WO2003012719A1

WO2003012719A1 - Shareholder bonus and participation system

Info

Publication number: WO2003012719A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/041544
Authority: WO
Inventors: Richard Taylor
Original assignee: Richard Taylor
Priority date: 2001-07-31
Filing date: 2001-07-31
Publication date: 2003-02-13

Abstract

A system and method for providing cash income source for shareholders. See Figure 1. The invention is implemented in part, on a digital computer and the internet. The invention allows shareholders to earn a cash bonus through participation in qualifying programs (105). Upon registration of shares, a shareholder is allowed to choose a distinct portion of the corporation's markets (106). The market can be divided in any number of countless schemes such as geographically, along political boundaries, into zip codes, by area codes, by search queries in the case of a search engine, by flight routes in the case of an airline. The shareholder then receives a cash bonus for activities affecting that market segment. Examples of qualifying activities may include signing up investors for that area, or signing up customers for that area.

Description

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE SHAREHOLDER BONUS AND PARTICIPATION SYSTEM

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of offering cash bonus incentive to purchasers of stock Description of Related Art CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention relates to a system and method for giving stockholders a cash bonus known as the sBONUS The sBONUS motivates stockholders to purchase shares in the corporation and promote the corporation

The system and method of the present invention is unique because it empowers shareholders to earn an sBONUS Allowing an alternate stream of cash income encourages investment in the corporation Currently, many stock investors lose money on their investments This mediocre situation is due in part to the limited ways a stockholder can profit Currently, investors profit through trading and dividends Stock trading is subject to market fluctuations and thus very risky Dividends are unreliable because corporate management can discontinue dividends without notice Also, few coφorations pay cash dividends, because coφorations need to reinvest income Some studies say that cash dividends represent approximately 40% of the return for stockholders Stockholder bases are currently an untapped coφorate resource The sBONUS System aims to empower shareholders to work with the company in its endeavors and derive a new and powerful income structure Stockholders would no longer be seen as solely passive investors, but would become an active part of the company

In our global economy it is crucial to motivate stockholders to invest by compensating them for their risk The capital concentration of most of the world's wealth is in the stock market Stockholders and stock exchanges are world's primary capital raising structure Coφorations employ most people Almost all governments receive their major tax bases from the incomes of the employees of these public coφorations The United States now has 25% of it total assets in equities The value of the stocks on the New York Stock exchange is over $2 trillion dollars

Special cash benefits are sometimes given to non-stockholders such as employees, officers, directors or even distributors or agents This invention provides that each and every stockholder that meets certain established standards can also receive additional income from the special privileges given to each stockholder Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide an additional income source for stockholders

The sBONUS can exceed the total investment of the stockholder, making possible a 100% or greater cash dividend Cash dividends greater than 100% are rare An investor could invest $20,000 and receive a $20,000 sBONU$ (cash bonus) The present invention is novel After a search the closest patent related is Ayyoubi 5233514, which allows shareholders to purchase stock by purchasing products and recording the sales through the scanning of UPC codes Ayyoubi 5233514 discloses a unique incentive program of motivating shareholders and product purchasers, but does not allow direct cash investment With the sBONU$ system, no product purchase is necessary Thus, Ayyoubi's incentive program is not analogous art because it targets purchasers rather than investors

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION sBONU$ is a system and method for providing a cash income source for shareholders The invention is adapted for implementation, in part, on a digital computer and the Internet The invention allows shareholders to earn a cash bonus through participation in qualifying programs Instead of passively waiting around, a shareholder can register his shares with the coφoration after purchase Upon registration of shares, a shareholder is given sBONU$ Opportunities in proportion to the number of shares purchased The sBONU$ Opportunities can be cashed in to allow the shareholder to choose a distinct portion of the coφoration's market This discrete market segment can be divided in any number of countless schemes such as geographically, demographically, along political boundaries, by product line, into zip codes, by area codes, by search queπes in the case of a search engine, by flight routes in the case of an airline The shareholder then receives a cash bonus for qualified activities affecting that market segment Examples of qualifying activities may include the shareholders signing up investors for that area, or signing up customers for that area The sBONU$ System is a departure from traditional mediocrity In general, the securities laws provide for income without additional work, though stockholders have been given few alternatives to secure any additional cash income except dividends for themselves The prospectus given to potential inventors will clarify the scope of the income stream and the fact that work is not required of those investors If necessary, a new prospectus can be drafted for each new program Thus, the sBONUS is operable

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A detailed description of the embodiments of the invention will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate corresponding parts in figures

