Electronic product registration system with manufacturer rebate validation and management function
OwnerKris Holley, Peter J. Jungerinventors
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Abstract
An electronic product registration system which manages and validates manufacturer rebate programs to assure that such programs are carried out in accordance with appropriate rules and procedures. The invention reduces or prevents improper rebates from being issued and/or improper product returns from being accepted in connection with products sold with a manufacturer's rebate program or the like. The invention also assures that proper refund amounts are issued for returns when a rebate has been previously provided, as well as provides a tool for enabling the retailer and manufacturer to properly account for refunds and rebates between one another.
Claims17
A method of managing a product rebate program on an electronic product registration system for serialized products, comprising:
- providing a rebate offer in connection with the sale of serialized products;
- recording sales transactions for the serialized products in the registration system;
- recording rebate requests in connection with the serialized products in the registration system;
- in response to a product return request, obtaining return qualification information and rebate request information from the registration system;
- and
- handling the product return request in accordance with the return qualification information and rebate request information.
A method of managing a product rebate program on an electronic product registration system for serialized products, comprising:
- providing rebate offers in connection with the sale of serialized products;
- registering sales transactions for serialized products in the registration system;
- registering product returns in the registration system for serialized products;
- upon receipt of a rebate request, obtaining return information from the registration system to determine if the rebate request should be processed;
- if the return information indicates a return has been made, rejecting the rebate request;
- and
- if the return information does not indicate that a return has been made, processing the rebate request.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.