Systems and methods for international shipping and brokage operations support processing
First Claim
1. A system for rating a shipment comprising:
- a database for storing shipment data comprising at least a first identifier associated with one good in the shipment, the database storing a plurality of rating profiles, each rating profile including at least a first descriptor of an item and a tariff code associated with the item; and
a processor capable of accessing the database and configured to determine a confidence level associated with a first rating profile selected from the database based in part on the first identifier, the processor further configured to calculate a tariff amount associated with the first identifier based in part on the tariff code associated with the first rating profile, the processor updating the shipment data in the database to include the tariff amount.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for a brokerage operations support system to facilitate international shipping of goods into a country. The system receives information pertaining to a shipment and rates the shipment for a specific country by applying rules defined for the country'"'"'s customs regulations. Status information of the shipment is received by the system, including whether the shipment has cleared the importing country'"'"'s customs process. If the shipment has not cleared, the handling systems ensure the shipment is withheld from delivery until clearance is obtained. A flexible system architecture comprising a server and both attended and unattended workstations for a core system that can be modified to allow rating and processing of shipments occur in various modes to accommodate the procedures for each importing country.
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Citations
76 Claims
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1. A system for rating a shipment comprising:
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a database for storing shipment data comprising at least a first identifier associated with one good in the shipment, the database storing a plurality of rating profiles, each rating profile including at least a first descriptor of an item and a tariff code associated with the item; and
a processor capable of accessing the database and configured to determine a confidence level associated with a first rating profile selected from the database based in part on the first identifier, the processor further configured to calculate a tariff amount associated with the first identifier based in part on the tariff code associated with the first rating profile, the processor updating the shipment data in the database to include the tariff amount. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for rating a shipment comprising:
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a database for storing shipment data comprising at least a first identifier associated with one good in the shipment, the database storing a plurality of rating profiles, each rating profile including at least a first descriptor of an item and a tariff code associated with the item; and
a processor capable of accessing the database to retrieve the plurality of rating profiles based in part on the first identifier, the processor configured to receive user input to select one rating profile from the retrieved plurality of rating profiles, the processor further configured to calculate a tariff amount associated with the first identifier based in part on the tariff code associated with the selected rating profile and to store the tariff amount in the database. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for supporting custom brokerage operations comprising:
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a server storing a plurality of rating profiles, a plurality of rules, and shipment data, the shipment data comprising at least one item associated with a shipment; and
a workstation operatively coupled with the server over a communication network, the workstation capable of retrieving the shipment data from the server and calculating tariff amounts associated with each item in the shipment data by determining a tariff code from a selected rating profile associated with a determined confidence level, the workstation selecting a rating profile determined in part using at least a first one of the plurality of rules and determining the confidence level associated with the selected rating profile, the workstation updating the server with the tariff amount associated with each item in the shipment data. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system for supporting brokerage operations comprising:
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a processor configured to receive and process shipment data to generate an electronic declaration document, the processor configured to store the electronic declaration document in a database operatively connected to the processor, the processor configured to transmit the electronic declaration document;
a communications network operatively connected to the processor receiving the electronic declaration document transmitted from the processor; and
a customs processing computer operatively connected to the communications network capable of receiving the electronic declaration document, the customs processing computer generating a customs clearance indication and communicating the customs clearance indication to the processor. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A system for facilitating a shipment of a package comprising:
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a database for storing shipment data associated with a shipment associated with at least one package;
a first processor capable of accessing the database to process the shipment data and configured to receive a customs clearance indication associated with the package, the first processor further configured to communicate the customs clearance indication over a first communication network; and
a package handling system connected to the first communication network, the package handling system capable of receiving the customs clearance indication associated with the package. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A package handling system comprising:
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a sensor detecting a package associated with a shipment, the sensor generating a package identification message;
a database storing a customs clearance status indication associated with the package;
a first processor configured to receive the package identification message from the sensor, the first processor capable of retrieving the customs clearance status indication from the database and determining that the package is cleared for delivery; and
a second processor operatively connected to the first processor, receiving the customs clearance status and communicating it to the first processor. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A method for processing shipment data comprising:
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receiving shipment data pertaining to at least one item being imported into a country, the shipment data comprising at least one of either item description data or item part number data;
processing the shipment data to identify a rating profile stored in a database, the rating profile including a tariff code and a product descriptor;
determining a confidence level of the identified rating profile with respect to the shipment data;
retrieving a confidence threshold level stored in the database;
selecting the tariff code associated with the rating profile if the confidence level equals or exceeds the confidence threshold level; and
determining a tariff amount associated with the one item, the tariff amount calculated using at least a tariff rate associated with the tariff code and a value of the item. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A method for rating a shipment of goods comprising:
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receiving shipment data pertaining to an item, the shipment data including an item quantity, a value for the item, and at least one of either a item description or an item part code;
identifying a rating profile using at least one of either the item description or the item part code, the rating profile containing at least either a product description or a product part number or both, the rating profile also including a tariff code;
determining a confidence level of the rating profile based on the correlation between either the item description, item part code, or both with the rating profile;
selecting the rating profile if the confidence level is at or above a defined threshold;
calculating a tariff amount associated with each good by using a subset of the shipment data, the selected rating profile, and a tariff rate associated with the selected rating profile; and
storing the shipment data and the tariff amount in a database. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67)
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68. A method for processing customs clearance comprising:
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receiving shipment data in a data processing system pertaining to at least one item imported into a country, the shipment data including a description, a quantity, and a value;
rating the shipment data to determine a tariff amount by accessing a database containing rating profiles associated with the at least one item imported into the country;
retrieving a first set of rules from the database for formulating a customs declaration document;
generating the customs declaration document based in part on the first set of rules, the tariff amount, and the shipment data;
communicating the customs declaration document to a customs broker; and
receiving a customs clearance indication from the customs broker clearing the item for importation. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A method of processing customs clearance status data, comprising:
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receiving shipment data associated with a shipment identifier, the shipment data received in a data processing system, the shipment data including a description of an imported good, a value of the imported good, and a tariff code of the imported good;
determining parameters for interacting with a customs clearance data processing system;
generating an electronic customs declaration document;
communicating the electronic customs declaration document from the data processing system to the customs clearance data processing system;
receiving a clearance indication in the data processing system from the customs clearance data processing system indicating a shipment associated with the shipment identifier has cleared customs; and
communicating the clearance indication and the shipment identifier to a database server.
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74. A method for processing a shipment comprising:
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receiving at a first processor a customs clearance indication associated with a shipment;
transmitting the customs clearance indication from the first processor to a second processor using a communications network;
storing the customs clearance indication in a memory accessible to the second processor;
receiving a message at the second processor from a package handling system identifying a package associated with the shipment;
retrieving the customs clearance indication from the memory;
determining the customs clearance indication is associated with the package;
generating a message to the package handling system indicating the package has cleared customs; and
processing the package at the package handling system for delivery of the package. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76)
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Specification