Peer To Patent

LATEST PRIOR ART

Date	Title	Reviewer

06/24/09	Gift registry apparatus and method	Mark Webbink

06/24/09	Universal virtual shopping cart	Mark Webbink

06/24/09	US20050102496A1: Multi-merchant gift registry	Diane Willis

DISCUSSION

michael murphy (almost 4 years ago)

I am also wondering if such patents like "multi merchant gift giving" (Publication number: US 2005/0102496 A1) would serve as a bar on this patent?

michael murphy (almost 4 years ago)

This is a great discussion, but I am wondering if there would be something that bars this application from being patented. As mentioned in comment 6 by MIS Group G, many companies already have gift cards/gift giving models (Visa/Mastercard, for one as identified below). I am wondering if any of the members of this group has come across any prior art that would indicate that this is indeed not a novel idea, and if not how it differentiates itself from an already existing gift card model so as not to be obvious.

MIS Group G (about 4 years ago)

Recommendations The gifts giving system card seems like a novel idea for technically savvy people looking to give a creative gift while still following a “gift card” style of giving that many people end up buying. The fun part is that either a dollar amount limit or number of items limit can be set as parameters for the recipient. The buyer however isn’t charged until the gifts have been chosen, which can be a big plus for people who are short on cash at the time they need to buy a gift. This could be a great marketing tool, giving the freedom consumers have with using the online gift card, and having opportunities for companies to give their own promotions. Another big plus is for people many miles away who can’t send a physical gift to the recipient without it being terribly costly. They simply are able to go online set parameters for the online gift card and send it to the recipient to enjoy. With this technology they do something nice for the recipient without actually being there. Another constraint is that the recipient needs to have a computer or internet access to benefit from the gift and on top of that must possess at least a minimal skill set in online browsing. In the description of the patent, two big themes are number of gifts and cost of gifts. Gift cards already allow recipients the freedom of choosing how many items they want to purchase based on the balance available on the card, they are limited however to a set of merchandise based on where the purchase was made. Basic VISA/Mastercard gift cards however, are not. Online retailers like Amazon.com already have gift card systems in place that will compete with this online database. A few catch phrases that capture the idea of this innovation could be “for the people on the go trying to reach their friends from afar” or “give now, pay later.” It would be a gamble to get into the details of the “number of items” idea because people might just see it as just another place selling their own version of a gift card, and with there being so many out there already this innovation would get lost in the mix.

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