EP1922659A1 - Verification de la validite des codes-barres dans les dispositifs mobiles qui affichent les codes-barres afin qu'ils soient lus par des lecteurs de codes-barres - Google Patents

Verification de la validite des codes-barres dans les dispositifs mobiles qui affichent les codes-barres afin qu'ils soient lus par des lecteurs de codes-barres

Info

Publication number
EP1922659A1
EP1922659A1 EP06771430A EP06771430A EP1922659A1 EP 1922659 A1 EP1922659 A1 EP 1922659A1 EP 06771430 A EP06771430 A EP 06771430A EP 06771430 A EP06771430 A EP 06771430A EP 1922659 A1 EP1922659 A1 EP 1922659A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
validity
coupon
mobile device
barcode
electronic coupon
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP06771430A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Dan Slavin
Pero Smrzlic
Gordon E. Nelson
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
CodeBroker LLC
Original Assignee
CodeBroker LLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by CodeBroker LLC filed Critical CodeBroker LLC
Publication of EP1922659A1 publication Critical patent/EP1922659A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
    • G06Q20/20—Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/04—Payment circuits
    • G06Q20/045—Payment circuits using payment protocols involving tickets
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
    • G06Q20/32—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices
    • G06Q20/327—Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
    • G06Q20/3274—Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being displayed on the M-device
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to systems in which transactions are performed by displaying a barcode on a mobile device such as a cellular telephone and using a barcode reader to read the displayed barcode.
  • Coupons have typically been delivered by direct mail, or as an insert in a newspaper, or even in- store displays that contain printed coupons for use by customers. More recently, online coupon centers have been established which allow a customer to electronically find coupons (using a computer) and print them for use in the store (or in conjunction with online purchases).
  • an electronic coupon may be any collection of information that is identified by a barcode.
  • Electronic coupons offer advantages for both end users and coupon issuers. Because the coupons are electronic, they are much cheaper to issue than paper coupons. Further, the fact that the mobile device can both provide and receive information about the coupon permits kinds of coupons that have no paper coupon equivalents.
  • an electronic coupon may be an n use coupon, that is, a coupon that can be used a predetermined number of times. For the end user, finally, the end user's mobile device doubles as a coupon carrier.
  • a major problem with electronic coupons is checking the coupon's validity.
  • validity checking is done by the clerk at the point of sale system.
  • the clerk at the point of sale checks the coupon to make sure it hasn't expired, passes the coupon's barcode across the barcode reader until the barcode reader confirms that the code has been read, and retains the coupon, thereby ensuring that the coupon is valid when used and used only once. Because the clerk does the validity checking in standard point of sale systems, standard point of sale systems are not set up to deal with invalid coupons.
  • an important advantage of using mobile devices to display coupons is that the mobile device can do the validity checking.
  • the mobile device has both local and remote information about the coupon and the reading process available to it, it provides a channel for feedback about the coupon generally.
  • the object of the invention is attained by a method performed in a mobile device which provides barcodes belonging to electronic coupons to a barcode reading system.
  • the method has the following steps:
  • the step of determining whether the given electronic coupon is currently valid may be performed using validation information which is associated with the given electronic coupon in the mobile device, using validation information which is received from the barcode reading system, or using validation information which is received from a validity server.
  • the validity event may be the provision of the given electronic coupon's barcode to the barcode reading system, determining from the mobile device's clock whether a point in time has been reached that affects the validity of the given electronic coupon, determining that the mobile device has received location input that affects the validity of the given electronic coupon, or has received input that redefines the validity of the given electronic coupon.
  • the object of the invention is also obtained by a mobile device with an electronic coupon handler that responds to a validity event which may affect the validity of a given electronic coupon by inhibiting provision of the given electronic coupon's barcode to the barcode reading system and determines whether the given electronic coupon is currently valid before again permitting provision of the given coupon's barcode to the barcode reading system.
  • FIG. 1 is an overview of a system in which the techniques of the invention are employed;
  • FIG. 2 details the Validate/Re-validate cycle;
  • FIG. 3 details the Point of Sale system scan and confirm process;
  • FIG. 4 details the Local Re-validation process;
  • FIG. 5 details the Remote Re-validation process;
  • FIG.6 is a block diagram of the wallet components
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the manner in which the wallet responds to a validity event.
  • the rightmost two digits are a reference number within a figure; the remaining digits are the figure number.
  • the item referred to by the reference number 204 will be found in FIG. 2.
  • Figure 1 illustrates, in schematic form, a system 100 for using a mobile device to provide a barcode from an electronic coupon whose validity is known to a point of sale system.
