores.  
     [0057] As further shown in FIG. 8, controller is coupled to memory  850  for accessing software and drivers for performing the various functions and processes of server terminal  105  for the e-marker fund music system. Indeed, in one embodiment, the e-marker dot promotion system may be embodied as a computer program developed using an object oriented language that allows the modeling of complex systems with modular objects to create abstractions that are representative of real world, physical objects and their interrelationships. However, it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the various embodiments as described herein may be implemented in many different ways using a wide range of programming techniques as well as general purpose hardware systems or dedicated controllers.  
     [0058]FIG. 9 illustrates a user account database of server terminal  105  storage unit  860  shown in FIG. 8. Referring to FIG. 9, user account database  861  may include a user name field  910 , a marker identification (ID) field  920 , a user account name field  930 , a user billing information field  940 , and a user contact information field  950 . As can be seen from the figure, user name field  910  may be configured to store the name of the user of music marker device  101 , while marker ID field  920  may be configured to store the music marker device ID corresponding to the respective device user name. For example, marker ID field  920  corresponding to the user John First may be configured to store the value “A11-K21-K43-F23” which corresponds to the marker device ID of John First. Moreover, marker ID field  920  corresponding to the user Matt Sawyer may be configured to store the value “K01-U23-N45-I67” as the marker ID for Matt Sawyer. In this manner, for each user and their respective electronic music marker devices, a unique marker ID may be stored in user account database  861 .  
     [0059] Referring back to FIG. 9, user account name field  930  may be configured to store each user&#39;s account name, typically provided by the user, or alternatively, automatically assigned by the server terminal  105  (FIG. 1) upon user registration at the e-marker web site. For example, user account name field  930  corresponding to the user John First may include “FirstJ” indicating John First&#39;s account name. While the user account names stored in the user account name field  930  are shown as a combination of each user&#39;s initials and/or names, in one aspect, the user account name may be a combination of letters and number, a unique series of number, or any other data string which may uniquely identify the respective user.  
     [0060] As can be further seen from FIG. 9, user billing information field  940  may be configured to store billing information such as credit card number, expiration date, and the type of credit card for each user. For example, user billing information field  940  corresponding to the user Helen Owen may be configured to store the value “AM” indicating her American Express card, having a card number “1245-856978-01147”. In another aspect, user billing information field  940  may include the user&#39;s bank account information such as the user&#39;s bank account name, account number, and so on. Moreover, in other embodiments, the user billing information field  940  may include information corresponding to the user&#39;s transferable assets that the user wishes use as the preferred payment method for charges incurred, such as, for example, the user&#39;s frequent flier miles, the user&#39;s bank debit card, and so on.  
     [0061] Referring again to FIG. 9, user contact information field  750  may be configured to store contact information corresponding to each user. For example, in one aspect, user contact information field  950  may be configured to store email addresses of each respective user. Alternatively, user contact information field  950  may be configured to store a telephone number, a facsimile number, a pager number or any other type of contact information for the respective users. Moreover, user account database  861  may be further configured to store other relevant information corresponding to the users. In this manner, from the information stored in user account database  861 , server terminal  105 may retrieve information related to the respective user&#39;s account as well as to update the information stored in user account database  861  based on received playlists from playlist provider  106  and/or the users themselves who are updating their corresponding account.  
     [0062]FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of a playlist database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 8. Referring to FIG. 10, playlist database  862  includes broadcast time field  1010 , name of music clip field  1020 , name of artist field  1030 , and name of album field  1040  for storing broadcast information corresponding to music broadcasts from registered radio station having call number KROK. As can be seen, broadcast time field  1010  is configured to store the beginning of the broadcast time for the corresponding music clip as well as the date of broadcast, and each of name of music clip field  1020 , name of artist field  1030 , and name of album field  1040  is configured to store the corresponding name of the music, the name of the artist and the name of the album for the broadcast music clip.  
