Patent ID: 7257542

Claim:
A method of providing a ticket to an end-user via a computer network, the method comprising: providing a ticket server, the ticket server coupled to a validation information database; generating a web interface by a distributor server coupled to the computer network; receiving a ticket request over the computer network from an end-user's machine by the distributor server via the web interface; generating validation information from the ticket request, and a link to an indicium graphic in the ticket server, by the distributor server; transmitting the validation information and the link to the indicium graphic in the ticket server to the web browser of the end-user's machine, by the distributor server; receiving by the ticket server the validation information and the link to the indicium graphic from the end-user's machine via the computer network; generating by the ticket server an indicium graphic using the validation information and the link to the indicium graphic; generating by the ticket server a ticket using the indicium graphic and the validation information; storing the indicium graphic and the validation information in the validation information database, before the ticket is validated; transmitting the ticket by the ticket server to the end-user's machine, wherein the ticket includes a copy of the indicium graphic and the validation information; printing the ticket; scanning the printed ticket using a scanning machine and receiving the scanned copy of the ticket from a remote terminal including the scanning machine, by the ticket server via the computer network; determining a validity status for the ticket by the ticket server using the received indicium graphic and the validation information in the ticket, and the validation information database; and transmitting the validity status to the remote terminal by the ticket server via the computer network.