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Santa Claus is likely to be on the receiving end of a patent infringement suit thanks to the 's at the USPTO who granted Jeff Bezos and Amazon a patent for "Coordinating delivery of a gift" on February 28th.  :

This patent had come under criticism when it was first filed several years ago:

Quote: In a patent application filing that came to light last week, Amazon.com Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos and Chief Technology Officer Shel Kaphan are trying to corner the market on "coordinating the delivery of a gift."

The patent application appears to cover the simple process of sending someone an e-mail or contacting a consumer via phone to inform them they haven't provided sufficient shipping information.

http://web.archive.org/web/2003020713411.../64022.htm



The patent granted on February 28, 2006

Quote:United States Patent  7,006,989
Bezos ,   et al. February 28, 2006
Coordinating delivery of a gift

Abstract

A method in a computer system for coordinating the delivery a gift given by a gift giver to a recipient when the gift giver did not provide sufficient delivery information. The gift delivery system initially receives an order from the gift giver. The order identifies a gift to be delivered to the recipient and has contact information describing the recipient. The gift delivery system stores the received order in an order database along with an order tracking number. The gift delivery system then determines whether sufficient delivery information has been provided by the recipient. If the delivery information is not sufficient, the gift delivery system sends a communications to the recipient based on the contact information. The communications requests delivery information for the gift. The communications preferably includes the order tracking number so that the recipient can include the order tracking number in a response to the communications. When the recipient does not respond to the communications, the gift delivery system attempts to collect additional information that may be relevant to the recipient from various databases. When the delivery information is sufficient, the gift delivery system verifies whether the potential delivery information is valid. When the delivery information has been verified as being valid, the gift delivery system sends the gift based on the delivery information and notifies the gift giver that the gift has been sent to the recipient. In this way, the gift giver can send the gift to recipients even when the gift giver does not know or provide sufficient delivery information.

Quote:TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to computer-based order entry and delivery.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Internet comprises a vast number of computers that are interconnected for the purpose of exchanging information. Various protocols, such as the HyperText Transfer Protocol ("HTTP"), have been defined to aid in this exchange of information. The HTTP protocol provides a way to identify various resources (e.g., files) that are accessible through the Internet. The World Wide Web ("WWW") is a subset of the Internet that supports the exchange and display of information that is stored in a format known as the HyperText Markup Language ("HTML"). The WWW allows a server computer, called a Web site, to send HTML documents to client computers. These HTML documents are referred to as Web pages. When a client computer receives a Web page, the client computer, typically under control of a Web browser, uses the content of the HTML document to generate a display for the Web page. These Web pages may contain regions through which a user at a client computer can input information to be transmitted to the server computer. When the server computer receives such information, it can customize the appearance of the Web page that is to be displayed next to the user. In this way, a transaction between a server computer and a client computer can involve the display of multiple Web pages.

One of the benefits of WWW is that it facilitates such transactions generally and in particular, transactions relating to electronic commerce. For example, a user can use the WWW to purchase items, such as a computer game, by selecting the item, paying for the item, and downloading the item to the client computer through a series of Web pages. In addition, the WWW may be used to purchase items that can be delivered through normal distribution channels (e.g., U.S. Postal Service). For example, a user may browse a Web page that lists various items, such as books, that may be purchased. The purchaser selects the items that are to be purchased, provides electronic billing information, and provides delivery information identifying the destination at which the items are to be delivered to the purchaser. The delivery information generally includes the full name and address of the purchaser. The items are then sent to the purchaser at the address specified by the provided delivery information. Of course, since purchasers generally know their own names and addresses, they can be expected to provide correct and complete delivery information. If, however, the purchaser does not provide sufficient delivery information, then the items cannot be properly delivered, and the order generally will not be accepted by the Web page.

Alternatively, the purchaser may desire to have the items delivered to a third party as a gift. In such an instance, the purchaser must provide sufficient delivery information for the gift recipient in order for the gift to be delivered successfully. Unfortunately, gift givers do not always know the delivery information for gift recipients. For example, a gift giver who is purchasing a gift for a recipient who has only been contacted via electronic mail may only know the recipient's name and electronic mail address. Thus, the gift giver cannot provide sufficient delivery information. Further, even when the gift giver has or can obtain complete delivery information for the recipient, it is often inconvenient and burdensome for the gift giver to provide this information. Again, such an order lacking sufficient delivery information will generally not be accepted by the Web page. In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to have a computer system that would support the delivery of gifts even when sufficient delivery information is not provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention coordinates the delivery a gift given by a gift giver to a recipient when the gift giver did not provide sufficient delivery information. The invention can therefore coordinate the delivery of a gift whose order specifies insufficient delivery information, or even no delivery information, for the recipient. In a preferred embodiment, a gift delivery system initially receives an order from the gift giver. The order identifies a gift to be delivered to the recipient and has contact information specifying how to contact the recipient. The gift delivery system stores the received order in an order database along with an order tracking number. The gift delivery system then determines whether sufficient delivery information has been provided for the recipient. If the delivery information is not sufficient, the gift delivery system sends a communications to the recipient based on the contact information. The communications requests delivery information for the gift. The communications preferably includes the order tracking number so that the recipient can include the order tracking number in a response to the communications. If the recipient does not respond to the communications, the gift delivery system attempts to collect additional information that may be relevant to the recipient from various databases. When the delivery information is sufficient, the gift delivery system verifies whether the potential delivery information is valid. When the delivery information has been verified as being valid, the gift delivery system sends the gift based on the delivery information and notifies the gift giver that the gift has been sent to the recipient. In this way, the gift giver can send the gift to recipients even when the gift giver does not know or provide sufficient delivery information.

full patent is here complete with images: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,006,989.WKU.&OS=PN/7,006,989&RS=PN/7,006,989

The European Patent Office has revoked this patent in the EU:

Quote:The so-called "Gift Order Patent" has been revoked by the EPO in an opposition proceeding today after a hearing involving three opposing parties and the patent proprietor, Amazon Inc. The patent relates to a method for purchasing goods over the Internet to be sent as gifts.

The contested patent is European Patent EP 0 927 945, granted to Amazon Inc. on 23 April 2003. This patent relates to an invention in the field of computer-implemented inventions (CII). It specifies a method by which a person can purchase a product as a gift and have it shipped based on the e-mail address of the recipient. Based on this e-mail address, the system will then contact the recipient to obtain a valid postal address for shipping...

full article: http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2007/20071207.html

Quote:The patent application appears to cover the simple process of sending someone an e-mail or contacting a consumer via phone to inform them they haven't provided sufficient shipping information.