  • a barcode is to be understood to include any representation of the information in the barcode itself, including the barcode's image and alphanumeric representations of the image.
  • a point of sale system is understood to include any system which is capable of reading the information in the barcode.
  • the main components of system 100 are coupon distribution system 101, a mobile device 112 such as a cellular telephone or a PDA, the local components 115 of a point of sale (POS) system that can scan barcodes, a point of sale backend server 124 from which information about transactions performed by the POS system may be obtained, and a validity server 122, which collects and maintains information relevant to the validity of electronic coupons.
  • POS point of sale
  • the functions of backend server 124 and validity server 122 may be combined in a single server.
  • the entity that provides the coupons and determines their validity will be different from the entity that is using the coupons to promote a product or service. In such cases, the coupon distribution and validity server components of the system would belong to the entity that provides the coupons.
  • coupon distribution system 101 distributes electronic coupons to mobile devices.
  • the coupons may be distributed in response to a request from the mobile device or from a user of the mobile device who makes the request via the Internet, or can even be distributed as unsolicited messages to the mobile device.
  • coupon package generator 104 will generate an electronic package that represents the electronic coupon.
  • the electronic package is then sent to the Content Delivery Server 102.
  • the electronic package may contain the following:
  • control data 106 some Control Data 106.
  • the most important part of control data 106 is the validity information for the electronic coupon. Examples of validity information include but are not limited to the following: • The number of times a coupon may be used;
  • Control data 106 may also contain information that governs how the validity of the coupon is to be checked, for example, the number of retries to be made if the validity is to be checked using information from the network location and information about how long the barcode is to be displayed.
  • iii) optionally Additional Content 108 for the coupon may comprise text or multimedia content.
  • a message is then sent to the mobile device via a message format such as SMS.
  • the message may include a URL link to the package which was created.
  • the user clicks on this link and the package is downloaded to the mobile device 112.
  • the electronic coupon represented by box 113, is manipulated by electronic wallet software 114.
  • the tasks performed by electronic wallet software 114 are determining whether a given electronic coupon is valid and if it is, communicating the electronic coupon to the local point of sale system 116.
  • the wallet may communicate the coupon to the local point of sale system 116 by displaying the coupon's barcode on the mobile device's display screen so that the barcode can be read by scanner 116; in others, it may use a wireless link in local communication point 120 to provide the barcode to point of sale system 118.
  • mobile device 112 may receive immediate confirmation that point of sale system 118 has successfully read the barcode.
  • the confirmation may come in any of a number of ways, for example, via a "beep" from point of sale system 118 that is detected in mobile device 112, via messages sent and received via local communication point 120, or by having the user push a button on mobile device 112 when he or she believes that point of sale system 118 has read the barcode. If no such immediate confirmation is received, mobile device 118 may obtain validity information from validity server 122 that confirms the successful read.
  • point of sale system 118 treats it like any other barcode: it is used as necessary in the transaction being performed by the point of sale system and it is sent to a backend server belonging to the point of sale system so that the use of the coupon can be recorded.
  • backend server 124 reports use of the coupon to validity server 122, which may simply record the use or may itself determine whether the use has rendered the coupon invalid.
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart 700 of how wallet 114 responds to a validity event. Beginning at start 702, the wallet waits for a validity event for a given electronic coupon (704). When the event occurs, the wallet inhibits provision of the given electronic coupon's barcode to POS system 118 (706). At 708, the wallet checks whether the given coupon is currently valid.
  • the wallet again permits the coupon's barcode to be provided to POS system 118. If the coupon is not valid, the wallet continues to inhibit provision of the barcode to POS system 118 until the coupon is removed from the wallet or another validity event renders the coupon valid again. Examples of validity events include but are not limited to
  • electronic wallet 114 can make a validity determination in response to a validity event at a time other than the moment the user selects to redeem the coupon, and consequently, validation may be separated from redemption and the redemption process need not be burdened by the time required for the validation process.
  • Electronic wallet 114 may also provide validity information to validity server 122. Validity information from electronic wallet 114 may further be used to check the validity information in validity server 122 or vice-versa.
  • the information required for a validity event and the source of the information depend of course on the validity event.
  • mobile devices have clocks, and consequently, whether a time-related validity event has occurred can be determined by examining an electronic coupon's validity information and the time currently indicated by the mobile device's clock.
