The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 29, 1997
Filed:
Jun. 07, 1995
William J Veeneman, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Karla J Alexander, Minnetonka, MN (US);
Phillip R Brooks, Eagan, MN (US);
Thomas J Doyle, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Robert H Hamilton, Edina, MN (US);
The Gift Certificate Center, Inc., Minneapolis, MN (US);
Abstract
An electronic gift certificate dispenser device for printing and dispensing a gift certificate purchased by a credit card. A consumer approaches the device and inserts a credit card into a magnetic card reader. The consumer chooses a retailer from a menu of participating retailers and enters the gift certificate value. The machine automatically verifies the credit card, causes the account to be debited and prints the gift certificate. A plurality of gift certificate dispensing devices can be connected in a network under the control of a central processing unit. Information regarding gift certificate purchases is transferred from the devices to the central processing unit to be collated and billed to credit card accounts. The central processing unit also informs merchants of the purchase of gift certificates that will be redeemed at their stores.