US20020138573A1 - System for multiple signers on an electronic card and gift - Google Patents

Abstract

The current invention is a viral group greeting cards Internet service. It is a method and process that is an electronic greeting card service that utilizes the distributed access afforded by the Internet or local area networks (LANs) to enable the collection of greetings from multiple users on a single greeting card and its delivery to a recipient. It also allows for the pledges and collection of funds from multiple parties for a gift.

Description

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
• 1. Field of the Invention[0001]
• This invention relates to art of Electronic Cards and Gifts, specifically an improvement for the use with multiple senders.[0002]
• 2. Description of Prior Art[0003]
• With the new E-World with E-commerce and E-greetings there is a need for an easy, inexpensive, and convenient method for multiple people to electronically sign and send an electronic greeting and gift. There are many services such as American Greetings that allow the sending of electronic greeting cards. These cards are from a single user to a single user.[0004]
• The current method is to have a single sender use one of the many Electronic Greeting card companies to pick out and send an electronic greeting to the recipient or to multiple recipients. Many of these services allow the sending of electronic gift certificates, but none of these allow multiple people to pledge specific contributions to a gift. These are very limited in scope allowing only one person to sign and comment on the card.Evite.com is a web-site that has a “one-to-many”model that allows a single person to invite multiple people to an event.[0005]
• Currently, if a person wants to have multiple signatures on a greeting, a paper card must be used. And if that person wants to include a gift, then cash money must be gathered from everyone who wanted to contribute. This is very cumbersome in today's paper-less world.[0006]
• There is still room for improvement within the art.[0007]
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
• It is the object of this invention to provide an easy, inexpensive, and convenient method for multiple users to sign an electronic card and to pledge money to a group gift.[0008]
• The current invention is a viral group greeting cards Internet service. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic greeting card service that utilizes the distributed access afforded by the Internet or local area networks (LANs) to enable the collection of greetings from multiple users on a single greeting card and its delivery to a recipient. The viral aspect of this service allows it to aggregate a large member base without having to be marketed by its owner. This viral marketing component is due to the fact that it establishes a foundation and process where users can market the service to each other simply by using it.[0009]
• Using the service, a group greeting card can be easily initiated by any Internet user. The user who initiates the greeting card (sender) selects the occasion for the card, enters his/her relationship to the recipient (for example: friend, brother, sister, etc.) and enters the name and email address of the recipient. The sender enters the subject and main message of the email they want to use in order to invite other users (invitees) to sign the greeting card. Then for each invitee, the sender enters a first name, an email address, and an optional invitee-specific note that will be appended to the invitation email for that particular invitee. By default, the optional personalized note encourages the invitee to invite other users to sign the greeting card. The sender can and is encouraged to invite as many users as he/she wants to sign the greeting card, which enhances the viral aspect of the service.[0010]
• Once they receive the invitation email, each invitee clicks on the URL, which leads them to a personalized web page where they can sign the greeting card. Signing the greeting card consists of adding a text message to the electronic group greeting card. After reviewing the message, the invitee can submit it. A notification is sent to all the invitees of the greeting card to let them know that a new message has been added to the card so that they can connect to the service and see it. The invitee is then sent to a web page where he/she can see all the messages added to the card so far. The invitee can edit his/her message from this page. The invitee can also invite more friends to sign the greeting card, which enhances the viral aspect of the service.[0011]
• When the sender deems that enough invitees have “signed” (added their message to) the card, he/she can have the service deliver the card to the recipient. The sender is then asked to enter a personal delivery message for the recipient. This personalized delivery note is included in the recipient's notification email, which invites the recipient to follow a URL in order to see their group greeting card.[0012]
• The recipient can then see all the messages from the invitees who have submitted their message so far. The recipient does not see the names of the invitees who have not yet submitted a message but as new messages come in, the recipient can see them as well. Messages from invitees can be added to the card after the card has been delivered to the recipient. The recipient can choose to thank all the invitees who signed the card with a common message, which will be relayed by the service.[0013]
• Objects and Advantages[0014]
