IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,113,657
Granted Patent B2
US 11,113,657 · App. 17/127,244 · Granted Sep 7, 2021

Method and system for physical asset tracking

Inventors: Leore Avidar (San Francisco, CA); Ami Wang (San Francisco, CA); Manushika Yapa (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: Lob.com, Inc.
G06Q10/0833G06F3/12G06K7/1413G06K19/06028G06Q30/04
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,113,657
App. No.
17/127,244
Granted
Sep 7, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for tracking physical assets can include: receiving a digital asset; determining an asset identifier for the digital asset; generating an asset barcode; optionally facilitating printing and sending of the asset to an asset recipient; determining an asset event for the asset; and notifying a sender of an asset event.

Claims (32)

1. A method for tracking an asset, comprising:

receiving a digital version of the asset associated with a sender;

determining an asset identifier for the asset;

generating an asset barcode based on the asset identifier;

transmitting the digital version to a printer, wherein the printer prints the asset and the asset barcode;

determining a picked-up event for the asset, wherein the picked-up event represents asset pick-up from the printer by a delivery service, wherein the picked-up event is determined based on an invoice received from the delivery service, wherein the invoice comprises a first batch identifier and a pick-up timestamp, wherein the asset is associated with a second batch identifier, and wherein determining the picked-up event comprises associating the asset with the pick-up timestamp when the first batch identifier and the second batch identifier match; and

notifying the sender of the picked-up event.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining an asset event based on a scan of the asset barcode at a delivery service facility.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising, notifying the sender of the asset event based on notification preferences specified by the sender.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the asset event is a processed-for-delivery event.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a received-by-recipient event can be inferred based on a predetermined period after the processed-for-delivery event.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising, calculating a delivery speed for the asset based on the picked-up event and the processed-for-delivery event.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the asset event is a return-to-sender event.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sender is notified of the picked-up event using a push notification.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the asset is part of an order, wherein assets of the order are routed to multiple different printers, wherein the assets of the order are associated with different picked-up events.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein notifying the sender comprises sending the picked-up event to the sender.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sender is notified of the picked-up event after the sender subscribes to a webhook associated with the picked-up event.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the picked-up event is determined after a first scan of the barcode at a delivery service facility.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the printer and the delivery service are third-party services.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital version of the asset is programmatically generated.

15. A system for tracking an asset, comprising a processing system configured to:

receive a digital version of the asset associated with a sender;

determine an asset identifier for the asset;

generate an asset barcode based on the asset identifier;

transmit the digital version to a printer, wherein the printer prints the asset and the asset barcode;

determine a picked-up event for the asset, wherein the picked-up event represents asset pick-up from the printer by a delivery service, wherein the picked-up event is determined based on an invoice received from the delivery service, wherein the invoice comprises a first batch identifier and a pick-up timestamp, and wherein the asset is associated with a second batch identifier, wherein determining the picked-up event comprises associating the asset with the pick-up timestamp when the first batch identifier and the second batch identifier match; and

notify the sender of the picked-up event.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the system asynchronously communicates an asset event associated with the asset to the sender.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the sender subscribes to a webhook associated with the asset, and wherein the processor further configured to search a database for information associated with the webhook, using elastic search.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the asset barcode is an IMB barcode.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine an asset event based on a scan of the asset barcode at a delivery service facility; and notify the sender of the asset event based on notification preferences specified by the sender.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a processed-for-delivery event based on a scan of the asset barcode at a delivery service facility; and infer a received-by-recipient event after a predetermined period from the processed-for-delivery event.

Assignments (2)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 5, 2023
From: LOB.COM, INC.
To: FIRST-CITIZENS BANK & TRUST COMPANY
Reel/Frame 064156/0614 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 24, 2021
From: AVIDAR, LEORE; WANG, AMI; YAPA, MANUSHIKA
To: LOB.COM, INC.
Reel/Frame 055387/0186 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62950388 · Dec 19, 2019
Related Publication 20210192442A1 · Jun 24, 2021
Cited By (3)
US 12,223,214 US 12,229,711 US 12,436,721