NFC-based options selection

• US 10,580,011 B1
• Filed: 12/15/2015
• Issued: 03/03/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blazer And Flip Flops, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Blazer And Flip Flops, Inc.
• Inventors: Cronin, John, Bodkin, Joseph George
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender, Florian M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ortiz Roman, Denisse Y
• Application Number:
  US14/970,338
• Time in Patent Office: 1,540 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/32 using wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/012 Providing warranty services
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A mobile electronic device corresponding to the present invention communicates with a point-of-sale terminal using near field data communications when making a purchase, prompting an offer regarding a warranty on an item purchased before the purchase is complete.

Claims

1. A method for providing near field communication (NFC)-based options, the method comprising:

initiating a purchase transaction of at least one item over an NFC interface at an NFC-enabled mobile device, wherein the purchase transaction is initiated at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal;

sending one or more options associated with the at least one item from the POS terminal to the NFC-enabled mobile device, wherein the options each correspond to a different additional item associated with the at least one item in the initiated purchase transaction and displayed for selection at the NFC-enabled mobile device;

receiving a code associated with at least one selection from the options displayed at the NFC-enabled mobile device, the code sent by the NFC-enabled mobile device to the POS terminal; and

modifying the initiated purchase transaction provided to an NFC-based authorization system, wherein the initiated purchase transaction is modified in accordance with the at least one selected option associated with the received code, and wherein the modified purchase transaction includes at least one additional item corresponding to the at least one selection associated with the received code.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one selection specifies a plurality of selected options, and wherein the received code is an extended code associated with the plurality of selected options.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the extended code is further associated with profile information specific to the NFC-enabled mobile device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the extended code is stored in memory of the NFC-enabled mobile device, wherein the extended code is retrieved for a subsequent transaction.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the NFC-enabled mobile device generates the extended code based on the plurality of selection options.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the code is sent over a communication network from the NFC-enabled mobile device to a network server.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

extracting the code from an NFC communication sent by the NFC-enabled mobile device to the POS terminal;

sending the extracted code from the POS terminal to a network server; and

receiving information regarding the at least one selected option sent by the network server to the POS terminal in response to the extracted code, wherein modifying the purchase transaction is based on the received information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying that the received code is valid before modifying the purchase transaction.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising stored information regarding a plurality of options in memory, wherein sending the one or more options comprises identifying the one or more options associated with the at least one item.

10. A apparatus for providing near field communication (NFC)-based options, the apparatus comprising:

an NFC interface that;

initiates a purchase transaction of at least one item with an NFC-enabled mobile device at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal;

sends one or more options associated with the at least one item from the POS terminal to the NFC-enabled mobile device, wherein the options each correspond to a different additional item associated with the at least one item in the initiated purchase transaction and displayed for selection at the NFC-enabled mobile device; and

receives a code associated with at least one selection from the options displayed at the NFC-enabled mobile device, the code sent by the NFC-enabled mobile device to the POS terminal; and

a processor that executes instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor modifies the initiated purchase transaction provided to an NFC-based authorization system, wherein the initiated purchase transaction is modified in accordance with the at least one selected option associated with the received code, and wherein the modified purchase transaction includes at least one additional item corresponding to the at least one selection associated with the received code.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one selection specifies a plurality of selected options, and wherein the received code is an extended code associated with the plurality of selected options.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the extended code is further associated with profile information specific to the NFC-enabled mobile device.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the extended code is stored in memory of the NFC-enabled mobile device, wherein the extended code is retrieved for a subsequent transaction.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the NFC-enabled mobile device generates the extended code based on the plurality of selected options.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the code is sent over a communication network from the NFC-enabled mobile device to a network server.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor executes further instructions to extract the code from an NFC communication sent by the NFC-enabled mobile device to the POS terminal, and further comprising a network communication interface that:

sends the extracted code from the POS terminal to a network server; and

receives information regarding the at least one selected option sent by the network server to the POS terminal in response to the extracted code, wherein modifying the purchase transaction is based on the received information.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor executes further instructions to identify that the received code is valid before modifying the purchase transaction.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising memory that stores information regarding a plurality of options, wherein the processor executes further instructions to identify the one or more options associated with the at least one item.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for providing near field communication (NFC)-based options, the method comprising:

initiating a purchase transaction of at least one item over an NFC interface at an NFC-enabled mobile device, wherein the purchase transaction is initiated at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal;

sending, over an NFC interface, one or more options associated with the at least one item from the POS terminal to the NFC-enabled mobile device, wherein the options each correspond to a different additional item associated with the at least one item in the initiated purchase transaction and displayed for selection at the NFC-enabled mobile device;

receiving a code associated with at least one selection from the options displayed at the NFC-enabled mobile device, the code sent by the NFC-enabled mobile device to the POS terminal; and

modifying the initiated purchase transaction provided to an NFC-based authorization system, wherein the initiated purchase transaction is modified in accordance with the at least one selected option associated with the received code, and wherein the modified purchase transaction includes at least one additional item corresponding to the at least one selection associated with the received code.