  • the coupon's validity information can contain a set of codes for valid locations and the user can input the code for the location where he or she is intending to provide the coupon to the bar code reading system to the mobile device. If the location code does not match one of the codes in the set, the mobile device will not provide the bar code to the bar code reading system.
  • Some mobile devices are of course aware of where they are, and in such mobile devices, the mobile device can check whether its current location is one of the permitted locations.
  • FIG. 6 is a detailed block diagram of electronic wallet application program 114.
  • the MIME type associated with the package opens electronic wallet application 114 and provides the coupon's bar code, Control Data, and Additional Data to wallet application 114.
  • Electronic wallet 114 contains 5 major components: 1) A set 610 of coupons that are known by the wallet to be currently valid
  • Validity test logic 604 which responds to a validity event 603 by determining which set of coupons a given coupon currently belongs to; and 5) a program 602 that displays barcodes belonging to the set of coupons that are known to be currently valid in a form that a barcode scanner can read. Where local communications link 120 is used to provide the barcode to point of sale system 118, the program 602 provides the barcodes via communications link 120.
  • the sets of coupons may be implemented using any technique that divides the coupons into three distinct groups.
  • Example implementations are flags associated with the coupons that indicate which of the sets a particular coupon belongs to and a linked list for each set of coupons.
  • a coupon When a coupon is placed into the wallet for the first time, it is placed in the set 612 of coupons whose validity is unknown. This is the first validity event 603 for the coupon.
  • the wallet responds to validity event 603 by checking the validity of the coupon. The validity check is done using the validity information for the coupon that is contained in control data 106. In some cases, the check may involve validity server 122. If the checks indicate that the coupon is valid, wallet 114 places the coupon in set 610 of coupons known to be valid.
  • the barcode may be displayed by the end user only from wallet 114 and only by display barcode function 602. This operation will only initiate the display of barcodes from coupons belonging to set 610 of coupons which the wallet knows to be valid.
  • Execution of display barcode function 602 is a validity event. Operation 602 is the only operation that displays the actual barcode in readable form on the mobile device. In the case of implementations in which the barcode is provided to point of sale system 118 by communications link 120, only operation 602 will provide the barcode to the point of sale system.
  • the user wishes to present the coupon, s/he can then access this coupon by running the wallet application and selecting the particular coupon for display from set 610 of coupons known to be valid. This causes display barcode function 602 to be executed.
  • validity test logic 604 will move the coupon into the set 612 of coupons whose validity is unknown. The coupon will remain in set 612 until validity test logic 604 has determined its validity. Where validity is conditioned on a successful read of the barcode (as is the case, for example, with n-use coupons), validity test logic 604 will use a confirmation from point of sale system 118 in the validity check if the confirmation is available; otherwise, it will obtain information that confirms that the read was successful from validity server 122, as shown in flowchart 300 in FIG. 3.
  • the barcode displayed by mobile device 112 is scanned; if the scan is not successful (304), it is repeated (306); if it is successful, success is indicated locally by one or more of the mechanisms: 1) Generating a beep to acknowledge an accurate read (308)
  • FIG. 2 is a flowchart 200 of how a coupon is validated when it is first put into wallet 114 and validated again in response to a provision of the coupon's barcode to point of sale system 118.
  • the validation event is the provision of the coupon's barcode to the point of sale system.
  • This validation event is relevant to n-use coupons. Each display and successful read of the coupon represents a use of the coupon.
  • wallet 114 receives the coupon; this is a validity event 603, so at 206, validity test logic 604 first places the new coupon in set 612 and then checks the current validity of the coupon using information in control data 106 and/or information received from validity server 122 and places the coupon in set 610, 612, or 614 as required by the results of the validity check. If the coupon is in set 612, validity test logic 604 may attempt validation again later. In some embodiments, the downloaded coupon may be assumed to be valid, in which case, step 206 would be omitted and the coupon would be immediately placed in set 610. Assuming the coupon is in set 610, as shown at 208, display barcode function 602 displays the barcode (210).
  • the information required for the validity check for this second validity event is whether the barcode was read by point of sale system 118.
  • Wallet 114 may determine whether the barcode was read either on the basis of information obtained locally from point of sale system 118 or from validity server 122. As shown at 214, if wallet 114 is able to obtain a read confirmation locally, branch 224 is taken; otherwise, branch 220 is taken.
  • Wallet 114 may receive local confirmation that the barcode was read in at least the following ways:
  • 228 may be done on the basis of the read confirmation; otherwise it is done using the validity information from validity server 122. If the coupon is still valid, the validity test logic restores it to the set 610 of coupons known to be currently valid (228, 232); if it is invalid, the validity test logic moves it to the set of coupons 614 known to be currently invalid (238, 240) or simply discards the electronic coupon. If the validity test logic cannot determine whether the coupon is valid or invalid (236,242), it remains in the set 612 of coupons whose current validity is unknown. Loop 244 is repeated each time a user selects display barcode function 602.
