WO2005022469A2

WO2005022469A2 - Event memorabilia holder

Info

Publication number: WO2005022469A2
Application number: PCT/US2004/027844
Authority: WO
Inventors: James Eisenberg; Robert Weber; Don Gibson
Original assignee: Section 1 Llc
Priority date: 2003-08-28
Filing date: 2004-08-27
Publication date: 2005-03-10
Also published as: WO2005022469A3

Abstract

The present invention is directed toward a memorabilia holder that has a unique identifier related to a public event. A publicly accessible database is provided in furtherance of verifying the authenticity of the memorabilia.

Description

EVENT MEMORABILIA HOLDER This application is a Continuation-In-Part of co-pending US patent application number 10/652,825 filed on August 28, 2003. This application claims the benefit of the following co-pending applications: U.S. provisional application number 60/501632 filed on September 09, 2003; U.S. provisional application number 60/550170 filed on March 03, 2004; U.S. provisional application number 60/572505 filed on May 18, 2004; and U.S. provisional application number 60/575302 filed on May 28, 2004, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Field of The Invention The field of the invention is protection of event-related items.

Background of The Invention People attending a sporting or other event often desire to commemorate their attendance by keeping a ticket, ticket stub, or other event-related item as a memento. Unfortunately, such mementos can easily be lost or damaged during or after the event.

There already are various means of protecting tickets. For example, at professional or other conferences it is very common to protect a ticket or attendance stub by slipping it into a thin plastic holder. Such holders typically have a pin or clip that fastens the holder to a shirt or other article of clotliing, and in some instances holders are designed to hang from a lanyard worn around the neck.

One drawback to the known holders is that they are not especially attractive, and do little or nothing to enhance the value of the ticket or stub. There are, however, services that will encapsulate a ticket or any other small memorabilia in an attractive plexiglass slab. Authentic slabbed Superbowl tickets, for example, are available as collectors' items on the Internet. Indeed, there are several mail in services for slabbing all sorts of memorabilia.

While encapsulating a ticket or other memorabilia in plexiglass may add to the attractiveness of the item, it does relatively little to add value to the item. What has not been appreciated is that ticket holders and other attendees at ballgames, concerts or other events need a way to add value to the memorabilia apart from the value created by encapsulation. Summary of the Invention The present invention provides a holder for memorabilia. The holder bears a unique identifier related to a public event, and the holder also has a receiving area sized and dimensioned to receive memorabilia specific to the public event. In another aspect, a method of protecting an event-related item includes providing a holder bearing a designation code to an attendee at an event, h addition, a publicly accessible database is provided for entering a code that is used to retrieve information specific to the event.

Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.

Brief Description of The Drawing Fig. la is a perspective view of a holder. Fig. lb is a top down view of a slot of the holder.

Fig. 2 is a schematic of the holder bearing a unique identifier.

Fig. 3 is a schematic of the holder bearing a unique identifier and holding an item of memorabilia.

Fig. 4 is a schematic of the holder having a removable insert. Fig. 5 is a schematic of an alternative holder with a stand.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart of a method of protecting an event related item.

Detailed Description i Fig. la, a holder 100 with a receiving area 120 is depicted. The holder 100 is made from a relatively soft pliable thermo-plastic. It should be recognized, however, that other constituent materials such as harder plastics could be used so long as they remain within the overall inventive concepts, hi addition, a preferred holder is made of substantially transparent material so that the memorabilia can be viewed without removing it from the holder.

The size, dimensions, and shape of a holder will vary depending, at least in part, on the size of the memorabilia that it will hold. A preferred holder is substantially rectangular in shape with the longer side of about 17.5 cm, the shorter side of about 8.5 cm, and a width of about 1 mm, without an item of memorabilia. The width of a preferred holder with an item of memorabilia is approximately 3 mm. Despite that fact that a holder is envisaged to hold tickets and other flat items, a holder can be adapted to hold non-flat items such as a button or a coin. Receiving area 110 is sized to be slightly larger than the memorabilia that it receives.

Numerals 120 and 125 represent the vertical and horizontal distances of the receiving area. Receiving area 110 is also shaped to approximate the shape of the memorabilia it houses. One of skill in the art will recognize that protection of memorabilia is an important aspect of collecting and therefore a receiving area that is only slightly larger that the memorabilia itself is preferred because movement of the memorabilia will be minimized. As used herein,

"slightly larger" means large enough so that the item of memorabilia can be received in the receiving area without damage to the item, yet small enough so that movement within the receiving area is substantially restricted. By way of example, it is contemplated that no more than 2 cm. of distance will exist on either of the elongated sides of a game ticket. Fig. lb depicts a slot or aperture 130 that opens to (i.e. provides access to) the receiving area 110. Thus, slot 130 is used when inserting the memorabilia into the receiving area. While slot 130 is shown on the top 140 of holder 100, it can be located in another area such as the bottom 150 or sides 160. The size and dimension of a slot can vary considerably, but is contemplated to be based upon the size of the memorabilia, which will be inserted through it.

Drawing your attention to Fig. 2 now, holder 100 bears a sticker 210 that has a unique identifier related to a public event 220. The unique identifier 220 is comprised of a bar code portion 222 and an alpha numeric or text portion 224. "Unique" as used in unique to a public event means that each holder associated with a given public event has a different identifier. "Public event" means that the event is open to the public and the event has more than 100 attendees. For instance, the following are public events: a sporting event; a concert; an awards ceremony; and a Broadway show, and the following are not public events: a seminar; a business meeting; and a financial conference.