• The current invention allows for a simple and easy way to allow multiple senders and more than one person to contribute to an electronic gift. These are things that were not able to be done easily before the current invention. It is a key addition to a new electronic paper-less world.[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• The preferred embodiment of the invention is described below. This invention relates to an Internet service. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic greeting card service that utilizes the distributed access afforded by the Internet or local area networks (LANs) to enable the collection of greetings from multiple users on a single greeting card and its delivery to a recipient. The viral aspect of this service allows it to aggregate a large member base without having to be marketed by its owner. This viral marketing component is due to the fact that it establishes a foundation and process where users can market the service to each other simply by using it.[0016]
• The current invention uses Internet communications tool, browser, ISP (Internet Service Providers), embedded web-site, URL, protocols and languages that are known to one skilled in the art and therefor not disclosed here in detail.[0017]
• FIG. 1 displays the key people involved in the system[0018]1 and the flow of information between them and the system1. Anew visitor5 registers to become asender10. Thesender10 initiates the process by picking an electronic greeting20 to send torecipient30. Thesender10 informs theinvitees40 of the electronic greeting20 requesting them to sign the electronic greeting20. After thesender10 feels enough invitees40 have signed the electronic greeting20, he/she forwards an E-mail notice to therecipient30 informing them about the electronic greeting20. After the invitees40 signs the electronic greeting20 and sign up on the system1 she/he becomes aparticipant60. The system1 also allows the sending of electronic gifts50.
• The initiation process of the preferred embodiment of the current invention is shown in FIG. 2. The steps for initiating use of the group electronic greeting[0019]20 are as follows. Asender10 initiates the group electronic greeting20. As shown instep100, thesender10 enters the web-site, selects the occasion for the card and signifies that they want to initiate an electronic greeting20 usually by clicking an action button on the screen. As shown isstep110,first time senders10 also need to enter his/her own information including name, email address and create a password for authentication during future visits.
• In[0020]step120, new visitors are added to a system database as a system member and a sender of electronic greetings20. Instep130, thesender10 then enters the subject and main message of the E-mail they want to use in order to invite other users (invitees40) to sign the electronic greeting20. Both a personalized subject and a personalized main message are pre-populated and can be edited by thesender10.
• Then as shown in[0021]step140, thesender10 invites asmany invitees40 its they desire.Ine sender10 for eachinvitee40 enters a first name, an email address and an optional invitee-specific note that will be appended to theinvitation email150 for thatparticular invitee40. By default, the optional personalized note encourages theinvitee40 to invite other users to sign the electronic greeting20. The message sent to all theinvitees40 also contains instructions, an Universal Resource Locators (URL) for proceeding as well as an incentive to act quickly. Thesender10 can and is encouraged to invite as many users as he/she wants to sign the greeting card, which enhances the viral aspect of the service.
• As shown in[0022]step160, thesender10 chooses whether to ask eachinvitee40 to join in contributing for a gift pool. And instep170 thesender10 can send outE-mail reminders180 to thoseinvitees40 who haven't contributed or pledged amounts to the gift pool yet.
• In the preferred embodiment each[0023]invitee40 then receives a personalized invitation email with the following structure: “Subject: Hi <invitee first name> Main message: <Sender's name> has invited you to sign a group greeting card for <recipient's name>. Optional invitee-specific note: By the way, if you think of other friends of <recipient's first name>'s that you'd like to invite after you sign the card, go ahead! (there'll be an ‘Invite more friends’ button on the Groupcard page) Instructions: It's really easy and fun. Just click the link below . . . <Universal Resource Locators (URL) of the Internet service appended with parameters to return to a personalized page where the invitee can sign the greeting card> You'll also be able to see what other friends of Rita are writing . . . Incentive to act quickly: DON'T WAIT!: If you click above and sign the greeting card within 24 hours of receiving this email, you will automatically be entered to win a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate! (see below for details):”
• In the preferred embodiment, the[0024]sender10 would have administrative rights on all the messages that are added to the electronic greeting20. They could delete any inappropriate messages, or even delete the whole electronic greeting20.
• The contribution process of the preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 3. In[0025]step200 theinvitees40 receive anE-mail invitation150 or anE-mail reminder180. Theinvitee40 clicks the embedded URL address contained in the E-mail. As shown instep210, this will transfer theinvitee40 to a personalized web-site where theinvitee40 is invited to enter their message for therecipient30 and sign the electronic greeting20.
• In[0026]step220, theinvitee40 enters their message for therecipient30. Thatmessage230 is included in the electronic greeting20. Allother invitees40 and the sender are notified bynotification E-mail300 that someone else has signed the card.
• [0027]Step240 asks the question is there a gift pool? If yes, theinvitee40 chooses whether or not to contribute to the gift pool and what amount to contribute250. Theinvitee40 can choose to pledge a certain amount and enters theircard card information225.
