Appeal 2006-3387
Application 09/385,489
at which time the escrow agent releases the property to the other party to the
contract.
Schultz discloses such an escrow system in which a central management
firm holds onto a manufacturer’s reward certificates until such time as it
determines that the customer has met certain promotional conditions, at which time
the central management firm releases reward certificates to the customer. In
particular, Schultz discloses a system in which a central management firm 3 stores
records of the purchase reward offers 2 defined by a manufacturer 1 (Schultz, col.
6, ll. 13-16). Schultz discloses that the central management firm 3 collects data on
a customer’s purchases at a retail store 20 (Schultz, col. 7, ll. 20-47). Schultz
discloses that the central management firm 3 processes the purchase records 30 for
a consumer 19 and sends a reward certificate 18 to the consumer 19 when the
consumer 19 earns a reward (e.g., by purchasing a required number of reward
products) (Schultz, col. 7, ll. 60-64 and col. 8, ll. 64-65). The reward certificate 18
can be a negotiable check or a voucher to be redeemed at a participating retail store
20 for cash or credit toward product purchases (Schultz, col. 8, ll. 65-68). The
program data collector 23, located in the retail store 20, stores redemption records
30 for the rewards certificates 18 and the central management firm 3 periodically
receives these redemption records and uses the records to audit the amount
reimbursed to the retail store (Schultz, col. 9, ll. 3-7). The manufacturer pays the
central management firm 3 based on the number of rewards earned and paid to
consumers 19.
18
Page: Previous 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013