  • the revalidation may involve only information available in the wallet, may involve information obtained from point of sale system 118, may involve contacting validity server 122 for current validity information about the coupon the barcode belongs to, or may involve information from a combination of these sources. For example, if the display barcode function has received local confirmation k that the barcode has been read and provides the confirmation to validity test logic
  • validity test logic 604 can use that information to determine whether the coupon is still valid. If there is no local confirmation that the barcode has been read, validity test logic 604 can use that information to determine whether the coupon is still valid. If there is no local confirmation that the barcode has been read, validity test logic 604 can use that information to determine whether the coupon is still valid. If there is no local confirmation that the barcode has been read, validity test logic 604 can use that information to determine whether the coupon is still valid. If there is no local confirmation that the barcode has been read, validity test logic
  • validity test logic 604 can check the validity of coupons in wallet 114 at any time, not just when the coupon is first received in electronic wallet 114 or when the coupon has been communicated to the POS system.
  • the wallet may periodically retry the process for the time period specified in the coupon's Control Data 106. The retries will be stopped once one of the following three conditions is met: 1) The electronic wallet is able to successfully contact validity server 122 and receive information from which the electronic wallet can determine the coupon's validity.
  • the electronic wallet fails to receive information from validity server 122 which the electronic wallet can use to determine the validity of the coupon during the period of time specified in Control Data 106.
  • FIG. 4 presents at 400 details of how validity information is obtained from POS 118 when mobile device 112 has a Bluetooth link to POS 118.
  • validity test logic 604 requests an acknowledgment signal from POS system 118 that POS system 118 has read the barcode (402).
  • POS system 118 receives the request at 408 and provides the signal at 410. If the validity test logic does not receive the acknowledgment, it tries again for a limited number of times. Otherwise, it uses the acknowledgment to determine whether the coupon is still valid at decision block 228 of FIG. 2.
  • FIG. 5 shows details of getting validity information from validity server 122 (block 222 in FIG. 2).
  • validity test logic 604 requests validity info from validity server 122 (502). As shown at 508, if the validity information available on validity server 122 permits the validity of the bar code's coupon to be determined, the validity is determined as shown beginning at block 228 in FIG. 2; otherwise, validity test logic 604 continues to attempt to obtain the information from validity server 122 until a time limit is reached (512); if the information is not obtained, validity test logic 604 stops checking for validity and continues at loop 244 in FIG. 2.
  • a coupon in a set may further have user-visible validation status information associated with it.
  • the user-visible validation status information for an n-use coupon in set 610 may indicate the number of uses remaining
  • the user- visible status information for such a coupon in set 614 may indicate that no uses remain
  • the user-visible status information for such a coupon in set 612 may indicate that wallet 114 is attempting to obtain the coupon's current validity status from validity server 122.
  • an n-use coupon is one that may be used a fixed number of times and then becomes invalid.
  • the validity event is provision of the coupon to a barcode reading system 118. Because the use count for an n-use coupon will not change until it is again used, the validity check for a given use may be done at any time during the period of time between the given use and the next use and thus may be done separately from the provision of the barcode to the POS system.
  • the first step is placing parameters for the n-use coupons on the server that is to distribute them.
  • the parameters will include the numbers for the coupons and the validity conditions for the coupons.
  • the validity conditions specify the number of times the coupon can be used.
  • a user makes a request via an SMS shortcode requesting that a particular coupon be returned to the mobile device.
  • This SMS message could be in response to a specific SMS shortcode advertised on television, radio or other medium.
  • the Content Delivery Server would receive this request and send a message to Coupon Package Generator 104 to assemble a package containing the requested coupon in graphic form along with its associated validity data. Each coupon has a unique barcode.
  • Coupon Package Generator 104 Once the package was assembled, it would be published to Content Delivery Server 102. Content Delivery Server 102 would then return an SMS message to the mobile device.
  • This returned SMS message would contain a link that the user could click on to download the package containing the electronic coupon 113 coupon and optionally a link for the user to click to download electronic wallet program 114.
  • the coupon package When the user clicks on the link in the SMS to download the coupon package, the coupon package would be downloaded from Content Delivery Server 102 to mobile device 112 and provided to electronic wallet program 114. Wallet 114 will then place the coupon in the set 612 of coupons whose validity is not known.
