Edward C Lenk

US Patent:

20040068451, Apr 8, 2004

Filed:

Oct 7, 2003

Appl. No.:

10/681003

Inventors:

Edward Lenk - Orinda CA, US
Sean Spector - Sherman Oaks CA, US
Jung Suh - Santa Monica CA, US

Assignee:

GAMEFLY, INC. - Santa Monica CA

International Classification:

G06F017/60

US Classification:

705/028000

Abstract:

The present invention is directed to a method and system for managing the inventory level of, and the distribution of, electronic media rental units, including but not limited to videogame discs, musical compact disks, or movie VCD/DVDs. More specifically, preferred embodiments of the present invention forecasts future rental and sales demand for a given electronic media, such as a videogame, prior to the release of that electronic media to the general public. The forecast is based on the pre-release demand of the electronic media in that the future rental and sales demand is estimated from the rental and sales demand of previously released electronic media having similar pre-release demand. Furthermore, the preferred embodiments of the present invention allows registered members of a rental user group to keep rented units of the electronic media for a purchase price, which is dynamically controlled to minimize rental shortage and maximize profits.