Groupon is getting yet another competitor. The Chicago-based online group buying site, which reportedly commanded a whopping $1.3 billion valuation in its latest financing round, has spawned all sorts of imitators since its debut two years ago.

And now there's another one to add to the list. It's called Tippr.com, and it's the latest offering from Seattle entrepreneur Martin Tobias. Tippr, which today is announcing a national expansion, certainly has some big rivals to deal with as it expands into cities such as Chicago (home of Groupon) and Washington, D.C. (home of LivingSocial). But Tobias has something up his sleeve: patents.

As we reported three months ago, Tobias' negotiated a deal to buy certain e-commerce related patents from Mercata. Seattle tech historians may remember Mercata, a high-profile group buying startup which raised piles of capital from Paul Allen and others before burning out in the dot-com bust.

Martin Tobias

The company -- which pulled a $100 million IPO and closed its doors in 2001 -- was obviously ahead of its time. But Tobias thinks the patent portfolio will give Tippr a leg up.

“The Mercata patents are the pocket aces of group buying,” said Tobias in a release. “We have the strongest IP and most advanced technology platform in group buying, and that allows us to offer consumers and businesses exclusive features resulting in the best deals, terms, and experience for all involved.”

Of course, Tippr still has a long way to go to catch Groupon and LivingSocial in terms of attracting consumers and merchants. But the company today detailed several advantages that it says it has in the group buying category, including some of the biggest discounts at local restaurants, spas, stores and more.

Here are some of the features that Tippr is touting as it goes up against Groupon and others.

The company says that it does not require a minimum number of consumers to make a purchase in order to activate a deal. It also guarantees the lowest deals from selected merchants in the cities where it operates, and assures participants that deals never expire.

Tippr also is touting "accelerated deals" in which the value of the offering goes up as more people participate.

And it has technology which leads to deals being spread through social media and affiliate channels, with Tippr noting in the release that the feature increases the reach of the deals and "empowers media publishers and other local sites to build their own brand versus promoting Groupon and LivingSocial deals."

Tippr is a unit of Kashless, which raised $5 million in venture funding from RRE Ventures and in 2008.