IP Library Granted Patent US 12,423,654
Granted Patent B1
US 12,423,654 · App. 18/588,291 · Granted Sep 23, 2025

Systems and methods for voice assisted goods delivery

Inventors: Julija Alegra Petkus (Oak Park, IL); Andrew David Schweinfurth (Chicago, IL); Stephen Elijah Zambo (Lake Villa, IL)
Assignee: WALGREEN CO.
G06Q10/10G06F16/81G06Q10/0833G06Q10/0836G06Q10/087G06Q30/0257G06Q30/0635G10L15/1815G10L15/22G06N20/00G10L2015/223
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,423,654
App. No.
18/588,291
Granted
Sep 23, 2025
Kind
B1
Abstract

The following relates generally to voice assisted delivery of goods. In some embodiments, a digital assistant receives audio data, and determines an intent from the audio data. The digital assistant may then match the determined intent to a flow of a set of flows, where the set of flows may include at least one of: (i) requesting curbside pickup of an item, (ii) requesting locker storage of the item, (iii) requesting an indication of locations that the item is available, (iv) requesting an indication of an inventory of a retail store, (v) requesting ads for an additional item that is related to the item, (vi) requesting a status of an order for the item, (vii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a retail store to a residence, or (viii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a warehouse to the residence. The matched flow of the set of flows may then be executed.

Claims (42)

1. A computer-implemented method for voice or text message assisted delivery of goods, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, with a digital assistant of a mobile device, digital data comprising audio data or text message data;

sending the digital data from the digital assistant to an audio analyzer, wherein the audio analyzer is remote from the digital assistant of the mobile device;

determining, with the audio analyzer, an intent from the digital data;

sending the determined intent from the audio analyzer to a merchant, wherein the audio analyzer sends only the determined intent to the merchant, and does not send the digital data to the merchant; and

executing, via the merchant, a flow corresponding to the determined intent, wherein the flow is included in a set of flows, and wherein the set of flows includes at least one of: (i) requesting curbside pickup of an item, (ii) requesting locker storage of the item, (iii) requesting an indication of locations that the item is available, (iv) requesting an indication of an inventory of a retail store, (v) requesting ads for an additional item that is related to the item, (vi) requesting a status of an order for the item, (vii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a retail store to a residence, or (viii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a warehouse to the residence.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the flow of the set of flows comprises:

using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file to access a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the executing the flow of the set of flows comprises:

deep linking to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein sending the determined intent from the audio analyzer to the merchant comprises sending the determined intent to an app of the merchant.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the set of flows includes all of: (i) requesting curbside pickup of an item, (ii) requesting locker storage of the item, (iii) requesting an indication of locations that the item is available, (iv) requesting an indication of an inventory of a retail store, (v) requesting ads for an additional item that is related to the item, (vi) requesting a status of an order for the item, (vii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a retail store to a residence, and (viii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a warehouse to the residence.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the intent is determined from words or phrases from the digital data.

7. A computer system for voice or text message assisted delivery of goods, the computer system comprising one or more processors configured to:

receive, with a digital assistant of a mobile device, digital data comprising audio data or text message data;

send the digital data from the digital assistant to an audio analyzer, wherein the audio analyzer is remote from the digital assistant of the mobile device;

determine, with the audio analyzer, an intent from the digital data;

send the determined intent from the audio analyzer to a merchant by sending only the determined intent to the merchant, and not sending the digital data to the merchant; and

execute, via the merchant, a flow corresponding to the determined intent, wherein the flow is included in a set of flows, and wherein the set of flows includes at least one of: (i) requesting curbside pickup of an item, (ii) requesting locker storage of the item, (iii) requesting an indication of locations that the item is available, (iv) requesting an indication of an inventory of a retail store, (v) requesting ads for an additional item that is related to the item, (vi) requesting a status of an order for the item, (vii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a retail store to a residence, or (viii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a warehouse to the residence.

8. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the flow of the set of flows by:

using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file to access a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

9. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the flow of the set of flows by:

deep linking to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

10. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the set of flows includes: (i) requesting curbside pickup of an item.

11. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the set of flows includes: (ii) requesting locker storage of the item.

12. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the set of flows includes: (vii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a retail store to a residence, and (viii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a warehouse to the residence.