     [0063] Indeed, in one embodiment, for each registered radio station, playlist provider  106  may be configured to transmit information related to the broadcasted music to server terminal  105  within a predetermined time from the actual broadcast time. Server terminal  105  is then configured to store the received playlist information for each registered radio stations in storage unit  860 . Server terminal  105  may also be configured to update playlist database  862  periodically or at each predetermined interval based on playlist information received from playlist provider  106  such that the data stored in playlist database  862  is maintained as up to date as possible. Furthermore, while only one playlist database  862  is shown in FIG. 8, in accordance with the present invention, server terminal  105  may be configured to generate, store and update a playlist database similar to that shown in FIG. 10 for each radio broadcast station. Moreover, within the scope of the present invention, additional data fields may be incorporated in playlist database  862 . Such additional data may include, for example, the number of music clip broadcast over a predetermined time period such as the number of same song broadcast within one day, the frequency information corresponding to the radio station broadcasting the music clips, and the Billboard chart ranking for each broadcast music album.  
     [0064]FIG. 11 illustrates one embodiment of a user playlist database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 8. Referring to FIG. 11, playlist database  863  stored in server terminal  105  for user John First having user account name “FirstJ” includes music title field  1110 , name of artist field  1120  corresponding to the name of the music title stored in music title field  1110 , bookmark event field  1130 , corresponding broadcast station field  1140 , and genre field  1150 .  
     [0065] As can be seen from the Figure, for each bookmark entered by John First using his electronic music marker device, once connected and synchronized with server terminal  105  via user terminal  103 , information corresponding to the bookmarks are stored in the respective fields of user playlist database  863 . For example, it can be seen from FIG. 11 that John First bookmarked the broadcast of the song titled “Ride the Lightning” by Metallica at 12:14 PM on Feb. 1, 2001, and that the song was broadcast from a radio station having call number KROK, the song classified in the hard rock category. In this manner, for each user of music marker device, server terminal  105  is configured to generate and store in user playlist database  862  information corresponding to the music broadcasts received from playlist provider  106  and the bookmarking information from each user&#39;s music marker device  101  via user terminal  103 . Additionally, server terminal  105  may be configured to add additional data fields to user playlist database  863  as well as to modify and update user playlist database  863 .  
     [0066]FIG. 12 illustrates one embodiment of a coupon database of the server terminal data storage unit shown in FIG. 8. Referring to FIG. 12, coupon database  864  in one embodiment includes vendor field  1210 , item field  1220 , discount information field  1230 , coupon validity field  1240 , and promotion code field  1250 . As shown, vendor field  1210  may be configured to store vendor information of the music album CDs and/or related merchandise which may be offering a discount coupon for the purchase of bookmarked music album CD or related merchandise. For example, it can be seen from FIG. 12 that vendor field  1210  includes on-line vendors such as CDNow, Amazon.com, and BestBuy.com.  
     [0067] Referring to FIG. 12, item field  1220  corresponding to each vendor in vendor field  1210  may include the underlying item offered for sale with the discount coupon. For example, it can be seen from item field  1220  that items offered for sale by the vendors shown in FIG. 12 include music CDs, music video cassette and artist logo T-shirt. Discount field  1230  and validity field  1240  respectively include information corresponding to each discount coupon offered for the underlying item for sale. For example, as can be seen from FIG. 12, music CD offered for sale by vendor CDNow has a 20% discount as shown in the discount field  1230 , which is valid for 15 minutes as shown in the corresponding validity field  1240 .  
     [0068] In one aspect, the validity (or coupon expiration) information stored in the discount coupon validity field  1240  may include the time duration beginning from the user&#39;s receipt of the dot promotion discount offer, during which, the offered discount is valid if the user purchases the discounted item, for example, the music CD. Furthermore, the amount of offered discount may vary depending upon the vendor or the underlying merchandise offered for sale. For example, the dot promotion coupon offered to the users for the purchase of a particular music CD or a related merchandise may have a fixed percentage discount offer such as 20% or 15%. Alternatively, the dot promotion discount offers may be a variable percentage determined as a function of popularity or user request.  