• [0028]Step260 asks is the invitee40 a member? If no, then as shown instep270, theinvitee40 enters her/his own information including name, email address and create a password for authentication during future visits. At this point, theinvitee40 has become a full member of the service and can initiate other electronic greetings20 for other people, which is the core to the viral aspect of the invention. This qualifies aninvitee40 as aparticipant60. If the answer to step260 is yes then step270 is skipped.
• In[0029]step280, aparticipant60 can review all other messages, can edit their own message and can invite more people to sign the electronic greeting20. In step290, whenother invitees40 receive thenotification E-mail300, they can decide to contribute to the gift pool and/or see other invitee's messages and go to step210.
• In[0030]step310, whenparticipants60 receive anotification E-mail300 and they want to see the added message they go to step280.
• When the[0031]sender10 deems that enough invitees have “signed” (added their message to) the electronic greeting20, thesender10 initiates the delivery process. The delivery process of the preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 4.
• In[0032]step400, the question is asked whether or not a gift pool been opened by thesender10. If yes, then instep410 thesender10 reviews all the participants'60 contributions to see if the amount of pledges and then instep415 enters the amount of money that thesender10 wants to pledge or contribution.
• In[0033]step420, the question is asked after reviewing the contributions whether or not enough money was contributed or pledged for thesender10 to buy a group gift50. If yes, then instep425 thesender10 decides if they want to buy a more expensive group gift50 with the excess money pledged or contributed. If thesender10 does want to buy a more expensive gift they select it from thegift pool435. If thesender10 wants to buy the original gift50 thesender10 confirms their choice instep437.
• If not enough money to buy the group gift[0034]50 was contributed or pledged, instep430, thesender10 decides if they want to get a lower cost gift50. If yes, thesender10 selects a group gift50 for the amount of money contributed and pledged instep445. If no, the process continues to step450. Instep445, thesender10 collects the money from the contributions and pledges for the gift50 from theinvitees40. This can be done through any standard method including PayPal, or collecting the money from theParticipants60 in person or having the system1 collect it through credit cards or electronic money transfers. It is at this time that the system retrieves the money from the pledges. In the preferred embodiment, any excess contributions are return and pledge accounts are hit pro rata. The process goes to step450.
• In[0035]step450, thesender10 sends adelivery E-mail460 to therecipient40 indicating the electronic greeting20 and if there is a gift50 then that notification is given as well. Instep470, thedelivery E-mail460 is sent to the recipient's30 E-mail address, which invites the recipient to follow a URL address in order to see their group electronic greeting20.
• After the[0036]recipient30 clicks on the URL included in his/her email, if therecipient30 is not yet a member of the service, he/she is first asked to choose a password for authentication during future visits. Therecipient30 has then become a member of the service. Instep500, therecipient30 can then see all the messages from theinvitees40 who have submitted their message so far. Therecipient30 doesn't see the names of theinvitees40 who haven't yet submitted a message but as new messages come in, therecipient30 can see them as well. Messages frominvitees40 can be added to the card after the card has been delivered to therecipient30.
• In[0037]step510, therecipient30 can choose to thank all theinvitees40 who signed the card with a common message, which will be relayed by the service.
• Operation[0038]
• As shown in FIG. 5, an Internet user uses a[0039]personal computer600 and an Internet browser and ISP to connect by the Internet to the electronic greeting system's web and application server(s)620 through the service's web page. This communication is done using standard Internet protocols and through a standard firewall security system610. The web and application server(s)620 use standard SQL queries to read and write data to adatabase server630. Data such as log-ons, passwords and message are transmitted back and forth. The web and application server(s)620 sends E-mail notifications to an E-mail Server(s)640. The E-mail server(s)640 sends E-mail notifications to the Internet Users through 3^rdpartyE-mail service providers650.
• Advantages[0040]
• Over time, as more people own computers and use E-mail as their standard communication, there really exists a need to be able to send electronic greetings while allowing more than one person to sign the electronic card. There also exists the need to allow for more than one person to pay on an electronic gift that can be sent with that card. The current invention solves these problems. It allows for a simple and easy way to allow multiple senders and it allows for a simple and easy way for more than one person to contribute to an electronic gift. These are things that could not be easily done before the current invention. It is a key component in the new electronic paper-less world.[0041]
• Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope[0042]
• With the need for people to send electronic cards and gifts associated with those cards from a number of people, the current invention allows this to happen. The current invention solves the many problems of using electronic greetings. Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. For example, a different logic flow for the electronic greeting could be used, the sender could have more or less control over the process, or another electronic message could be used. Therefore, the point and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.[0043]

