Third-party certification using enhanced claim validation

• US 8,249,954 B2
• Filed: 12/24/2008
• Issued: 08/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Aginfolink Holdings Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Aginfolink Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Dolan, Andrew J., Pape, William R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender, F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Haider, Fawaad
• Application Number:
  US12/343,814
• Publication Number:
  US 20090198596A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,336 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials

Abstract

Third party certification using enhanced claim validation, in which identification information uniquely identifying an item that has moved through a node in a supply chain is received and event data associated with the uniquely identified item is received from the node based on receiving the identification information. The process also includes performing a third party validation of an associated characteristic of the uniquely identified item based on the received event data, and providing a third party certification of the associated characteristic based on performing the third party validation.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by one or more computers associated with a third party validation entity, from an owner of an item that has moved through one or more nodes of a supply chain, from a vendor of the item, or from a potential purchaser of the item, identification information that uniquely identifies the item;

in response to receiving the identification information, transmitting, by the third party validation entity, a request to a subset of the nodes of the supply chain for event data associated with the uniquely identified item;

receiving, by the third party validation entity, the requested event data associated with the uniquely identified item from the subset of the nodes;

performing, by the third party validation entity, a third party validation of an attribute of the item using the received event data, wherein a result of the validation specifies whether the received event data reflects that an attribute of the item is valid, and wherein the result excludes information that identifies the owner of the item; and

providing, by the third party validation entity, to the owner, to the vendor, or to the potential purchaser, a certificate that references the result of the validation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the third party validation is performed in real time or near real time to receiving the identification information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the result of the third party validation specifies whether the received event data reflects that the item is process verified in accordance with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Process Verification Program.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the result of the third party validation specifies whether the received event data reflects that the item satisfies an age and source claim.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the item comprises livestock.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the third party certification further comprises providing a physical or digital certificate identifying the item and indicating that a third party has validated the attribute.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the identification information identifies a group of items including the item, and

the third party validation is performed for each item of the group.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein providing the third party certification further comprises:

identifying a non-conforming item of the group whose event data reflects that the attribute is not valid; and

identifying a conforming item of the group whose event data reflects that the attribute is valid.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting data operable to generate a user interface for receiving the identification information.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the third party validation entity, from the owner of the item, from the vendor of the item, or from the potential purchaser of the item, information that identifies the attribute.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the request includes the identification information.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the third party validation comprises applying a rule to the received event data.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the third party certification specifies a probability that the attribute is valid or invalid.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the trusted third party from among several trusted third parties that are capable of performing the third party validation.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the third party validation entity, information that identifies a type of third party validation to perform; and

selecting, by the third party validation entity, the subset of the nodes of the supply chain based on the type of third party validation to perform.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the third party validation entity, a different unique identifier associated with a product that was transformed at a node of the supply chain to produce the item,

wherein the request references the different unique identifier.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed, operate to cause a computer to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by a third party validation entity, from an owner of an item that has moved through one or more nodes of a supply chain, from a vendor of the item, or from a potential purchaser of the item, identification information that uniquely identifies the item;

in response to receiving the identification information, transmitting, by the third party validation entity, a request to a subset of the nodes of the supply chain for event data associated with the uniquely identified item;

receiving, by the third party validation entity, the requested event data associated with the uniquely identified item from the subset of the nodes;

performing, by the third party validation entity, a third party validation of an attribute of the item using the received event data, wherein a result of the validation specifies whether the received event data reflects that an attribute of the item is valid, and wherein the result excludes information that identifies the owner of the item; and

providing, by the third party validation entity, to the owner, to the vendor, or to the potential purchaser, a certificate that references the result of the validation.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, by the third party validation entity, information that identifies a type of third party validation to perform; and

selecting, by the third party validation entity, the subset of the nodes of the supply chain based on the type of third party validation to perform.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining, by the third party validation entity, a different unique identifier associated with a product that was transformed at a node of the supply chain to produce the item,

wherein the request references the different unique identifier.

20. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

a computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by a third party validation entity, from an owner of an item that has moved through one or more nodes of a supply chain, from a vendor of the item, or from a potential purchaser of the item, identification information that uniquely identifies the item,

in response to receiving the identification information, transmitting, by the third party validation entity, a request to a subset of the nodes of the supply chain for event data associated with the uniquely identified item,

receiving, by the third party validation entity, the requested event data associated with the uniquely identified item from the subset of the nodes,

performing, by the third party validation entity, a third party validation of an attribute of the item using the received event data, wherein a result of the validation specifies whether the received event data reflects that an attribute of the item is valid, and wherein the result excludes information that identifies the owner of the item, and

providing, by the third party validation entity, to the owner, to the vendor, or to the potential purchaser, a certificate that references the result of the validation.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, by the third party validation entity, information that identifies a type of third party validation to perform; and

selecting, by the third party validation entity, the subset of the nodes of the supply chain based on the type of third party validation to perform.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining, by the third party validation entity, a different unique identifier associated with a product that was transformed at a node of the supply chain to produce the item,

wherein the request references the different unique identifier.