Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8392306B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-05-26 21:59:50
Document Index: 159307614

Matched Legal Cases: ['§120', '§120', '§120', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2']

US8392306B2 - Transfer instrument - Google Patents
US8392306B2
US8392306B2 US13/296,780 US201113296780A US8392306B2 US 8392306 B2 US8392306 B2 US 8392306B2 US 201113296780 A US201113296780 A US 201113296780A US 8392306 B2 US8392306 B2 US 8392306B2
US13/296,780
US20120059761A1 (en
2011-11-15 Assigned to C/BASE, INC. reassignment C/BASE, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: GILLIN, MATTHEW J., KORFMANN, ROGER, RADEN, PAUL L.
2011-11-15 Assigned to ECOUNT, INC. reassignment ECOUNT, INC. CHANGE OF NAME (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: C/BASE, INC.
2011-11-15 Application filed by Citibank NA filed Critical Citibank NA
2011-11-15 Assigned to CITIBANK, N.A. reassignment CITIBANK, N.A. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: ECOUNT, INC.
2012-03-08 Publication of US20120059761A1 publication Critical patent/US20120059761A1/en
2013-03-05 Publication of US8392306B2 publication Critical patent/US8392306B2/en
This application is a divisional of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/774,785 filed May 6, 2010 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,060,426, entitled “Transfer Instrument”, which is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/336,533 filed Jan. 20, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,739,168 issued Jun. 15, 2010, which is a continuation of, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/188,810 filed Nov. 9, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,512 issued on Mar. 7, 2006, the entirety of each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Servers capable of being interface server 234 and/or the database server 232 are well known and both the hardware and associated software are constantly being changed improved, reduced in cost and/or complexity. Thus, given the rapid pace by which those changes and improvements occur, the specifically elaborated hardware and software will likely be obsolete in the near future. Furthermore, the specific hardware used as the servers 232, 234 and the associated software is not critical to understanding the invention. However, by way of example, one suitable interface server 234 is a server having an Intel 333 MHz Pentium II processor with 512K cache, 128 MB of RAM, a 9.1 GB Ulktra-2/LVD SCSI7 hard drive, an Intel EtherExpress PRO 100/B PC1 Ethernet adapter, and a 12/24 GB DAT tape backup unit. Additionally, example software which may be used in practicing the invention includes Windows NT Server 4.0 SP3 with NFTS, an option pack including IIS 4.0, SMTP Server, Index Server, NNTP Server and MTS, Site Server 3.0 Commerce Edition SP 1.
The database server 232 is similarly constructed to have an Intel 333 MHz Pentium II processor with 512K cache, 256 MB of RAM, Dual Channel RAID with 16 MB cache. The server storage consists of three RAID-59.1 GB drives. Trio mirrored 9.1 GB drives for the operating system and database log files and one online spare 9.1 GB drive. The server 232 also has an Intel EtherExpress PRO 100/B PC1 Ethernet adapter, 12/24 GB DAT tape backup unit and a 32× SCSI CD-ROM. Example software which may be used in practicing the invention includes Windows NT Server 4.0 SP3 with NFTS, an option pack including IIS 4.0, SMTP Server, Index Server, NNTP Server and MTS, and SQL Server 6.5 SP4 and updated Site Server 3.0 with Hotfixes.
Alternatively, a separate account could be maintained for each different type of payment card account. For example, one DDA account for transfer instruments of the debit payment card account type and another for transfer instruments of the crediticharge payment card account type.
The niece 935 is also notified with an e-mail on July 15, based upon the start date of Aug. 1, 1998. unlike the e-mail to the nephew, her e-mail merely states: “To: My Niece-From: Uncle Bob; I have given you a gift of credit charging, to a maximum of $500 per month, usable as you need it for two (2) months, between August 1 and September 30. To redeem the gift, double click on the URL below.”
When the niece 935 double clicks on the URL which contains an identifier for the transfer instrument designated to her she is connected to a web page 940. If the identifier is valid or not locked because of some problem the system checks to see if the transfer instrument is already active. She is prompted to respond in an activation form 945 and provide information in order to register and activate. The web page 940 indicates that the information is maintained solely for purposes of preventing fraud, verifying a recipient's identity and/or enabling redemption if a transfer instrument is “lost”. In particular, she is prompted for a username and a password. She is asked to reconfirm the password by typing it in again. She provides a “password hint” which may be used to refresh memory, should she ever forget her password. She then provides her e-mail address (which may be compared with the e-mail address given by the purchaser for her for security), her postal address, full name, for purposes of registering the transfer instrument in her name. This renders the payment card account associated with the transfer instrument solely usable in her name. Additionally, she is given the option of providing—a date of birth and/or age which can be further used to verify her identity. Upon providing the required information, she is transferred to a redemption method page. The redemption method page provides her with the options of activating the transfer instrument or transferring the value to a credit card. Since she has been given a gift of credit, the second option is inactive. Had her gift been a fixed sum, she could have had that sum transferred, as if it was a refund, to a debit/credit/charge of her choosing (assuming it was one which the transfer instrument offeror was capable of crediting).
a) a physical computer hardware database server having a database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server programmed for receiving a request via a computer software interface application process executing on a physical computer hardware interface server from a first party entered by the first party on a first party personal computer software application process executing on a physical hardware first party personal computer for a gift certificate for a second party having a name, the gift certificate being a computer-generated indication of a charge account, obtained by the transfer instrument issuer from an account issuer different from the transfer instrument issuer, but without both an issuance and provision of a physical card for the charge account or provision of a presentable gift certificate to the second party, the charge account:
b) the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server being also programmed for informing the second party of the account; and
c) the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server being further programmed for activating the account for usage by the second party.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server is further programmed for acquiring a plurality of charge accounts capable of being gifted, after acquisition.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server is further programmed for accepting a backing payment from the first party.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server is further programmed for receiving a selection of the account parameter from the first party, the selection being one of, a specified value, a maximum credit limit, a delivery date, a start date, an expiration date, a duration, a billing address, a location for funds from which charges by the second party will be paid, a notification method, or a usage notification arrangement.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server is further programmed for informing the second party of the account by sending an e-mail to the second party.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server is further programmed for informing the second party of the account by directing the second party to a website associated with transfer instrument issuer to initiate the activating of the charge account indicated by the gift certificate.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server is further programmed for receiving entry of a selection by first party of a greeting to the second party.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server is further programmed for sending a thank you notification to the first party from the second party.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the database computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware database server and the host system computer software application process executing on the physical computer hardware host server are further programmed for requiring the second party to take a specified action with the transfer instrument issuer before activating the account for usage by the second party.
US13/296,780 1998-11-09 2011-11-15 Transfer instrument Expired - Lifetime US8392306B2 (en)
US12/774,785 Division US8060426B2 (en) 1998-11-09 2010-05-06 Transfer instrument
US13/748,987 Division US8489483B1 (en) 1998-11-09 2013-01-24 Transfer instrument
US20120059761A1 US20120059761A1 (en) 2012-03-08
US8392306B2 true US8392306B2 (en) 2013-03-05
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US8489483B1 (en) 2013-07-16
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:GILLIN, MATTHEW J.;KORFMANN, ROGER;RADEN, PAUL L.;REEL/FRAME:027229/0960
Free format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:C/BASE, INC.;REEL/FRAME:027232/0665
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:ECOUNT, INC.;REEL/FRAME:027230/0106