Communications terminal, communication control method and program

• US 7,328,002 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2005
• Issued: 02/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Goto, Yoshihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid; Lester G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HERRERA, DIEGO D
• Application Number:
  US11/117,969
• Publication Number:
  US 20050255835A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,012 Days
• Field of Search: 455/407
• US Class Current: 455/407
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/663 Preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set

Abstract

Wireless electronic payment of a cellular phone to a commercial company for commodities and/or services, received from the company, through the company'"'"'s register and a non-contact IC of the cellular phone is protected from being hindered by an incoming call or mail received by the cellular phone. To this end, an RF block of the cellular phone detects the incoming call or mail received externally over a communication line. The non-contact IC pays wirelessly and electronically for the commodities and/or services received from the company. If a CPU of the cellular phone is responsive to the RF block detecting the incoming call or mail when the non-contact IC is not performing the paying process for going to a telephone-call establishment process based on an off-hook operation in response to the incoming call. The CPU also automatically answers an external incoming call or mail when the non-contact IC is performing the paying process for producing a hold tone and sends it to the other party, thereby preventing going to a telephone-call establishment process for the incoming call.

Claims

1. A communications terminal comprising:

means for detecting at least one of an incoming call and an incoming email from an external party;

paying means for wirelessly and electronically performing a paying process to pay a commercial enterprise that has provided at least one of commodities and services to a user of the communications terminal, in accordance with a request from the commercial enterprise;

control means for;

(i) causing the communications terminal to execute a communication establishment process between the communications terminal and the external party, responsive to the detecting means detecting one of the incoming call and the incoming email from the external party when the paying means is not performing the paying process, and (ii) inhibiting the communications terminal from executing the communication establishment process, responsive to the detecting means detecting one of the incoming call and the incoming email when the paying means is performing the paying process;

a storage device that comprises a first storage area and a second storage area;

second control means for;

(i) storing, in the first storage area, receipt data corresponding to the paying process, which is received from the commercial enterprise in the paying process performed by the paying means, and (ii) for accumulatively storing, in the second storage area, payment data included in the receipt data when the receipt data is stored in the first storage area; and

data deleting means for deleting part of the receipt data stored in the first storage area in accordance with a first delete command and for deleting the payment data accumulatively stored in the second storage area in accordance with a second delete command.

2. The communications terminal of claim 1, wherein the data deleting means deletes receipt data corresponding to a specified time period.

3. The communications terminal of claim 1, wherein the data deleting means deletes receipt data corresponding to all commercial enterprises belonging to a specified commercial-enterprise.

4. The communications terminal of claim 1, wherein after the part of receipt data stored in the first storage area and the payment data accumulatively stored in the second storage area are deleted by the data deleting means, the second control means sums up, in accordance with a summation command, payments corresponding to receipt data stored in the first storage area that have not been deleted, and the second control means stores payment data representing the summed-up payments in the second storage area.

5. The communications terminal of claim 1, further comprising:

means for selecting a category of commercial enterprises from among categories of commercial enterprises from which the receipt data stored in the first storage area has been received; and

means for displaying on a display a summed-up payment representing a summed-up total of payments in the receipt data received from commercial enterprises in the specified category.

6. A communication control method comprising:

wirelessly and electronically performing a paying process using a communications terminal to pay a commercial enterprise that has provided at least one of commodities and services to a user of the communications terminal, in accordance with a request from the commercial enterprise;

detecting one of an incoming call and an incoming e-mail from an external party, and responsive to detecting one of the incoming call and the incoming e-mail;

(i)

when the paying process is not being performed, causing the communications terminal to execute a communication establishment process between the communications terminal and the external party, and (ii) when the paying process is being performed, inhibiting the communications terminal from executing the communication establishment process;

storing, in a first storage area of a storage device of the communications terminal, receipt data corresponding to the paying process, which is received from the commercial enterprise in the paying process;

accumulatively storing, in a second storage area of the storage device, payment data included in the receipt data when the receipt data is stored in the first storage area; and

deleting part of the receipt data stored in the first storage area in accordance with a first delete command, and deleting the payment data accumulatively stored in the second storage area in accordance with a second delete command.

7. A computer-readable storage medium having a program stored thereon that is executable by a CPU of a communications terminal, wherein the communications terminal comprises means for detecting one of an incoming call and an incoming e-mail from an external party and a storage device including a first storage area and a second storage area, said program being executable by the CPU to cause the CPU to perform functions comprising:

controlling the communication terminal to wirelessly and electronically perform a paying process to pay a commercial enterprise that has provided at least one of commodities and services to a user of the communications terminal, in accordance with a request from the commercial enterprise;

responsive to the detecting means detecting one of the incoming call and the incoming e-mail;

(i) when the paying process is not being performed, causing the communications terminal to execute a communication establishment process between the communications terminal and the external party, and (ii) when the paying process is being performed, inhibiting the communications terminal from executing the communication establishment process;

storing, in the first storage area of the storage device, receipt data corresponding to the paying process, which is received from the commercial enterprise in the paying process;

accumulatively storing, in the second storage area of the storage device, payment data included in the receipt data when the receipt data is stored in the first storage area; and

deleting part of the receipt data stored in the first storage area in accordance with a first delete command, and deleting the payment data accumulatively stored in the second storage area in accordance with a second delete command.