  • Wallet 114 then uses validity test logic 604 to determine the current validity of the coupon. In some cases, all the information necessary will be contained in the coupon's control data 106; in other cases, validity test logic 604 may have to obtain validity information from validity server 122. If validity test logic 604 determines that the coupon is valid, it goes into set of coupons known to be currently valid 610; if validity test logic 604 determines that the coupon is not valid, it is discarded or goes into set 614 of coupons known to be invalid. Otherwise, it remains in set 612 of coupons whose current validity is unknown. When validity test logic 604 initially determines the validity of an n-use coupon, it associates a counter with the n-use coupon and sets the counter's value to (max-no-of-uses).
  • the wallet application When the user enters a retail location and wishes to display the coupon, he/she runs the wallet application, selects the coupon from the set of coupons known to be valid 610 that he/she wishes to display, and indicates display bar code function 602 to mobile device 112. While the coupon is displayed, the wallet places it into the set of coupons 612 whose validity is currently unknown (preventing it from being displayed again), and the store clerk scans the cell phone display with a bar code scanner.
  • the wallet attempts to confirm that the bar code has been accurately read. Confirmation may be based on the "beep" emitted from point of sale system 118 when the barcode is read, on information obtained via wireless communication between mobile device 112 and point of sale system 118, or on the push of a button on the mobile device in response to the "beep". If the wallet receives the confirmation, it removes the bar code from the display on the mobile device.
  • Validity test logic 604 then decrements the coupon's use count. If the use count has reached 0, the coupon is invalid and validity test logic 604 places it in set 614 of coupons known to be invalid; if it has not yet reached 0, the coupon is still valid and validity test logic 604 places it in set 610 of coupons known to be valid.
  • the wallet waits for a period of time and then removes the coupon from the display. Next, after a period that it deems sufficient for information about the read to reach validity server 122 via POS backend server 124 and then attempts to perform a remote validation.
  • the wallet sends a validation request to the validity Server. What is in the request and how validity server 122 responds depends on the design of validity server 122. At a minimum, the request will require the coupon's barcode.
  • the validity server may respond by indicating whether the coupon is valid or invalid or that it doesn't know or may respond by returning all of the validity information it has regarding the coupon, leaving it up to the wallet to determine validity, or may do something in between with regard both to the information it requires from the wallet and the information it returns to the wallet.
  • the request may also specify the amount of time to continue to attempt to determine whether the coupon is still valid.
  • the wallet If the wallet is unable to contact the validity Server, it will periodically re-check the validity Server for an updated status. This processes repeats periodically for the amount of time specified in the Control Data. If at the end of this time period, the electronic wallet is not able to i) contact the control server, or ii) obtain the information needed to determine validity from the validity Server, then the coupon is left in the set of coupons whose current validity is unknown and the update process ceases. A validity status message associated with the coupon may indicate why the coupon's validity is unknown.
  • the wallet receives information from validity server 122 that indicates that the coupon is valid, then it moves the coupon into the set 610 of coupons known to be valid; if the information indicates that the coupon is invalid, then it moves the coupon into the set 614 of coupons known to be invalid, as described above.
  • POS backend server 124 pushes data to mobile device.
  • Validity server 122 pushes data to mobile device.
  • Validity server 122 polls one or more POS backend servers 124. They could request one "number" at a time or a batch of numbers.
  • POS backend servers 124 push data to validity server 122. They could push one "number” at a time or a batch of numbers. • End users input information about themselves that is relevant to coupon validation into validity server 122.
  • the wallet can check the validity server which will respond with information regarding when the underlying credit card is going to expire. When it is near the expiration time, the validity server can respond with a message to update the credit card. If the credit card has expired, the membership can become invalid on that date. If the credit card has been updated, the local expiration date can be extended.
  • Airline tickets which have multiple segments/related bar codes. These methods could be used to invalidate each segment after it was used as each segment needs to be invalidated separately.
  • a validity event in one coupon which affects the validity of another coupon For example, in the airline tickets just described, the validity event which resulted in one segment being invalidated could also render the next segment valid.
  • the kinds of validity events, their semantics, and the manner in which the mobile device responds to a given validity event are as numerous as the different kinds of functions which an electronic coupon may have and the kinds of information required to detect and deal with a given validity event depends completely on the semantics of the event. Human ingenuity can further be relied upon to constantly increase the capabilities of the mobile devices, barcode reading systems, servers, and networks in which the techniques disclosed herein are implemented and also to constantly develop new kinds of coupons, new validity events, and new responses to validity events.

