Electronic shipping system for package pickup and anywhere to anywhere delivery

• US 20060116923A1
• Filed: 01/12/2006
• Published: 06/01/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bruce Woods, Mike Donohue
• Original Assignee: Bruce Woods, Mike Donohue
• Inventors: Woods, Bruce, Donohue, Mike
• Granted Patent: US 7,444,290 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

The present invention is an improved shipping system that provides for third-party billing and shipment of a package from a first location to a second location where neither the first or second location is the location of the third-party. An embodiment is disclosed in which a pre-existing call-tag system is modified to permit third-party billing and anywhere to anywhere functionality.

Claims

1. A modified call-tag system capable of fulfilling an anywhere to anywhere package shipping request, the system comprising:

a client application configured to generate and transmit a call-tag record, said call-tag record comprising at least one of a call-tag request or an anywhere to anywhere request, said anywhere to anywhere request comprising a first shipping address and a second shipping address;

a carrier application in electronic communication with said client application, said carrier application configured to receive said call-tag record from said client application, said carrier application further configured to determine whether said call-tag record includes said anywhere to anywhere request and to generate a shipping label request based at least in part on said anywhere to anywhere request where it is determined that said call-tag record includes said anywhere to anywhere request;

a shipping label application in electronic communication with said carrier application, said shipping label application configured to receive said shipping label request and to generate a shipping label based at least in part on said shipping label request; and

a carrier in communication with at least one of said carrier application or said shipping label application to receive said shipping label, affix said shipping label to a package at a first location, and deliver said package to a second location, wherein said first and second locations correspond to said first and second shipping addresses, respectively, where said shipping label request is based at least in part on said anywhere to anywhere request.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said carrier application determines whether said call-tag record includes said anywhere to anywhere request by examining whether said call-tag record includes a second shipping address.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said carrier application determines whether said call-tag record includes said anywhere to anywhere request by examining whether said call-tag record includes both a first shipping address and a second shipping address.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said carrier application determines whether said call-tag record includes said anywhere to anywhere request by examining whether said call-tag record includes a unique destination address.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said package is being shipped from a buyer to a merchant, and wherein said carrier application determines whether said call-tag record includes said anywhere to anywhere request by determining whether said call-tag record includes a unique identifier provided to said merchant for use when requesting an anywhere to anywhere shipment.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said carrier application is further configured to generate a shipping label request based at least in part on said call-tag request where it is determined that said call-tag record does not include said anywhere to anywhere request.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said call-tag request comprises data identifying a buyer and a merchant, said buyer desiring to return said package to said merchant.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein said carrier application is further configured to determine a buyer address and a merchant address based at least in part on said data identifying said buyer and said merchant.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said data identifying said merchant comprises a unique merchant identifier, and wherein determining a merchant address based at least in part on said data identifying said merchant comprises using said unique merchant identifier to query a merchant database.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein said first and second locations correspond to said buyer and merchant addresses, respectively.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said client application corresponds to a merchant arranging for return of said package from a buyer, and wherein said carrier application is further configured to charge a shipping fee to said merchant.