Appeal No. 2003-2167 Page 6
Application No. 09/903,500
address on the shipping envelope. It is not critical to the present invention which
envelope is printed first. The computer will then direct a postage metering device
to print transmittal charges onto the shipping envelope and onto the return
envelope as needed. Again, it is not critical to the present invention which
envelope is printed first. The computer-aided billing system will then have the
computer direct the collation or assembly of the pre-paid return envelope, the
shipping envelope, and the invoice for transmittal to the customer. This process
is repeated for each successive debtor in the database. As the operating speeds
of printers and postage metering devices are variable, the order of the steps
included herein may be varied to the extent necessary to maximize the efficiency
of each printer and each postage metering device used by a creditor without
departing from the fundamental intent of the present invention.
Claims 3 and 4 of Comesanas read as follows:
3. A computer program comprising the steps of directing a computer to
access a database containing debtor account information; directing said
computer to read said debtor account information for each successive debtor in
said database; compiling current billing information from said debtor account
information for selected ones of said debtors from whom a payment is required
so as to generate an invoice for each of said selected debtors; determining
whether each of said selected debtors has signed an agreement to pay
transmittal charges for return payment and if such an agreement was signed,
directing said computer to compile said transmittal charges for said return
payment into the ones of said invoices generated for each of said selected
debtors who had signed such an agreement; determining whether each of said
invoices is to be sent electronically or by mail, and if by mail directing a printer to
print a paper copy of each of said invoices to be sent by mail: directing said
printer to address a return envelope with the address of each of said selected
debtors who has signed an agreement to pay transmittal charges for return
payment, and further directing the collation of an invoices a shipping envelope,
and a prepaid return envelope for each of said selected debtors who has signed
an agreement to pay transmittal charges for return payment by mail so that said
current billing information in said invoices can be transmitted to each of said
selected debtors in said database from whom a payment is required.
4. The computer program of claim 3 wherein said step of determining
whether each of said selected debtors has signed an agreement to pay
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007