Patent Application
20060271489
The present invention relates generally to the provision of electronic books and, more particularly, to a system and method for merchandising and distributing electronic books.
The use of digital or electronic textbooks, particularly in the collegiate environment, is expanding. The majority of electronic textbooks and other electronic course materials that are being sold to college students are merchandised by the respective publishers of the material, by-passing the conventional retailer, such as an on-campus college bookstore. Thus, in a conventional electronic textbook distribution model, the publisher is acting as both the distributor and the retailer, and is faced with the inherent problems of trying to market to the end-user student as well as providing customer service and support to such students. Publishers, however, are not the traditional contact point with the students for college course materials and, thus, have no direct marketing access to the consumer. Textbook publishers, schools, professors, and students all typically rely on the college bookstore for delivery of required course materials. With direct to consumer selling by publishers, the college bookstore retailer is no longer a part of the traditional delivery channel, denying them of the associated revenues and profits that may accrue from the sale of electronic course materials. In addition to the potential lost revenues facing the retailer, there is no practical way for a publisher to market electronic product directly to the consumer.
Moreover, a substantial number of students rely on some form of third party funding for textbooks and course materials. Publishers wanting to make electronic materials available to the consumer generally have no readily available mechanism for accepting third party payment options, eliminating what could be a significant portion of the potential market for electronic course materials.
A need exists, therefore, for an improved method and system for merchandising and distributing electronic books and other related digital content, including electronic books and course materials to students. Preferably, the method and system would include means for properly authorizing and securing access to the electronic books.
The present invention includes a method for distributing and facilitating access to electronic books and other similar digital materials. The method includes first providing a digital book card having a card identification number and an activation code corresponding to the card identification number. The digital book card is also associated with an electronic book having an electronic book number. A retail store transaction is processed for the purchase of the electronic book associated with the digital book card. The retail store transmits the card identification number and the electronic book number to a central processor associated with a program administrator. The program administrator approves or declines the request and returns a receipt code to the retail store, which is then provided to the purchaser. A purchaser accessing a website associated with the central processor enters the card identification number, the activation code, and the receipt code. The purchase of the electronic book is authenticated in order to activate access to the electronic book by determining whether the card identification number entered by the purchaser corresponds to the activation code entered by the purchaser and whether the receipt code entered by the customer corresponds to the receipt code transmitted by the central processor to the retail store. If the authentication process is successful, access to the electronic book having the electronic book number associated with the card identification number is provided.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, wherein the drawings illustrates a feature of the system and method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and wherein:
As used herein, the term electronic book or e-book includes all forms of digital books and related content, such as electronic or digital books, textbooks, workbooks, study aids and course materials. The term electronic book may also refer to other forms of digital content such as software, games, movies, music, and the like.
The method of the present invention for merchandising and distributing electronic books includes interaction among three principal entitles. First, there is a program administrator having responsibility for overall program management, including authenticating and providing access to the electronic books. The program administrator operates one or more computer systems having a database to store authorizing information. The computer system operated by the program administrator also operates a website used in the preferred method. Second, there is a conventional retailer who offers access to the electronic books for purchase. Third, there are the purchasers of the electronic books. The purchaser buys access to the electronic books from the retailer, who provides the purchaser with a series of access numbers or codes. The purchaser then makes contact with the program administrator, for example through the website maintained by the program administrator, and provides the access numbers or codes. The program administrator authenticates the purchase and, if appropriate, provides access to the electronic books to the purchaser.
The card 10 may be sufficiently sized to display marketing information on both sides of the card 10. For example, the card 10 may be approximately four inches wide and seven and three-quarters inches in length. If desired, the bottom portion 12 of the card 10 may be reduced in width to resemble a non-detachable credit card or gift card.
The card 10 contains various indicia to secure and authenticate the purchase of the electronic books. Each card 10 has a combination of unique identification numbers or codes, one of which associates the card 10 to a specific retailer. Each card is later associated with a specific sales transaction and an electronic book product.
A supply of cards 10 may be provided to retailers who agree to participate in the system managed by the program administrator. The retailer is typically responsible for associating an electronic book product to each card 10, although this may be accomplished by the program administrator or book publisher. For example, the retailer may affix or print a retailer-generated label 14 representing a specific electronic book product onto the bottom portion 12 of the card 10. The label 14 may identify the book by author, title, course name or number or any other related information. The retailer may use its inventory management system to create the label 14 containing the identity information as well as a bar code 16 representing the electronic book number, such as the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) assigned to the electronic book product. The retailer selects the electronic book number from a list provided by the program administrator or from a preexisting list of known book numbers, such as the ISBN system. As the card 10 is initially generic, any bar code 16 representing a specific book or electronic course materials ISBN may be placed on the bottom portion 14 of the card 10. The assignment of a specific textbook to a given card is accomplished at the time of purchase as described below. Alternatively, the assignment of a particular electronic book to a particular card may be accomplished during the purchase phase by the retailer's point-of-sale assembly or kiosk. The bar code 16 may be swiped, scanned or otherwise entered at the point-of-sale assembly as a part of the electronic book purchase and activation process. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, other means of identifying the electronic book may be used other than a bar code, such as a magnetic strip, RFID or means that may be detected optically. Alternatively, the electronic book may be designated by printed title or number on the card and manually entered into the point-of-sale assembly.
