Method and system for finding lost or stolen objects

• US 7,420,465 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2005
• Issued: 09/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Swisscom Mobile AG (Government of Switzerland)
• Inventors: Ritter, Rudolf
• Primary Examiner(s): Goins; Davetta W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): McNally; Kerri L
• Application Number:
  US11/212,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20060055538A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,103 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.32, 340/572.1
• US Class Current: 340/539.32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/009 the reader being an RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1427 with transmitter-receiver for distance detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2417 having a radio frequency identification chip
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0275 Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS] tag technology used for parent or child unit, e.g. same transmission technology, magnetic tag, RF tag, RFID
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0283 via a telephone network, e.g. cellular GSM

Abstract

Method for finding a lost or stolen object (1), with the following steps that must be performed before the object is lost:

• • said object (1) is marked with a RFID tag (10) in which an unequivocal tag identification (100) is stored,
  • the owner of the object (1) accesses the RFID tag (10) with a RFID reader device (2) that is built into a mobile radio telephone (3) of the owner or that is connected with this mobile radio telephone (3),
  • said tag identification (100) is paired with an owner identification (300) that is read from the SIM card (30) of said mobile telephone (3),
  • and with the following steps that are performed when said object (1) is found by a third party:
  • said tag identification (100) is read by a second RFID reader device (9),
  • the owner identification (300) that has been paired with the read tag identification (100) is determined,
  • said owner is informed about the finding of said object (1).

Claims

1. Method for finding a lost or stolen object of an owner, said method comprising the steps of:

before the object is lost, performing the steps of;

providing a mobile device comprising a first RFID reader device to the owner;

providing an identification module in communication with said mobile device, said identification module for storing owner identification information of the owner;

marking said object with a RFID tag in which an unequivocal tag identification is stored,

the owner of the object using said mobile device for accessing the RFID tag with the first RFID reader device of said mobile device,

said mobile device reading the owner identification information from said identification module;

said mobile device pairing said tag identification with the owner identification information for storing in a database,

and when said object is found by a third party,

performing the steps of;

reading said tag identification by a second RFID reader device different than said first RFID device,

determining the owner identification that has been paired with the read tag identification in said database, and

informing said owner about the finding of said lost or stolen object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the pairing of the tag identification with the owner identification is triggered by said owner.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the pairing of the tag identification with the owner identification is recorded in said database that is a central database in which pairings of different owners are recorded.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein an electronic key is requested for pairing the tag identification with the owner identification.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said owner identification is replaced with an alias, said second RFID reader device determining only said alias, said alias being replaced with the corresponding owner identification by a module in order to inform said owner about the finding of the object.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a connection is automatically built between said first RFID reader device and said tag and wherein the tag is considered lost if the connection cannot be established.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of periodically writing a time mark in said tag.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the loss of the object is recorded with the aid of the mobile device of the owner in said database that is a central database.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the loss of an object is announced on a Hypertext page corresponding to the tag identification.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a reward for the finder of said object is offered, the finder of the object being able to check the offered reward on the basis of said tag identification.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said tag identification is in EPC format.

12. A system for finding a lost or stolen objects of the respective owners, said system comprising:

a plurality of objects that are each marked with RFID tags in each of which unique tag identifications are stored,

a plurality of RFID reader devices for reading said RFID tags,

mobile radio devices that are each connected with said RFID reader devices and that log into a mobile radio network, wherein each mobile radio device includes an identification module in which a mobile user identification for identifying one of said owners is stored, and

at least one storage medium for storing a plurality of Hypertext pages, each one of said Hypertext pages corresponding to one of said tag identifications and being capable of being determined on the basis of this said tag identification, and said mobile user identification being associated with said Hypertext pages for identifying the corresponding owner of each one of the objects.

13. A system for finding a lost or stolen object of an owner, said system comprising:

means for preparing said object to be found prior to being lost or stolen, said means for preparing including;

means for marking said object with a RFID tag in which an unequivocal tag identification is stored,

a mobile device including;

an identification module for storing owner identification information, and

a first RFID reader device for the owner of the object to access the RFID tag,

means for pairing said tag identification with said owner identification information, and

means for transmitting said paired tag identification with said owner identification to a remote database for storage,

a second RFID reader device different from said first RFID reader device for reading said tag identification,

means for accessing said database for determining the owner identification information that has been paired with the read tag identification, and

means for informing said owner about the finding of said lost or stolen object.

14. The system of claim 13, said system further comprising a storage device for storing at least one hypertext page, wherein said means for pairing utilizes said at least one hypertext page made corresponding to one said tag identifications and made associated with said owner identification.