     [0069] For example, it can be seen from FIG. 12 that the dot promotion coupon for the music video cassette from CDNow is offered at 15% Variable (discount field  1230 ) valid for 20 minutes (validity field  1240 ). In other words, the discount percentage for the music video cassette from CDNow may be offered initially at 15% off the retail price beginning at the 20 minute clock, and the discounted percentage may be configured to decrease within a predetermined time interval during the 20 minute clock, for example, by 5% for each lapsed 10 minute interval. In this manner, the buyers (or users of e-marker devices who wish to purchase the bookmarked music CDs or related merchandise) may be provided with an incentive complete the purchase transaction quickly rather than waiting until close to the expiration (or validity) of the dot promotion coupon offer.  
     [0070] In one aspect, when the buyer initiates the purchase transaction including the dot promotion coupon within the expiration time for the coupon offer, the promotion code stored in promotion code field  1250  for the particular item may be transmitted to the user for completing the purchase transaction with the corresponding vendor. Alternatively, the underlying promotion code for the particular purchase transaction may be automatically transmitted to the vendor site (for example, the web-site of the online vendor CDNow) such that the user is not required to enter the promotion code related to the dot promotion coupon offer at the vendor site to complete the purchase transaction.  
     [0071] Furthermore, coupon database  864  may be configured to be updated at a predetermined time interval such that expired dot promotion coupon offers are deleted from coupon database  864  while new offers from vendors are added to coupon database  864 . More specifically, controller  830  may be configured to update coupon database  864  based on, among others, promotion information received from the various vendors. Furthermore, controller  830  may additionally be configured to add additional field to coupon database  864  such as target criteria field for particular promotion based on user&#39;s e-marker bookmarking history within a certain geographic region for specific music genre broadcasts, and any other information which may factor into the dot promotion coupon offers received from the vendors.  
     [0072]FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing of one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 13, at step  1310 , server terminal  105  detects a user login and receives bookmarked information from user terminal  103 . At step  1320 , server terminal  105  may be configured to retrieve dot promotion coupon information corresponding to bookmarked music clips from coupon database  864 , and to transmit the retrieved coupon information to user terminal  103  at step  1330 . Thereafter at step  1340 , server terminal  105  is configured to initiate the promotion coupon time clock based on the corresponding validity information stored in validity field  1240  of coupon database  864  for each transmitted coupon information. In one embodiment, server terminal  105  may be configured to display the countdown of the promotion coupon time clock on the display unit of user terminal  103 . At step  1350 , it is determined whether the promotion coupon time clock has expired, and if so, the processing terminates and the transmitted promotion coupon offer expires.  
     [0073] On the other hand, if at step  1350  it is determined that the promotion coupon time clock has not run and the dot promotion coupon offer is still valid, at step  1360  it is determined whether the user&#39;s coupon selection is detected, indicating that the user has initiated the purchase transaction of the offered item with the dot promotion coupon offer. If, however at step  1360  the user&#39;s coupon selection is not detected, then the processing returns to step  1350 . With the detection of the user&#39;s coupon selection at step  1360 , server terminal  105  is configured to re-direct the user to the vendor site corresponding to the dot promotion coupon offer to complete the user&#39;s purchase transaction. In one aspect, the user may be provided with the corresponding promotion code retrieved from promotion code field  1250  of coupon database  864  for manual entry during the user&#39;s checkout process at the vendor&#39;s online store. Alternatively, the corresponding promotion code may be directly transmitted to the vendor&#39;s online store checkout page.  
