Supply-Chain Side Assistance

• US 20160314511A1
• Filed: 03/24/2016
• Published: 10/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Searete LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Jung, Edward K.Y., Levien, Royce A., Malamud, Mark A., Rinaldo, John D. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 10,445,799 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

An apparatus, device, method, computer program product, and system that identifies an item having a presence within a geographic locale in response to a signal indicative of the item, obtains a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source and obtaining a second instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second source; and aggregates the first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

identifying an item having a presence within a geographic locale in response to a signal indicative of the item;

obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source and obtaining a second instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second source; and

aggregating the first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying an item having a presence within a geographic locale includes identifying at least one of a product, a raw material, or a manufactured good having a presence within a geographic locale.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying an item having a presence within a geographic locale includes identifying an item having a presence within at least one of a distribution center premises, a retail store storage premises, or a warehouse premises.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying an item having a presence within a geographic locale includes identifying an item having a presence within a conveyance.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the identifying an item having a presence within a conveyance includes identifying an item having a presence within at least one of a seagoing vessel, a surface vehicle, or an aircraft.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source over a network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the obtaining a second instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second source includes obtaining a second instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second source over the network.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source over a network includes obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source over a network that includes at least one of a local area network, a wide area network, a private network, a public network, or the Internet.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source over a network includes obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source over a network that includes at least one of a private global computer network or a public global computer network.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source and obtaining a second instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second source includes obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first domain and obtaining a second instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second domain.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a second instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second source includes obtaining a second instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second source that is independent from the first source.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of information corresponding to a history of the item during a presence of the item in a supply chain.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a third party database.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a trade association.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a regulatory agency.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of a security interest information corresponding to the identified item from a first source.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of a commercial interest information corresponding to the identified item from a first source.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of a product recall information corresponding to the identified item from a first source.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of a sales promotion information corresponding to the identified item from a first source.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of a retail coupon information corresponding the item from a first source.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of a retail rebate information corresponding to the item from a first source.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of a grey market status information corresponding to the item from a first source.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of a stolen property status information corresponding to the item from a first source.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of information corresponding to at least another one of the item available for wholesale purchase from a first source.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of retail pricing information by at least one retailer and corresponding to the item from a first source.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of advertising campaign information corresponding to the item from a first source.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of retail merchandising information corresponding to the item from a first source.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of transportation information corresponding to the item is obtained from a first source.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of storage information corresponding to the item from a first source.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source includes obtaining a first instance of handling information corresponding to the item from a first source.

37. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregating the first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance includes aggregating the first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance into a user interface.

38. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregating the first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance includes translating the first supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item using a mutually agreed protocol.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the aggregating the first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance includes translating the second supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item using the mutually agreed protocol.

40. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregating the first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance includes translating the first supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first native data format.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the aggregating the first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance includes translating the second supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second native data format.

42. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling a supply-chain user to request at least one instance of supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item.

43. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

broadcasting the aggregated first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance.

44. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing the first supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item to be obtained from the first source and the second supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item to be obtained from the second source.

47. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the signal indicative of an item having a presence within a geographic locale; and

enabling a supply-chain user to request a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the item having a presence within a geographic locale.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the receiving a the signal indicative of an item having a presence within a geographic locale includes receiving a signal indicative of an optically readable product code associated with an item having a presence within a geographic locale.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein the receiving a the signal indicative of an item having a presence within a geographic locale includes receiving a signal indicative of an electronically transmitted product code associated with an item having a presence within a geographic locale.

52. The method of claim 1, further including:

broadcasting the aggregated supply-chain assistance.

13. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

17. (canceled)

19. (canceled)

21. (canceled)

23. (canceled)

45. (canceled)

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the requesting an information corresponding to the item over a computer network from at least two sources includes requesting an information corresponding to the item over a computer network from at least two sources over a global computer network.

50. (canceled)

51. (canceled)

53-58. -58. (canceled)

59. A system comprising:

a) a computing device operable to receive a signal indicative of an item having a presence within a geographic locale and to access a network; and

b) instructions that when executed on the computing device program the computing device for;

(i) identifying an item having a presence within a geographic locale in response to the signal indicative of the item;

(ii) obtaining a first instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a first source and obtain a second instance of a supply-chain assistance corresponding to the identified item from a second source; and

(iii) aggregating the first supply-chain assistance and the second supply-chain assistance.

60-65. -65. (canceled)