GiftCards.com Adds to Intellectual Property Portfolio with 6th Patent Issued

Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) February 14, 2014

GiftCards.com™, the highest-ranking and most-trafficked gift card website, today announced that the U.S. Patent Office has granted the company its sixth patent. U.S. Patent 8,631,999, titled “System and Methods for Accepting Closed Loop Cards and Codes at a Merchant Point of Sale,” adds to the intellectual property GiftCards.com has accumulated in the gift card industry.

The primary benefit of this patent is the technology to enable consumers to use closed loop gift cards^[1] at non-issuing merchants. For example, a customer presents a closed loop gift card issued by Merchant A to Merchant B. Merchant B verifies the gift card amount and presents the customer with an offer to buy the Merchant A gift card at a discount price. Upon acceptance, the gift card issued by Merchant A is closed out.

“With this new patent issued and 40 other patents pending, we continue to strengthen our position as a leader in the gift card marketplace,” said Jason Wolfe, CEO of GiftCards.com. He added, “This patent is an important step in freeing funds tied to a particular merchant and in unlocking billions of dollars in unused card value to increase commerce overall.”

About GiftCards.com

Since 1999, GiftCards.com has been providing U.S. consumers with an array of gift card products including personalized gift cards, group gift cards, virtual gift cards, discount gift cards, and local gift cards redeemable at millions of establishments across the country. GiftCards.com is also a leader in gift card innovation with 40 patents filed and 7 patents issued/allowed. More information about GiftCards.com can be found on the company’s media page^[2].