Systems and methods for indicating the existence of accessible information pertaining to articles of commerce

• US 8,469,270 B1
• Filed: 02/25/2012
• Issued: 06/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Scanning Technologies Innovations, LLC (Leigh M. Rothschild)
• Original Assignee: Reagan Inventions L.L.C. (Leigh M. Rothschild)
• Inventors: Rothschild, Leigh M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Michael G
• Assistant Examiner(s): GUDORF, LAURA A
• Application Number:
  US13/405,246
• Time in Patent Office: 486 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/379, 235/385, 23546201-46249, 235/383, 705 261- 268, 705/28, 705/346
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0281 Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A system and method are provided for indicating an existence of a link to information pertaining to an article of commerce. The present disclosure provides for downloading a look-up table from a server database to a mobile device via a communication network. The look-up table is configured to store a plurality of UPC numbers associated with a plurality of articles of commerce and a plurality of information link indicators. Each information link indicator is associated with a respective UPC number and article of commerce and indicates the existence of a link via the communication network to information pertaining to the respective article of commerce. The mobile device allows a consumer to immediately determine if product information is available for a particular article of commerce, via a visual or audible indication on the mobile device, without access to the communication network.

Claims

1. A system for indicating an existence of a link to information pertaining to an article of commerce, the system comprising:

a mobile phone comprising a portable handheld housing and a communication interface configured to enable the mobile phone to communicate with a communication network, the mobile phone further comprising a signal processing device and a visual input device, the visual input device affixed within the portable handheld housing;

a local database associated with the mobile phone, the local database configured to store data for use by the mobile phone;

a server in communication with the communication network, the server comprising a server database configured to store a look-up table that includes at least a plurality of Universal Product Code (UPC) numbers associated with a plurality of articles of commerce, the look-up table also storing a plurality of information link indicators, each information link indicator associated with a respective UPC number and article of commerce, and each information link indicator being configured as a status signal indicating the existence or absence of a link to information pertaining to a respective article of commerce, the link being made to the information via the communication network;

wherein the mobile phone is configured to download the look-up table from the server database during a time when the mobile phone is not being used for voice communication and store the look-up table in the local database;

wherein the visual input device is configured to scan a UPC symbol from an article of commerce and decode the UPC symbol to obtain a UPC number;

wherein, in response to receiving the UPC number, the signal processing device is configured to look up the UPC number in the look-up table stored in the local database to determine from a respective information link indicator whether or not a link exists for accessing information pertaining to an article of commerce associated with the UPC number via the communication network, wherein the signal processing device determines whether or not the link exists without accessing the communication network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication network is the Internet.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the local database comprises an internal memory device contained within the mobile phone.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the local database comprises an external memory device removably connected to the mobile phone.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the local database comprises flash memory.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile phone further comprises a visual output device for producing visual signals to indicate to a user of the mobile phone whether or not the scanned UPC symbol is associated with an article of commerce for which information pertaining to the article of commerce is accessible via the communication network.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile phone further comprises an audio output device for producing audio signals to indicate to a user of the mobile phone whether or not the scanned UPC symbol is associated with an article of commerce for which information pertaining to the article of commerce is accessible via the communication network.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the look-up table further comprises hyperlinks enabling the communication interface to access information about the respective article of commerce from at least one web page via the communication network.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is configured to automatically receive periodic updates from the server for updating the look-up table.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the look-up table stored on the local database is configured to be accessed without immediate involvement by the communication interface.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the look-up table is further configured to store descriptions of the plurality of articles of commerce.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the look-up table is further configured to store advertisement content regarding the plurality of articles of commerce.