In addition to further marketing information, the reverse side of the card 10 may contain instructions for activating access to the electronic book product. As illustrated in
A card 10 is available for activation through a real-time point-of-sale activation process that may be accomplished through a secure TCP/IP connection from the retailer to the program administrator. The same process may also handle voids within the point-of-sale transaction and returns. Integration of the process to a retailer point-of-sale system may be accomplished using a socket application that allows for implementation to an existing installed base of retail bookstore management software. Alternatively, the application may be integrated with other conventional point-of-sale software, or even as a stand-alone application.
The retailer then merchandises by electronic book by displaying the cards 10 as a conventional product available for purchase in step 28. When a purchaser such as a student desires to purchase access to the electronic book, he or she brings the appropriate card 10 to the retailer's point of sale system, which may include a conventional check-out register with an attendant or an operator-less kiosk or other form of self-checkout register (step 30). At the point of sale, the card 10 is presented to the point-of-sale system such as, for example, being passed through a card scanner or reader, by keying the card identification number, or any other means of entering the unique card identification number 18 into the point-of-sale system (step 32). Entering the card identification number into the point-of-sale system prompts the cashier or automated kiosk to associate the card 10 to a unique item, e.g., an electronic textbook. This may be accomplished by scanning in the bar code 16 on the front of the card 10 in step 34, which represents the specific book. Again, any other means of entering in the identification of the electronic book into the point-of-sale system may be used. At this point, a particular electronic book product is associated with a particular card identification number and activation code.
The retailer then notifies the program administrator with details of the transaction in step 36. For example, the transaction details may include the identify of the particular electronic book or other materials that was purchased and the particular card identification number associated with the purchase process. This information may be electronically transmitted to a central processor associated with the program administrator using, for example, a TCP/IP or UDP protocol connection. As this point, the program administrator has three pieces of information associated together: the card identification number, the activation code, and the identification of the electronic book. The program administrator returns an approval or decline code to the retailer, along with a unique receipt code. A receipt may be generated with the receipt code that will be used in order for the purchaser to later gain access to the electronic book (step 38). The receipt is generated (e.g., printed) by the retailer's point-of-sale assembly, which now contains a card identification number, a book identification number, and a receipt code, all of which correspond to one another. In the event the purchaser opts to purchase more than one electronic book in a single transaction, a single receipt code may apply for access to all of the purchased electronic books. The purchaser then completes the transaction in order to pay for the book(s) or other materials in a conventional manner. A student in a college setting may use conventional third-party funding means to complete the transaction.
In an alternative embodiment, the purchaser may use a card dispenser or kiosk to select the desired electronic book. The kiosk or dispenser may include conventional means for accepting payment from the purchaser, such as from a credit or debit card, or a bill and coin acceptor. Upon acceptance of the form of payment from the purchaser, the kiosk may dispense a card 10, having printed or otherwise affixed thereon the card identification number and activation code (which may or may not be hidden). A receipt may also be supplied having the receipt code printed thereon. Alternatively, the receipt code may be placed on the dispensed card 10. In this embodiment, the kiosk may be considered the “retailer.”
In step 40, the purchaser accesses a website affiliated with the program administrator. Preferably, the purchaser may gain information regarding the website (such as its web address) from the card 10 she acquired as part of the electronic book purchase at the retailer. Alternatively, the retailer may provide the purchaser with information regarding the website from other sales information posted in the store, from information printed on the receipt, on a brochure handed out with the purchase, or other means. The purchaser uses the website as a means of providing the program administrator with the card identification number, the hidden activation code, and the receipt code, which may then be used by the program administrator to authenticate and provide access to the electronic book (step 42).
The program administrator may also provide an administrative page for retailers to assist in the management, activation, loss and return of electronic book cards.
The system and method of the present invention may be adapted for use with a retailer's on-line store. For example, a college student may access a college bookstore's website to purchase her books. If she elects to purchase an electronic book or digital course materials, she may pay for the book(s) and materials through the college bookstore's on-line store. She may then be presented or receive a receipt containing a combination of the above-described card identification number, activation code, and receipt code. With this information, she may then access the program administrator's website, present the numbers and codes as previously described, and gain access to the electronic book or other materials.
The method described herein enables college bookstores and other retailers to pro-actively market and sell electronic books and other course materials. The system and method allows the retailer to participate in the traditional, long-standing sales and marketing channel. The books and materials may either be downloaded to a computing device and accessed by means of existing computer or electronic book readers, or the books and materials may be accessible as on-line content from various secure web sites. In addition, the system and method described herein allows a purchaser to purchase an electronic book from a retailer using third-party funding, thus addressing the publishers general inability to accept methods of payment other than credit card or electronic check.
Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, other embodiments and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The many aspects and benefits of the invention are apparent from the detailed description, and thus, it is intended for the following claims to cover all such aspects and benefits of the invention which fall within the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, although most of the embodiments discussed herein relate to the distribution of digital textbooks in a collegiate setting, the method disclosed herein may also be used to distribute other forms of digital content, such as software, games, movies, music, and the like. In addition, because numerous modifications and variations will be obvious and readily occur to those skilled in the art, the claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described herein. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents should be understood to fall within the scope of the invention as claimed herein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/684,255, filed on May 25, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60684255 | May 2005 | US |
