ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,307,436, issued on May 20.
"Gift card with balance indicator panels" was invented by Robert C. Rinaldi (Bakersfield, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A gift card includes a card body having a retailer's or credit card company name and logo, a pre-printed gift card account balance representing the balance on the card when initially purchased, and a user-fillable Card Balance data field which can be completed using an ordinary pencil or pen. The gift card also may be printed with one or more prompts, such as a graphic or written instruction, to provide a user with sufficient instruction to use the re-writable functionality of the pres...