13. A method for indicating an existence of a link to information pertaining to an article of commerce, the method comprising:

downloading a look-up table from a server database via a communication network, wherein the look-up table is configured to store a plurality of Universal Product Code (UPC) numbers associated with a plurality of articles of commerce, the look-up table also storing a plurality of information link indicators, each information link indicator associated with a respective UPC number and article of commerce, and each information link indicator being configured as a status signal indicating the existence or absence of a link to information pertaining to a respective article of commerce, the link being made to the information via the communication network;

storing the downloaded look-up table in a local database associated with a mobile phone, wherein downloading and storing the look-up table is performed when the mobile phone is not being used for voice communication;

scanning a UPC symbol associated with an article of commerce using a scanner of the mobile phone;

decoding the UPC symbol to obtain a UPC number; and

looking up the UPC number in the look-up table stored in the local database to determine from a respective information link indicator whether or not information pertaining to the article of commerce associated with the UPC number is accessible via the communication network, wherein looking up the UPC number to determine whether or not the information is accessible is performed without accessing the communication network.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of producing visual signals to indicate to a user of the mobile phone whether or not the scanned UPC symbol is associated with an article of commerce for which information pertaining to the article of commerce is accessible via the communication network.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of producing audio signals to indicate to a user of the mobile phone whether or not the scanned UPC symbol is associated with an article of commerce for which information pertaining to the article of commerce is accessible via the communication network.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of automatically downloading periodic updates of the look-up table from the server database to the local database.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of automatically downloading the periodic updates precedes the step of looking up the UPC number in the look-up table.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the look-up table further comprises hyperlinks enabling access to information about the respective article of commerce from at least one web page via the communication network.

19. A mobile phone for indicating an existence of a link to information pertaining to an article of commerce, the mobile phone comprising:

a portable handheld housing;

a communication interface configured to communicate with a communication network;

an input device configured to receive identifying information pertaining to an article of commerce;

a processing device configured to determine the article of commerce based on the identifying information; and

a local database associated with the mobile phone, the local database configured to store data for use by the mobile phone;

wherein the communication interface is configured to download a look-up table from a server database and store the look-up table in the local database when the mobile phone is not being used for voice communication, the look-up table includes at least a plurality of Universal Product Code (UPC) numbers associated with a plurality of articles of commerce, the look-up table also stores a plurality of information link indicators, each information link indicator associated with a respective UPC number and article of commerce, and each information link indicator being configured as a status signal indicating the existence or absence of a link to information pertaining to a respective article of commerce, the link being made to the information via the communication network;

wherein the input device is configured to scan a UPC symbol from an article of commerce and decode the UPC symbol to obtain a UPC number;

wherein, in response to receiving the UPC number, the processing device is configured to look up the UPC number in the look-up table stored in the local database to determine from a respective information link indicator whether or not a link exists for accessing information pertaining to an article of commerce associated with the UPC number via the communication network, wherein the processing device determines whether or not the link exists without accessing the communication network.

20. The mobile phone of claim 19, wherein the communication network is the Internet.

21. The mobile phone of claim 19, wherein the local database comprises an internal memory device contained within the mobile phone.

22. The mobile phone of claim 19, wherein the local database comprises an external memory device removably connected to the mobile phone.

23. The mobile phone of claim 19, further comprising a visual output device for producing visual signals to indicate to a user of the mobile phone whether or not the scanned UPC symbol is associated with an article of commerce for which information pertaining to the article of commerce is accessible via the communication network.

24. The mobile phone of claim 19, further comprising an audio output device for producing audio signals to indicate to a user of the mobile phone whether or not the scanned UPC symbol is associated with an article of commerce for which information pertaining to the article of commerce is accessible via the communication network.

25. The mobile phone of claim 19, wherein the look-up table further comprises hyperlinks enabling the communication interface to access information about the respective article of commerce from at least one web page via the communication network.

26. The mobile phone of claim 19, wherein the look-up table stored on the local database is configured to be accessed without immediate involvement by the communication interface.

27. The mobile phone of claim 19, wherein the look-up table is further configured to store descriptions of the plurality of articles of commerce.

28. The mobile phone of claim 19, wherein the look-up table is further configured to store advertisement content regarding the plurality of articles of commerce.