     [0074]FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing of another embodiment. Referring to FIG. 14, at step  1410 , e-marker user login from user terminal  103  is detected at server terminal  105 . Thereafter, server terminal  105  receives data marks such as bookmarked music clips as well as data marker identification code from user terminal  103 . At step  1430 , controller  830  of server terminal  105  is configured to retrieve dot promotion coupon information corresponding to the received data marks by accessing and searching storage unit  860  of server terminal  105 . In one aspect, controller  830  may be configured to retrieve all stored dot promotion coupon offers corresponding to the bookmarked music clips received from user terminal  103 , including the particulars of each coupon offer such as the discount information retrieved from the corresponding discount field  1230  of coupon database  864 , and validity information retrieved from the corresponding validity field  1240  of coupon database  864 . For example, server terminal  105  may be configured to determine vendors that are offering discounts for music CDs and/or related merchandise corresponding to the user&#39;s bookmarked music clips.  
     [0075] Thereafter, server terminal  105  may be configured to retrieve the promotion coupon offers from each of the vendors and related information corresponding to the promotion offers. Having identified the available promotion coupon offers, server terminal  105  transmits the retrieved and identified coupon information to user terminal  103 . In one aspect, the transmitted coupon information may be transmitted to user terminal  103  in a graphical format, a text format or a combination of graphical and text format including a selectable “dot” icon which is displayed on the user terminal  103  display unit, and which may be selected using an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a stylus at user terminal  103 .  
     [0076] Referring back to FIG. 14, at step  1450  server terminal  105  determines whether a coupon selection at user terminal  103  is detected within the validity time period of each coupon offer transmitted to user terminal  103 . If at step  1450  it is determined that server terminal  105  did not detect any coupon offer selection at user terminal  103  within the validity time frame for each respective coupon offer, then at step  1480 , server terminal  105  may be configured to delete the coupon information displayed at user terminal  103 , and the processing terminates.  
     [0077] On the other hand, if at step  1450  server terminal  105  detects a user selection of a coupon offer within its validity time period transmitted to user terminal  103 , then at step  1460 , server terminal  105  is configured to open the corresponding vendor&#39;s online store site checkout page as a pop-up window displayed in user terminal  103  display unit, with the corresponding promotion code for the user selected coupon offer displayed thereon. Upon user&#39;s completion of the purchase transaction at the vendor&#39;s online store checkout page, a confirmation message may be transmitted to server terminal  105  at step  1470 . Server terminal  105  may in one embodiment be configured to update coupon database  846  as well as the corresponding user account database  861  corresponding to the user who has executed the purchase transaction. Similarly, a purchase transaction confirmation message may be transmitted to user terminal informing the user (or purchaser) that the requested purchase transaction has been completed.  
     [0078]FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing a further embodiment. Referring to FIG. 15, upon detection of user login at step  1510  and receipt of user&#39;s data marks such as bookmarked music clips broadcast over registered radio and/or television station at step  1520 , server terminal  105  may be configured to query coupon database  864  of storage unit  860 . Thereafter at step  1540 , it is determined whether there are dot promotion coupons corresponding to the received data marks. For example, controller  830  of server terminal  105  may be configured to query coupon database  864  based on data marks received as well as user data retrieved from user account database  861  and user playlist database  863  corresponding to the user who has transmitted the data marks.  
     [0079] Referring back to FIG. 15, if at step  1540  it is determined that there are no promotion coupons corresponding to the received data marks, then at step  1580 , vendor information for the purchase of the item (such as music CDs) corresponding to the received data marks are transmitted to user terminal  103  with no corresponding promotion information, and the processing terminates. On the other hand, if at step  1540  it is determined that there are promotion coupons corresponding to the received data marks, then at step  1550 , promotion coupon code and the corresponding expiration (or validity) information is retrieved from coupon database  864 , and transmitted to user terminal at step  1560 . Thereafter, at step  1570 , coupon database  864  may be updated based on the processing at step  1550 - 1560 .  