Landscapes

  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
  • Strategic Management (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Finance (AREA)
  • Development Economics (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Entrepreneurship & Innovation (AREA)
  • Game Theory and Decision Science (AREA)
  • Economics (AREA)
  • Marketing (AREA)
  • Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)
  • Cash Registers Or Receiving Machines (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne une technique permettant de garantir qu'un dispositif mobile qui contient des coupons avec des codes-barres ne donne pas un code-barres appartenant à un coupon non valide à un système de lecture de codes-barres. La technique évite la validation du coupon au moment où le code-barres est fourni au système de lecture de code-barres. Dans cette technique, le dispositif mobile répond à un événement de validité susceptible d'affecter la validité d'un coupon donné en bloquant la présentation du code-barres du coupon en question au système de lecture de code-barres jusqu'à ce que le coupon ait été validé, puis en autorisant à nouveau la présentation du code-barres du coupon au système de lecture de code-barres. Dans une application de la technique, le coupon peut être utilisé n fois, l'événement de validité est la présentation du code-barres au système de lecture de code-barres et la validation du coupon
EP06771430A 2005-05-26 2006-05-26 Verification de la validite des codes-barres dans les dispositifs mobiles qui affichent les codes-barres afin qu'ils soient lus par des lecteurs de codes-barres Withdrawn EP1922659A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US68492305P 2005-05-26 2005-05-26
PCT/US2006/020659 WO2006128094A1 (fr) 2005-05-26 2006-05-26 Verification de la validite des codes-barres dans les dispositifs mobiles qui affichent les codes-barres afin qu'ils soient lus par des lecteurs de codes-barres

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1922659A1 true EP1922659A1 (fr) 2008-05-21

Family

ID=37452378

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP06771430A Withdrawn EP1922659A1 (fr) 2005-05-26 2006-05-26 Verification de la validite des codes-barres dans les dispositifs mobiles qui affichent les codes-barres afin qu'ils soient lus par des lecteurs de codes-barres

