E-centives Inc. owns five US patents and also has dozens of
pending US and foreign patent applications relating to its
developments. It believes that its on-line print-at-home coupons
will significantly impact on the coupon industry - which it values
at $7 billion.
To protect this interest, it has sued rival print-at-home coupon
provider Coupons Inc. in a Maryland federal court, alleging
infringement of two of its patents.
Both of these patents are entitled "method and system for the
electronic distribution of product redemption coupons to remote
personal computers located at users' homes."
Basically, the patent descriptions cover the storage by a web
site of coupon data for downloading by individuals. Each user's
demographic, as well as choice of coupon, is provided back to the
on-line service and coupon distributor for subsequent marketing
analysis. When the printed coupons are presented at a retail store,
the discount is provided to the user. Upon redemption by the store
via a coupon redeeming centre, transaction data is also supplied to
the coupon issuers and distributor for integration into marketing
analysis.
Critics of business method patents will no doubt find little
novelty in this description – it appears to merely apply one of the
best known and most basic forms of direct marketing to the internet
age.
According to the Promotions Marketing Association, more than 8
out of 10 Americans use coupons when grocery shopping, so the
attraction of holding a monopoly in the on-line coupon market is
obvious.
"We contacted Coupons, Inc. prior to serving them with the lawsuit
and offered them a license," said Kamran Amjadi, CEO of E-centives.
"Their refusal forced us to serve them to protect our intellectual
property. We want to make sure our significant investments in
resources and technology are not taken advantage of by those who
are not playing according to established laws."
Amjadi concluded, "We will aggressively protect the rights
granted to us by the United States Patent and Trademark Office
against those who we believe infringe on these rights."
The USPTO patent filings are available
here and
here.
