IP Library Granted Patent US 10,699,090
Granted Patent B2
US 10,699,090 · App. 16/171,620 · Granted Jun 30, 2020

Using dynamic occlusion to protect against capturing barcodes for fraudulent use on mobile devices

Inventors: Robert J. Burke (Dallas, TX); Brian Alexander Reinhart (Addison, TX)
Assignee: Koupon Media, Inc.
G06K7/1491G06F21/36G06K7/10732G06K7/1413G06K7/1465G06K7/1473G06K19/06028G06K19/06112G06Q30/0207G06F2221/2137
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,699,090
App. No.
16/171,620
Granted
Jun 30, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

Embodiments include technologies for applying dynamic occlusions to barcodes, which include determining a dynamic occlusion to be applied to a barcode, generating an object for displaying a series of images of the barcode with the dynamic occlusion, where the barcode is to be scannable at least once based on the series of images to be displayed, and providing the object for access by the mobile device. In specific embodiments, the dynamic occlusion includes a modification to a first portion of the barcode to create a first image of a modified barcode. In further specific embodiments, the object, when displayed for a first time period, is to render the first image of the modified barcode for at least a first interval occurring within the first time period. The first portion of the barcode is unscannable during the first interval and is at least partially scannable during one or more other intervals.

Claims (34)

1. At least one machine readable medium including code that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations to:

determine a dynamic occlusion to be applied to a barcode;

generate an object for displaying a series of images of the barcode with the dynamic occlusion, the barcode to be scannable at least once based on the series of images to be displayed, wherein the dynamic occlusion includes a modification to a first portion of the barcode to create a first image of a modified barcode, wherein the object, when displayed for a first time period, is to render the first image of the modified barcode for at least a first interval occurring within the first time period, wherein the first image of the modified barcode is to include an opaque layer masking a complete image of the barcode, and wherein the object is to further render a second image of the series of images with the opaque layer removed to expose the complete image of the barcode for a second interval occurring within the first time period; and

provide the object for access by a mobile device.

2. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the barcode is unscannable during the first interval, and wherein the first portion of the barcode is at least partially scannable during one or more other intervals of the first time period.

3. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the first time period is equivalent to a duration of displaying one iteration of the series of images.

4. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the first image of the modified barcode includes an opaque layer masking the first portion of the barcode.

5. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 4 , wherein the object, when displayed for the first time period, is to render the series of images to show the opaque layer being shifted to mask successive portions of the barcode during successive intervals, respectively, of the first time period.

6. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 4 , wherein during a second interval of the first time period, the object is to render a second image of the series of images including a second opaque layer masking a second portion of the barcode and the opaque layer removed to expose the first portion of the barcode.

7. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 6 , wherein the first portion of the barcode includes a first half of the barcode and the second portion of the barcode includes a second half of the barcode.

8. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the second interval is not more than one-tenth of one second.

9. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the first portion is at least one of a start indicator of the barcode and a stop indicator of the barcode.

10. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the series of images, when displayed for a first time period, is to render an animation of the barcode with the dynamic occlusion.

11. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the object is an animated graphics interchange format (GIF) file.

12. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein providing the object for access by the mobile device is to:

provide the object in one of a mobile coupon channel or a landing page.

13. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein providing the object for access by the mobile device is to include:

sending the object to a mobile application on the mobile device or to a mobile web application in a website.

14. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein determining the dynamic occlusion is to include:

selecting the dynamic occlusion from a plurality of dynamic occlusions.

15. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic occlusion is selected based, at least in part, on a policy.

16. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic occlusion is selected based, at least in part, on a type of the barcode.

17. A method, comprising:

determining a dynamic occlusion to be applied to a barcode;

generating an object for displaying a series of images of the barcode with the dynamic occlusion, the barcode to be scannable at least once based on the series of images to be displayed; and

providing the object for access by a mobile device, wherein a complete image of the barcode is not displayed on the mobile device during a period of time in which the object is being displayed.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the dynamic occlusion includes a modification to a first portion of the barcode to create a first image of a modified barcode, and wherein the modification includes an opaque layer sized to mask the first portion of the barcode.

19. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory element for storing instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory element, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:

determine a dynamic occlusion to be applied to a barcode;

generate an object for displaying a series of images of the barcode with the dynamic occlusion, the barcode to be scannable at least once based on the series of images to be displayed; and

provide the object for access by a mobile device, wherein a complete image of the barcode is not displayed on the mobile device during a period of time in which the object is being displayed.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the dynamic occlusion includes a modification to a first portion of the barcode to create a first image of a modified barcode, wherein the object, when displayed for a first time period, is to render the first image of the modified barcode for a first interval occurring within the first time period.

Assignments (6)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 15, 2025
From: KOUPON MEDIA, INC.
To: PDI TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 072029/0706 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 20, 2024
From: EXCENTUS CORPORATION; KOUPON MEDIA, INC.; NATIONAL PAYMENT CARD ASSOCIATION; SKUPOS, INC.
To: GOLUB CAPITAL MARKETS LLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 066499/0957 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 15, 2024
From: ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION
To: KOUPON MEDIA INC.
Reel/Frame 066466/0692 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 14, 2024
From: BARINGS FINANCE LLC
To: KOUPON MEDIA INC.
Reel/Frame 066461/0889 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 11, 2022
From: KOUPON MEDIA INC.
To: BARINGS FINANCE LLC, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 058653/0347 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jan 10, 2022
From: KOUPON MEDIA INC.
To: ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 058594/0802 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 15491751 · Apr 19, 2017
Provisional Application 62429666 · Dec 2, 2016
Related Publication 20190065803A1 · Feb 28, 2019