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1922659A1 (fr)
CA (1) CA2610341A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2006128094A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8430300B2 (en) 2005-05-26 2013-04-30 Codebroker, Llc Using validity events to control the use of coupons containing barcodes in mobile devices that display the barcodes for reading by barcode readers
WO2007127385A2 (fr) 2006-04-27 2007-11-08 Codebroker Llc personnalisation d'images de codes à barres pour des affichages particuliers
BRPI0721135A2 (pt) 2006-12-08 2014-04-01 Lipso Systemes Inc Sistema e método de otimização de objeto de mídia
US8746581B2 (en) 2007-06-19 2014-06-10 Codebroker, Llc Techniques for providing an electronic representation of a card
WO2011140301A1 (fr) * 2010-05-05 2011-11-10 Last Mile Technologies, Llc Procédé et appareil de réalisation de transactions sécurisées à l'aide d'un dispositif accessible par internet et d'une application
US20120136780A1 (en) * 2010-08-27 2012-05-31 Khalid El-Awady Account number based bill payment platform apparatuses, methods and systems
US20130256395A1 (en) * 2012-03-29 2013-10-03 Symbol Technologies, Inc. System for and method of expediting self-checkout at point-of-sale stations

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP3527211B2 (ja) * 2000-08-01 2004-05-17 日立マクセル株式会社 電子クーポン・システム
US7044362B2 (en) * 2001-10-10 2006-05-16 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Electronic ticketing system and method

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO2006128094A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2006128094A1 (fr) 2006-11-30
CA2610341A1 (fr) 2006-11-30

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US8430300B2 (en) Using validity events to control the use of coupons containing barcodes in mobile devices that display the barcodes for reading by barcode readers
US11449878B2 (en) System and method of notifying user near point of sale location of available rewards at the point of sale location
US10410236B2 (en) Method and system for delivering offers to users of electronic privilege cards
TW594514B (en) Method and apparatus in a wireless communication system for using a selective call receiver to provide demographic information, redeem coupons, and emulate affinity cards
EP1543456B1 (fr) Messages optimises contenant des informations a code a barres pour dispositifs recepteurs mobiles
AU785223B2 (en) Method and system for receiving, storing and processing electronic vouchers with a mobile telephone or a personal digital assistant
EP1297466B1 (fr) Systeme de delivrance de jeton
US10395269B2 (en) Message broker for redemption of digital incentives
US20120316949A1 (en) Method and system for managing electronic coupons
US20080262928A1 (en) Method and apparatus for distribution and personalization of e-coupons
US20080052159A1 (en) Service promotion using encodable review codes
US20090281888A1 (en) Method And Apparatus For Establishing Time-Based Loyalty Relationship
WO2009116954A2 (fr) Procédé et système de distribution d'informations de code à barres pour effectuer une transaction via un réseau
WO2007012085A2 (fr) Systeme de transactions electroniques mobiles, dispositif et procede s'y rapportant
WO2006128094A1 (fr) Verification de la validite des codes-barres dans les dispositifs mobiles qui affichent les codes-barres afin qu'ils soient lus par des lecteurs de codes-barres
WO2007112129A2 (fr) Promotion de services utilisant des codes de révision pouvant être codés
GB2379052A (en) Feedback-Controlled Selective Signalling
JP2009301211A (ja) 販売促進費動的管理システム、トークン管理サーバ、携帯端末及び販売促進費動的管理方法
US20110153408A1 (en) System and method for loyalty card and coupon registration and opt out via a wireless apparatus
KR20120051950A (ko) 사용자 단말기를 통한 모바일 쿠폰의 처리 방법
KR102474925B1 (ko) 비대면 방식의 리워드 적립 서비스를 위한 시스템 및 방법
CN101281634B (zh) 用于移动接收设备的包含条形码信息的优化的消息
IES83700Y1 (en) A system and method for validation of electronic vouchers

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 20071224

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

DAX Request for extension of the european patent (deleted)
STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 20081202