     [0080]FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing of yet another embodiment. Referring to FIG. 16, at step  1610 , an e-marker user connects the e-marker device to user (gateway) terminal  103  and transmits login information to server terminal  105  as well as bookmarked data marks such as bookmarked music clip information. At step  1620 , dot promotion coupon information corresponding to the transmitted bookmarked data marks is received and displayed on user terminal display unit  751  (FIG. 7). At step  1630 , using input unit  740  (FIG. 7), one or more of the desired promotion information is selected.  
     [0081] In one embodiment, the displayed promotion coupon information may be in a combined graphical and text format which is hypertext linked such that when the user selects the information at step  1640  using input unit  740  (which includes, for example, a computer mouse, a stylus pen, and the like), the corresponding information for the particular selected promotion coupon is displayed on display unit  751  of user terminal  103 . Thereafter at step  1650 , the user may select a purchase icon displayed on user terminal  103  display unit  751  to initiate the purchase transaction of the item with the promotion coupon.  
     [0082] As discussed above, the displayed promotion coupon information may be in combined graphical and text format. However, in other aspects of the present invention, the displayed promotion coupon information may also include sound data such as background music clip, as well as voice data which outputs the information related to the displayed promotion coupon at speakers  752  of user terminal  103 . Furthermore, as will be discussed in further detail below, within the e-marker web domain, the promotion coupon information may be displayed in a “dot” format including text information displaying data corresponding to the promotion coupon and a graphical “dot” illustrated with the text information, and which may be selected by user using input unit  740 .  
     [0083]FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart for illustrating a dot promotion processing of still a further embodiment. Referring to FIG. 17, at step  1710  login information for logging into user&#39;s e-marker account as well as bookmarked data marks are transmitted to server terminal  105 . Thereafter, at step  1720 , promotion coupon information corresponding to some or all of the transmitted data marks are received from server terminal  105 , and at step  1730 , validity or expiration information corresponding to each received promotion coupon information is received from server terminal  105 .  
     [0084] In one aspect, the promotion coupon information and the corresponding expiration information may be received simultaneously from server terminal  105 , this concurrently processing step  1720  and step  1730 . Furthermore, expiration information corresponding to each received promotion coupon information may be displayed at user terminal  103  in the form of a continuously running clock (or timer) which begins to run from the time when the user receives the promotion coupon information from server terminal  105 . In this manner, the user may be continuously informed of the exact amount of time during which the corresponding promotion coupon discount is valid.  
     [0085] Referring back to FIG. 17, at step  1740 , it is determined whether the item corresponding to the received promotion coupon information will be purchased before the expiration time frame lapses. If at step  1740  it is determined that the item will not be purchased within the validity time period, and thus the validity time period lapses without a completed purchase transaction, then at step  1770 , the promotion coupon information and the expiration information is deleted from user terminal, and the processing terminates.  
     [0086] On the other hand, if at step  1740 , it is determined that the item will be purchased within the validity time period taking advantage of the discount offered by the promotion coupon, then at step  1750  purchase and delivery information is transmitted from user terminal  103  to complete the purchase transaction. In one embodiment, purchase information may include the user&#39;s credit card information such as credit card number, expiration date, as well as other medium for completing merchandise purchase on-line. Additionally, delivery information may include the desired delivery address for the delivery of the merchandise (or item) to be purchased with the discount offered by the promotion coupon. Moreover, in a further aspect, the purchase and delivery information may be transmitted to server terminal  105  for transmission to the respective vendor site, or alternatively, user terminal  103  may transmit the purchase and delivery information directly to the vendor&#39;s on-line store site such as Amazon.com. The latter approach avoids the extra step of processing the purchase and delivery information through, for example, e-marker.com&#39;s server terminal.  
     [0087] Referring again to FIG. 17, after transmitting the purchase and delivery information at step  1750 , at step  1760 , purchase information confirmation may be received at user terminal  103  informing the user that the executed purchase transaction has been completed. Furthermore, purchase information confirmation may also be transmitted to server terminal  105  for storage in storage unit  860  (FIG. 8).  