13. The computer system of claim 12 , further comprising:

a drone; and

wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the flow by causing the drone to deliver the item from the retail store to the residence, or deliver the item from the warehouse to the residence.

14. A computer system for voice or text message assisted delivery of goods, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory program memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to:

receive, with a digital assistant of a mobile device, digital data comprising audio data or text message data;

send the digital data from the digital assistant to an audio analyzer, wherein the audio analyzer is remote from the digital assistant of the mobile device;

determine, with the audio analyzer, an intent from the digital data;

send the determined intent from the audio analyzer to a merchant by sending only the determined intent to the merchant, and not sending the digital data to the merchant; and

execute, via the merchant, a flow corresponding to the determined intent, wherein the flow is included in a set of flows, and wherein the set of flows includes at least one of: (i) requesting curbside pickup of an item, (ii) requesting locker storage of the item, (iii) requesting an indication of locations that the item is available, (iv) requesting an indication of an inventory of a retail store, (v) requesting ads for an additional item that is related to the item, (vi) requesting a status of an order for the item, (vii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a retail store to a residence, or (viii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a warehouse to the residence.

15. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the executable instructions further cause the computer system to execute the flow of the set of flows by:

using an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file to access a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

16. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the executable instructions further cause the computer system to execute the flow of the set of flows by:

deep linking to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

17. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the set of flows includes all of: (i) requesting curbside pickup of an item, (ii) requesting locker storage of the item, (iii) requesting an indication of locations that the item is available, (iv) requesting an indication of an inventory of a retail store, (v) requesting ads for an additional item that is related to the item, (vi) requesting a status of an order for the item, (vii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a retail store to a residence, and (viii) requesting drone delivery of the item from a warehouse to the residence.

Assignments (2)
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 28, 2025
From: WALGREEN CO.
To: SIXTH STREET LENDING PARTNERS, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 072606/0878 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 28, 2025
From: WALGREEN CO.; DUANE READE; WALGREENS SPECIALTY PHARMACY LLC; WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 072679/0926 →
Continuity (1)
Continuation 17008546 · Aug 31, 2020
References Cited (35)
US 9711146B1 · Cronin · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 10277743B1 · Agarwal et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10532885B1 · Brady · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 10838954B1 · Santos et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20090037474A1 · Faulkner et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20140032223A1 · Powe · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140222436A1 · Binder et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150348551A1 · Gruber · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20160307449A1 · Gordon · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20170330215A1 · Bruno et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180067991A1 · Agarwal et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180253209A1 · Jaygarl et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180314552A1 · Kim et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180330723A1 · Acero et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180341643A1 · Alders et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190205468A1 · Barnes, Jr. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190251959A1 · Engles et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190272921A1 · Koll · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200075016A1 · Goldstein et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200312315A1 · Li et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200320365A1 · Arat et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20210065017A1 · Ramnani et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210248998A1 · Schairer et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210327572A1 · Sadhvani et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20220012018A1 · Trim et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20220157315A1 · Raux et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
“New Frontiers of Delivery Services Using Drones: A Prototype System Exploiting a Quadcopter for Autonomous Drug Shipments”. IEEE. 2015. (Year: 2015). [cited by examiner]
“Drone Mission Definition and Implementation for Automated Infrastructure Inspection Using Airborne Sensors”. IEEE. 2018. (Year: 2018). [cited by examiner]
“Multi-service Cloud of Drones for Multi-purpose Applications”. IEEE. 2018. (Year: 2028). [cited by examiner]
Anonymous, “Delete Alexa Voice Recordings Automatically”, Retrieved from the Internet: <https://web.archive.org/web/20200801024417/https://> www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?<http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/cu… [cited by applicant]
European Patent Application No. 21193878.2, Communication Pursuant to Article 93(3) EPC, dated Apr. 25, 2024. [cited by applicant]
European Patent Application No. 21193878.2, Extended European Search Report, dated Jan. 5, 2022. [cited by applicant]
European Patent Application No. 21193880.8, Communication Pursuant to Article 93(3) EPC, dated Apr. 11, 2024. [cited by applicant]
European Patent Application No. 21193880.8, Extended European Search Report, dated Jan. 28, 2022. [cited by applicant]
Vega et al., Towards a multi-screen interactive ad delivery platform, IEEE, 10 pp. (2017). [cited by applicant]