Fig 1 is a Diagram of the sBONU$ system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I Introduction

The shareholder begins the process by purchasing shares 101, as shown in Figure 1 The shareholder then registers the shares with the coφoration 102, which could be over the internet, by phone or in person The coφoration makes note of this, preferably storing the information on a computer database The coφoration then gives the shareholder a certain number of sBONUS Opps (Opportunities) 103

A shareholder can spend the sBONUS Opps to buy into an sBONU$ program 105 Some sBONU$ programs may have a market segment 106, or be available coφorate wide Programs that are available coφorate wide are not limited to any particular market segment The market segments and the programs in the market segments are given to stockholders on a first come first served basis Thus, each investor has an individual and distinct right to his sBONUS under the rules of the coφoration and the prospectus

For example, a shareholder could buy 100 shares of a paging service coφoration These shares are just like any other shares publicly traded, except that they also entitle her to 50 points of sBONUS Opps She can then choose among different sBONUS programs 104 She could choose to redeem 20 of these sBONU$ Opps points to enroll in the sBONUS customer referral program for the area code that she lives in By referring her friends, family and coworkers to sign up for pagers at the paging service corporation, she is making money for the coφoration Signing up a customer is her participation in the company 107

The coφoration makes note of her referrals and begins to give her money known as the sBONUS 108 The sBONU$ is a commission in the form of a residual In this case she could get a quarterly check equal to 15% of the gross income deπved from the customers that she signed up This residual sBONUS would be in addition to whatever dividend she gets She can use her remaining 30 points of sBONUS Opps to buy into another program With a wide range of programs, the shareholder never gets bored The shareholder may abandon a program at any time

II Specific Examples of sBONUS Programs sBONUS #1

One interesting sBONUS program is to allow a stockholder to sell surplus corporate inventory Each stockholder can request the specific type of suφlus inventory to sell A newspaper company could benefit greatly from this Newspapers always have suφlus advertising that has not been sold, or is sold at very low prices The coφoration can give the stockholder a specified percentage of the unsold advertising revenue to resell For example, revenues could be split 50/50 with the coφoration getting half and the shareholder getting half In this example, the stockholder would control the adverting received exclusively, and may elect to have the company resell the advertising or to allow the stockholder to auction it off himself or to seek a buyer for it directly on his own sBONUS #2

Each stockholder would notify the company to place the name of a possible client on a database, if that client is not already reserved, the client is then reserved for the stockholder for a certain number of months When the coφorate sales force sells to that client, the stockholder gets a commission Alternatively, the shareholder can signup that client and make an even higher commission sBONUS #3

An example of a coφorate wide sBONUS program would allow all stockholders to suggest new trademarks and slogans for the company If the company uses the idea, the stockholder is paid a long-term royalty sBONUS #4

The market segment can be divided along the lines of intellectual property rights Stockholders enrolling in this program would pick one of the 500 plus trademarks owned by the company The stockholder gets an overπde on the licensing fees for a trademark An overπde means that the stockholder gets a percentage of the profits, income or revenue generated The stockholder could then try to sell or license the trademark sBONUS #5

Stockholders are given the opportunity to become distπbutors for the company in different locations All stockholders may bid their sBONUS Opps Points for the distribution rights sBONUS #6

Stockholders could be named regional sales or company agents for certain areas of the country based on area codes, or even zip codes Stockholders could be given over ride bonuses based on the volume of sales, or even the increase of volume in the area assigned Each stockholder under the sBONUS system becomes an integral part of the company and has the ability to assist the corporation in much the same way as an employee sBONU$ #7

The sBONU$ program can be used by a shareholder purchasing stock in an internet search engine The shareholder spends sBONU$ Opps Points to receive income tracked to the performance of a particular search query The shareholder gets a percentage of the revenue from the advertising or listing revenue generated by the search query The coφoration can give the shareholder marketing materials The shareholder can then promote the search query sBONUS #8

The sBONUS program can give some benefits that were traditionally issued to employees only For example, Wal-Mart gives an employee discount on all purchases 10%) Stockholders could spend their sBONUS Opps Points to get the exact same benefit Also, coφorations such as Sears match the amount contributed by an employee for a profit shaπng trust Sears places an equal amount of stock to the amount the employee purchases, up to a certain amount Stockholders under the sBONUS program could be allowed the same advantage by spending their sBONU$ Opps Points III Market Segments

The market segments 106 can be divided into any number of countless schemes such as geographically, demographically, along political boundaries, into zip codes, by area codes, by search queπes in the case of a search engine, or by flight routes in the case of an airline The market segments as well as other specific information will be found in the prospectus or shareholder information brochure IV Residual form of Cash Bonuses