Claims (20)

I claim:

1. A system for sending electronic greetings from multiple users comprising: having a sender select an electronic greeting; having said sender select a plurality of invitees; having the system notify the invitees of the electronic greeting; having said invitees add information to the electronic greeting; and forwarding said electronic greeting to a receiver.

2. A system according toclaim 1 which includes a plurality of receivers.

3. A system according toclaim 1 in which said invitees can select a plurality of invitees.

4. A system according toclaim 1 in which said sender can modify the information added by the invitees.

5. A system according toclaim 1 in which said notification is through E-mail.

6. A system according toclaim 1 in which said system utilizes the Internet.

7. A system for sending electronic gifts from multiple users comprising: having a sender select a plurality of invitees; having the system notify the invitees of the electronic gift; having said invitees add contributions towards the electronic gift; having said sender apply the contributions towards the purchase of said electronic gift; and forwarding said electronic gift to a receiver.

8. A system according toclaim 7 which includes a plurality of receivers.

9. A system according toclaim 7 in which said invitees can select a plurality of invitees.

10. A system according toclaim 7 in which said contributions can be made by pledges.

11. A system according toclaim 7 in which said sender can change said electronic gift to match the amount of contributions.

12. A system according toclaim 7 in which said sender can make a contribution to said electronic gift.

13. A system for sending electronic greetings and electronic gifts from multiple users comprising: having a sender select an electronic greeting; having said sender select a plurality of invitees; having the system notify the invitees of the electronic greeting; having said invitees add information to the electronic greeting; having said invitees add contributions towards the electronic gift; having said sender apply the contributions towards the purchase of said electronic gift; forwarding said electronic gift to a receiver; and forwarding said electronic greeting to a receiver.

14. A system according toclaim 13 which includes a plurality of receivers.

15. A system according toclaim 13 in which said invitees can select a plurality of invitees.

16. A system according toclaim 13 in which said contributions can be made by pledges.

17. A system according toclaim 13 in which said sender can change said electronic gift to match the amount of contributions.

18. A system according toclaim 13 in which said sender can make a contribution to said electronic gift.

19. A system according toclaim 1 in which said sender can modify the information added by the invitees.

20. A system according toclaim 1 in which said notification is through E-mail.

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