Sticker 210 comprises event related information such as a date, a location, a team, and a performer of/at the event. Sticker 210 may additionally or alternatively bear a trademark including a trademark associated with a concessionaire at the event, a facility in which the event takes place, an owner or sponsor of the event, a promoter of the event, and a performer at the event. Such a trademark can, for instance, be a team logo or name or an event name such as World Series™. Unique identifier 220 is printed on sticker 210. In preferred embodiments, the unique identifier is printed on a tamper resistant surface or material. Such tamper resistant surface reduces the incidence of fraud that may be caused by alteration of the identifier. In addition, the material used for the sticker 210 should be resistant to removal and replacement. A preferred class of stickers is also resistant to removal, duplication, and replacement. It should be understood that while the unique identifier is printed on the sticker, the inventive subject matter does not require that the holder have a sticker. As such, the unique identifier may be printed on, embossed into, or otherwise affixed to, the holder.

Fig. 3 shows the holder 100, further comprising memorabilia 310 in the form of a World Series™ ticket. While a paid for admission ticket is shown here, many other types of memorabilia are contemplated including an event program, a button, a sticker, a photograph, an emblem, an autograph, and so on.

As described above, the holder has a unique identifier. This unique identifier may be a corresponding identifier on or about the memorabilia. For instance, the unique identifier on the holder depicted in Fig. 2 has text of: 20975424. There could be a corresponding number on the ticket, which may or may not be the same as the number on the holder. In any case, the corresponding number on the ticket can tie to the number on the holder thereby providing a degree of authentication. Other authentication systems and methods can include use of a publicly accessible database to authenticate. This will be described in more detail below with reference to Fig. 6. In Fig. 4, holder 100 has a removable insert 410. Removable insert 410 is inserted into, and removed from, the holder using slot 130 (Fig. la). It is contemplated that an item of memorabilia is placed in the insert before the insert is put into the holder. Similar to a receiving area, a removable insert inhibits movement of the memorabilia and is therefore sized and dimensioned to accomplish this. It can be observed that the insert 410 is substantially smaller than receiving area 110 (Fig, la). Therefore, an insert such as the one depicted here is useful for items that are substantially smaller than the receiving area.

Another notable aspect of an insert is the expanded comers 420. As discussed above, a function of the holder is protection of the memorabilia from damage. Expanded corners help limit damage to the comers of the memorabilia by providing additional area so that the insert does not directly contact the comers. Of course, expanded comers will only be useful with memorabilia that have comers susceptible to damage.

Focusing now on Fig. 5, holder 500 is supported by a football stand 510 in a substantially upright position. The type of stand is preferred to correspond to type of event that the memorabilia represents. In this example, the event may have been the Sύperbowl™ or other football game, i other embodiments, other types of stands are suitable including event a generic stand.

Stands are preferred to be removable and replaceable. In this regard, a stand may have a channel 520 within which the item of memorabilia is placed. The size and dimension of the channel should be such that it supports the holder in a substantially upright position.

Substantially upright means that the item of memorabilia is displayed in a manner where relevant sides of the item can be seen.

Fig. 6 shows a method of protecting an event-related item. The method begins with the holder 610 bearing an identifier 615 specific to an event being provided to an attendee 620. Preferably, the holder is provided to the attendee at the event. The attendee 620 then uses the identifier 615 on the holder (or another code associated with the holder) to access a publicly accessible database 630 using a web site 640.

Once on the web site, an attendee or other person can gain information about the event and the item of memorabilia being held within the holder. Such information may include chain of title information to the item of memorabilia. It is contemplated that the identity of the person receiving the holder at the event may be captured either at the event itself or on the web site. In any case, chain of title information can be used to validate the authenticity of the item of memorabilia. hi furtherance of protecting the memorabilia, steps maybe taken to encapsulate (i.e. seal) the item of memorabilia in the holder. Encapsulation may be performed by the attendee or by a service provider at the event. Additionally, the holder can also be sent to a certifying authority where encapsulation and certification can be performed.

Thus, specific embodiments and applications of an event memorabilia holder have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context, h particular, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A holder bearing a unique identifier related to a public event, and wherein the holder has a receiving area sized and dimensioned to receive memorabilia specific to the public event.

2. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the identifier is comprised of alphanumeric characters.

3. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the identifier is printed on a tamper resistant material.

4. The holder of claim 1, wherein the identifier includes at least one of a bar code and text.

5. The holder of claim 1, wherein the identifier has a corresponding identifier on the memorabilia.

6. The holder of claim 1, bearing at least one of a date, a location, a team, and a performer of/at the event.

7. The holder of claim 1, bearing a trademark associated with at least one of: a validating entity; a concessionaire at the event; a facility in which the event takes place; an owner or sponsor of the event; and a performer at the event.

8. The holder of claim 1, further comprising a slot opening to the receiving area.

9. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the receiving area is slightly larger than, and has a shape approximating the memorabilia.

10. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the memorabilia comprises at least a portion of at least one of: a paid for admission ticket; an event program; a button; a sticker; a photograph; a team logo; and an autograph.

11. The holder of claim 1 , wherein the event is at least one of: a ball game; a concert; a play; an art exhibit; and the Olympic Games™.

12. The holder of claim 1, wherein the event has more than 100 attendees.

13. The holder of claim 1 , bearing a website address where additional information relating to the memorabilia can be obtained.

14. The holder of claim 1, further comprising a stand configured to support the holder in a substantially upright position.

15. The holder of claim 14, wherein the stand is detachable from the holder.

16. The holder of claim 1 , ήirther comprising a removable insert that receives, and inhibits movement of, the memorabilia.

17. A method of protecting an event-related item comprising, providing a holder to an attendee at an event, wherein the holder has an identifier specific to the event; and providing a publicly accessible database for entering a code in order to receive information regarding the event-related item.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising a step of encapsulating the item at the event.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising a step of encapsulating the item at a site of a certifying authority.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the publicly accessible database is accessed through a web site.