     [0088] In the manner described above, in accordance with various embodiments, electronic music marker device users may be provided with vendor promotion coupon information which provides discounted price for the purchase of bookmarked music clip CDs or related merchandise. Each promotion coupon for the particular item may be configured to expire after a predetermined time period, such incentive which may encourage the user to decide and purchase the desired item quickly rather than waiting. Moreover, the predetermined time period during which the promotion coupon is valid may be displayed on user terminal  103  display unit  751  as, for example, a clock counter, such that the user is continuously informed of the time remaining during which the promotion coupon would be valid.  
     [0089]FIG. 18 is a graphical illustration of a user terminal display unit illustrating a dot promotion coupon offer in one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 18, there is shown a display screen  1810  of display unit  751  at user terminal  103 . Within display screen  1810  is shown a promotion coupon  1820  including a graphical illustration of a “dot”  1830 . As can be further seen from FIG. 18, the promotion coupon  1820  indicates a 20% off an item purchased from vendor CDNow if the purchase transaction is completed within 10 minutes. Also shown in promotion coupon  1820  is a hypertext link  1840  which, when selected using an input device such as a cursor  1850 , a new display is shown in the user terminal display unit. This can be seen from FIG. 19 as discussed below.  
     [0090]FIG. 19 is a graphical illustration of a user terminal display unit illustrating detailed dot promotion coupon information in one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 19, as displayed on user terminal display unit, vendor information  1930  is displayed for the particular selected dot promotion coupon window  1910 . Furthermore, the predetermined time period during which the promotion coupon is valid is illustrated as a graphical display of a running clock  1920 . In one embodiment, clock display  1920  begins to run from the predetermined time period, or example, 10 minutes, when the user selects hypertext link  1840  (FIG. 8) for the particular promotion coupon and with the display of the selection dot promotion coupon information window  1910 .  
     [0091] Referring back to FIG. 19, it can be seen that additional detailed information related to the purchase of the item (for example, music CD) is displayed in the dot promotion coupon information window  1910 , which may be a pop-up window and displayed as such on user terminal  103  display unit  751 . Furthermore, in one embodiment, in the case where the offered promotion discount percentage is variable, the indicated percentage off in the dot promotion coupon information window  1910  may be configured to refresh with the new discount percentage based on the elapsed time (or time remaining for the offer) as shown in the clock display  1920 .  
     [0092]FIG. 20 is a graphical illustration of a user terminal display unit illustrating bookmarked music clip album dot promotion coupons in one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 20, as shown music CDs for the bookmarked music clips available from the particular vendor is displayed on user terminal  103  display unit  751 . In particular, each available music CD from the vendor (for example, CDNow) corresponding to the user&#39;s bookmarked music clips are displayed in a “dot” promotion coupon format  2010 ,  2020 ,  2030 , each including a respective purchase (or “buy”) hypertext link  2011 ,  2021 ,  2031 . By selecting one of the purchase hypertext links  2011 ,  2021 ,  2031  using input unit  740  (FIG. 7) such as a computer mouse, a stylus pen, and the like, the user terminal  103  may be redirected to the vendor&#39;s online store checkout web page, or alternatively, the vendor&#39;s online store checkout web page may be displayed as a pop-up window in display unit  751  of user terminal  103 .  
     [0093] In this manner, in accordance with various embodiments, users of electronic music marker devices may be provided with vendor discount coupon information each of which may include a validity time period, and displayed on user terminal as a corresponding “dot” promotion information. In one aspect, the user is required to complete the purchase transaction for the item or merchandise related to the bookmarked music clips offered for sale by the vendor within the predetermined validity time period. Accordingly, user terminals may be provided with “dot” promotion coupon information for the purchase of music CDs and related merchandise corresponding to the user&#39;s bookmarked music clips, while the users may be able to conveniently purchase the bookmarked music CDs and related merchandise at a discount from vendors through the e-marker.com web site.  
     [0094] Various other modifications and alterations in the structure and method of operation of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the present invention and that structures and methods within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.