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:
Dec. 07, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 16, 1996
Arnold Blinn, Bellevue, WA (US);
Michael Ari Cohen, San Francisco, CA (US);
Michael Lorton, Redmond, WA (US);
Gregory J Stein, Redmond, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
An electronic promotion system apparatus and method provide promotions across a computer network. The promotion system includes a shopper browser communicating with a merchant server. A shopper places an order using the shopper browser. The order is received by the merchant server. A purchasing pipeline executing in the merchant server process the order. The purchasing pipeline includes a promotion component. The promotion component determines the eligibility of the shopper for each one of multiple promotions using information stored in a promotion table. Furthermore, the eligibility of each item on the shopper order to trigger each one of the multiple promotions is determined. Additionally, the eligibility of each item on the shopper order to receive an award is determined. The awards are then applied appropriately. Each item may be used to trigger only one promotion where awards were granted. Furthermore, each item may only receive one award. Thus, a merchant may offer multiple promotions while ensuring the promotions are applied as intended.