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:
Feb. 07, 2012
Filed:
Feb. 16, 2007
John M. Hughes, Hebron, CT (US);
Michael Lydon, Hebron, CT (US);
John Clayton Bollinger, Bloomington, IN (US);
Sarah Charlene Ramkissoon, North York, CA;
Donald Cruver, Wallkill, NY (US);
John M. Hughes, Hebron, CT (US);
Michael Lydon, Hebron, CT (US);
John Clayton Bollinger, Bloomington, IN (US);
Sarah Charlene Ramkissoon, North York, CA;
Donald Cruver, Wallkill, NY (US);
TopCoder, Inc., Glastonbury, CT (US);
Abstract
In general, the invention relates to providing infrastructure, process controls, and software to design, advertise, and implement an on-line contest in which participants in the contest search the Internet for a target in order to earn a reward. Hints and/or hidden objects may provide clues as to where to look for the reward, how to claim the reward, and what the reward is. The reward is funded by participating web site owners who reserve, in some embodiments via an auction, the opportunity to 'host' the target during a contest or a portion of a contest, and as a result, drive traffic to their respective web sites.