In 108, Figure 1, the Shareholder gets the sBONUS, a commission in the form of a residual The sBONU$ will be a substantial cash bonus, which could come in the form of a stream of payments designated to the stockholder The sBONUS is a commission for successful participation in an sBONUS program If a program allowed the shareholder to refer customers, the sBONUS would be a lifetime residual payment based on the income or profit that the customer provides the corporation

The residual form of the sBONUS is lost as shown in 113 once a shareholder sells the stock This is similar to an employee losing health benefits, scholarship, or profit sharing matching after leaving a firm The sBONUS system promotes long term holding of shares 110 instead of speculation The shareholder always has a decision to hold or sell 109 The loss of the residual will deter the shareholder from selling, and give more pnce stability

V Special Benefits

The sBONUS system will generally compensate stockholders in different ways and amounts The coφoration can further encourage participation by giving different level of benefits, based on participation or performance, to increase the benefits going to certain stockholders Stockholders can additionally be given a rating denoting their ability to generate revenue for the corporation The highest earning stockholders might also be given special benefits to encourage stockholder participation

Although special benefits may be given to more productive stockholders, unlike dividends, the sBONUS can not be unilaterally eliminated by the coφorate management Thus, each stockholder is owns a secure investment

VI Higher Valuation of Shares

The share price of a coφoration using the sBONUS system would be higher and more stable The share pnce would reflect the additional value of the sBONUS programs and opportunities Thus, stockholders no longer look solely to the share price to determine if they can produce a profit While investment valuation would necessarily be complicated, stockholders would be enthusiastic because the sBONUS cash income would give them a cushion for solid investment returns

The current system enfranchises large coφorations who are seen as stronger and safer Access to capital determines coφorate success The sBONUS system provides a more level playing field by allowing small coφorations to provide a new way to excite and motivate stockholders The sBONUS system also enfranchises stockholders to receive substantial income outside the world of selling shares that jump and down on the whim of the market

Claims

1 A method of providing a cash income source for shareholders of a coφoration, comprising the steps of a maintaining records in a digital computer of at least l a list of qualifying programs for shareholders, li a list of market segments chosen by each shareholder, said market segments dividing the revenue source of the coφoration into discrete units, and in a list of bonuses to be paid to stockholders, b allowing the shareholder to purchase stock, c allowing the shareholder to choose a number of market segments in proportion to the number of shares purchased by said shareholder, d allowing the shareholder to choose various qualifying programs for the market segments that the shareholder chooses to participate in, e paying a residual cash bonus to shareholders for as long as said shareholders own the stock

2 The method of claim 1 , wherein step (a) includes records storage of shareholder shares registration and sBONUS Opp Points balances

3 The method of claim 2, wherein step (c) includes giving one or more sBONUS Opp Points in proportion to the number of shares purchased by a shareholder

4 The method of claim 3, wherein step (d) includes allowing a shareholder to buy into an sBONUS program using sBONUS Opp Points 5 The method of claim 2, further including between step (d) and step (e) the additional step of

(d2) determining shareholder productivity by revenue generation

6 The method of claim 5, wherein step (c) includes giving one or more sBONUS Opp Points in proportion to the number of shares purchased by a shareholder, wherein step (d) includes allowing a shareholder to buy into an sBONUS program using sBONUS Opp Points 7 The method of claim 6, further including step (d3) continuing to give the shareholder a residual cash bonus for as long the shareholder holds the stock

8 The method of claim 6, further including step (d4) discontinuing an individual shareholder's program if the shareholder expressly abandons the program or does not meet pre-set performance quotas 9 The method of claim 8, further including step (d5) refunding a portion up to the whole of sBONUS Opp Points spent to buy into an sBONUS program, and further including step (d6) allowing a shareholder to re-spend sBONUS Opp Points to buy into an sBONUS program 10 A method of providing a cash income source for shareholders of a coφoration, compπsing the steps of f maintaining records in a digital computer of at least lv a list of qualifying programs for shareholders, v a list of market segments chosen by each shareholder, said market segments dividing the revenue source of the coφoration into discrete units, and vi a list of bonuses to be paid to stockholders, g allowing the shareholder to purchase stock, h allowing the shareholder to choose a number of market segments in proportion to the number of shares purchased by said shareholder, l allowing the shareholder to choose various qualifying programs for the market segments that the shareholder chooses to participate in, j paying a residual cash bonus to shareholders according to the gross revenues of market segments chosen