Method and apparatus for fulfilling purchases

• US 8,732,020 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2007
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: White, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Danneman, Paul
• Application Number:
  US11/692,714
• Publication Number:
  US 20080242357A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,610 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A method and apparatus for fulfilling purchases is disclosed. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure can include, for example, a portable communication device having a controller element that receives from an online system a barcode image as an object of acknowledgment of a product purchased from said online system, and presents on a display of the portable communication device said barcode image to complete a purchase fulfillment process by way of at least one among a visual inspection of the barcode image by a merchant employee and processing of said barcode image by a point of sale (POS) device. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A portable communication device, comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a controller coupled to the memory, wherein execution of the instructions, causes the controller to perform operations comprising;

receiving from an online system an object of acknowledgment corresponding to a product previously purchased from the online system, wherein presentation of the object of acknowledgment to a point of sale device of a merchant completes a purchase fulfillment process for the product previously purchased from the online system, thereby prompting the merchant to initiate delivery of the product previously purchased from the online system, wherein the online system transmits the object of acknowledgment to the portable communication device responsive to associating the portable communication device with the product previously purchased from the online system, determines a communication capability of the portable communication device, determines a communication capability of the point of sale device, and selects a format for the object of acknowledgment that conforms to the communication capability of the portable communication device and the communication capability of the point of sale device, wherein the object of acknowledgement further comprises a digital rights management policy that prevents sharing of the object of acknowledgement and that causes the object of acknowledgement to be deleted according to an expiration date;

presenting on a display of the portable communication device the object of acknowledgment as an image, wherein the image is a barcode image, and wherein the barcode image is presented on the display when the portable communication device is selectively activated to present the barcode image in order to complete the purchase fulfillment process by way of processing of the barcode image by the point of sale device;

presenting the object of acknowledgement to the point of sale device as an audio message to complete the purchase fulfillment process when the portable communication device is selectively activated to present the audio message, wherein the audio message is a modulated audio signal that is not audibly intelligible to maintain the audio message presented to the point of sale device private;

transmitting over a communications interface the object of acknowledgement to the point of sale device as an encrypted message to complete the purchase fulfillment process when the portable communication device is selectively activated to present the encrypted message; and

receiving a notification from the point of sale device indicating that the product previously purchased cannot be delivered due to an authentication failure.

2. The portable communication device of claim 1, wherein the object of acknowledgment further comprises artwork associated with the merchant or the product previously purchased.

3. The portable communication device of claim 1, wherein the barcode image corresponds to a receipt of purchase.

4. The portable communication device of claim 1, wherein the point of sale device comprises a scanner, and wherein the point of sale device scans the barcode image to complete the purchase fulfillment process.

5. The portable communication device of claim 1, wherein the product previously purchased corresponds to a good or service.

6. The portable communication device of claim 1, wherein the object of acknowledgment further comprises a security feature, and wherein the point of sale device analyzes the security feature to authenticate the object of acknowledgement.

7. The portable communication device of claim 6, wherein the security feature comprises one of a password or the encrypted message.

8. The portable communication device of claim 1, comprising a transmitter that transmits the encrypted message to the point of sale device to complete the purchase fulfillment process.

9. The portable communication device of claim 1, wherein the communications interface comprises a universal serial bus cable to deliver the encrypted message to the point of sale device.

10. The portable communication device of claim 1, wherein the communications interface operates according to an 802 protocol defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

11. The portable communication device of claim 1, wherein the point of sale device comprises one of a wireless fidelity receiver or a radio frequency identification receiver for receiving the encrypted message.

12. The portable communication device of claim 1, comprising a receiver that receives from the online system a wireless message corresponding to the object of acknowledgment.

13. The portable communication device of claim 12, wherein the wireless message corresponds to one of a multimedia message service message or a short message service message.

14. A point of sale device, comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a controller coupled to the memory, wherein execution of the instructions causes the controller to perform operations comprising;

receiving an object of acknowledgment from a portable communication device, wherein the portable communication device receives the object of acknowledgment from an online system responsive to a previous purchase of a product from the online system, wherein the online system is adapted to determine a presentation capability of the portable communication device and select a format for the object of acknowledgment that conforms to a presentation capability of the portable communication device prior to transmitting the object of acknowledgment to the portable communication device, wherein the object of acknowledgement further comprises a digital rights management policy that prevents the portable communication device from sharing the object of acknowledgement with a second portable communication device and that causes the object of acknowledgement to be deleted from the portable communication device according to an expiration date; and

completing a purchase fulfillment process associated with the product according to the object of acknowledgment, thereby prompting a delivery of the product purchased from the online system at a location of the point of sale device, wherein the point of sale device completes the purchase fulfillment process using one of an image scanner when the portable communication device presents an image as the object of acknowledgment, an audio receiver when the portable communication device presents an audio message as the object of acknowledgement, or a receiver when the portable communication device transmits an encrypted message, and wherein the audio message is unintelligible.

15. The point of sale device of claim 14, wherein the image comprises a receipt of purchase, and wherein the audio message is a modulated audio signal that is not audibly intelligible to maintain the audio message presented to the point of sale device private.

16. The point of sale device of claim 14, comprising the image scanner.

17. The point of sale device of claim 14, comprising the receiver.

18. The point of sale device of claim 17, wherein the receiver comprises one of a radio frequency identification reader, or a wireless fidelity access point.

19. The point of sale device of claim 14, wherein the point of sale device is coupled to the portable communication device with a universal serial bus cable to enable an exchange of the encrypted message.

20. An online system, comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a controller coupled to the memory, wherein execution of the instructions causes the controller to perform operations comprising;

detecting a previous product purchase initiated by a portable communication device;

determining a presentation capability of the portable communication device;

selecting a format for an object of acknowledgment that conforms to a presentation capability of the portable communication device; and

transmitting the object of acknowledgment to the portable communication device to enable the portable communication device to complete a purchase fulfillment process and to enable delivery of the previously purchased product at a location where the purchase fulfillment process is completed, wherein the object of acknowledgment comprises an unintelligible audio message, wherein the object of acknowledgement further comprises a digital rights management policy that prevents sharing of the object of acknowledgement with another device and that causes the object of acknowledgement to be deleted according to an expiration date.

21. The online system of claim 20, wherein the portable communication device presents by way of a display the object of acknowledgment to a point of sale device of a merchant to complete the purchase fulfillment process, thereby prompting the merchant to deliver the previously purchased product.

22. The online system of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise modifying the object of acknowledgment distributed to the portable communication device responsive to receiving a request from a merchant device.

23. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a device comprising a processor, an object of acknowledgment responsive to a previous purchase of a product from an online system, wherein the object of acknowledgement further comprises a digital rights management policy that prevents sharing of the object of acknowledgement with another device and that causes the object of acknowledgement to be deleted according to an expiration date; and

presenting, by the device, the object of acknowledgment to a merchant device to complete a purchase fulfillment process, thereby enabling delivery of the product at a location of the merchant device.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the online system transmits the object of acknowledgment responsive to determining a presentation capability of the device and selecting a format for the object of acknowledgment that conforms to a presentation capability of the device prior to transmitting the object of acknowledgment to the device.

25. The method of claim 24, comprising establishing a fee agreement by way of equipment of the online system.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the merchant device comprises a point of sale device that communicates with the device to complete the purchase fulfillment process.