Granted Patent B2

US 12,373,859 · App. 18/112,732 · Granted Jul 29, 2025

Inventors: Benjamin Duan-Porter (Eden Prairie, MN); Sarath Babu Raja Surya (Raleigh, NC); Phillip Monkowski (Apex, NC); Ping Cherng Lin (Durham, NC); John Wendler (Raleigh, NC)

Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, Inc.

G06Q30/0238G06Q20/202G06Q20/367G06Q20/3829G06Q20/389

Abstract

Claims (61)

1. A method, comprising:

sensing, by a point of sale (POS) device via a sensing device of the POS device, a container identifier disposed on a container during a checkout transaction at the POS device, wherein the container is configured to transport one or more items associated with the checkout transaction of the one or more items at the POS device;

wherein the POS device is communicatively coupled over a network to a blockchain network that includes network nodes that are collectively configured to operate a blockchain having blocks, with each block having a header and a body with one or more transaction entries, with the header having a reference to a previous block on the blockchain and a reference to the transaction entries of the current block on the blockchain;

wherein a blockchain reference for a cryptographic digital asset associated with the container is stored on the blockchain, wherein a blockchain transaction entry associated with the cryptographic digital asset includes a container identifier code and a user identifier code associated with the cryptographic digital asset, wherein the container identifier code is associated with the container identifier, wherein the user identifier code is also associated with a payment instrument applied to the checkout transaction;

obtaining, by the POS device, a user identifier associated with utilization of the container during the checkout transaction at the POS device;

sending, by the POS device, to a network node of the blockchain network over the network, a first indication that includes a request for a block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset, wherein the request includes the blockchain reference;

receiving, by the POS device from the network node over the network, a second indication that includes the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset;

obtaining, by the POS device, the container identifier code and the user identifier code associated with the cryptographic digital asset based on the obtained block data; and

verifying, by the POS device, ownership of the container by determining that the user identifier associated with the utilization of the container during the checkout transaction corresponds to the user identifier code obtained from the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the POS device, from the blockchain network node over the network, the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset responsive to the sending of the first indication including the request for the block data.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the POS device, the blockchain reference of the cryptographic digital asset.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the POS device, the user identifier associated with the cryptographic digital asset based on the user identifier code and a public key or a private key associated with the user identifier code.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the POS device, that the user identifier associated with the utilization of the container during the checkout transaction corresponds to the user identifier code obtained from the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the user identifier associated with the utilization of the container includes:

obtaining payment instrument information associated with the checkout transaction.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the obtaining the payment instrument information includes:

receiving, via the sensing device of the POS device, the payment instrument information.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the obtaining the payment instrument information includes:

sending, by the POS device, to a network node over the network, an indication that includes a request for the payment instrument information; and

receiving, by the POS device, from the network node over the network, the payment instrument information, with the network node being operable to obtain the payment instrument information from a digital wallet application of the network node.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining, by the POS device, transaction information associated with the checkout transaction; and

sending, by the POS device, to the blockchain network node over the network, a third indication that includes a request to register a new transaction on the blockchain responsive to determining that the user identifier associated with the utilization of the container during the checkout transaction corresponds to the user identifier code obtained from the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset, with the third indication including the container identifier code, the user identifier code, and the transaction information associated with the checkout transaction.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving, by the POS device, from the blockchain network node over the network, a fourth indication that includes an acknowledgement that the new transaction was registered on the blockchain.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein a network node that is communicatively coupled to the POS device over the network is enabled to determine a promotion specific to the utilization of the container based on the checkout transaction information obtained from the blockchain.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the user identifier associated with the utilization of the container during the checkout transaction corresponds to the user identifier code obtained from the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset, obtaining, by the POS device, a retail discount to apply to the one or more items during the checkout transaction based on transaction information associated with the checkout transaction.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the obtaining the retail discount includes:

obtaining, by the POS device, the transaction information associated with the checkout transaction;

sending, by the POS device, to a network node over the network, the transaction information so that the network node is enabled to determine the retail discount to apply to the one or more items during the checkout transaction at the POS device based on the transaction information associated with the checkout transaction; and

receiving, by the POS device, from the network node over the network, a fifth indication that includes the retail discount to apply to the one or more items during the checkout transaction by the POS device.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the container identifier code includes a cryptographic token and a public key, with a private key associated with the container identifier code being issued to a digital wallet account associated with the cryptographic digital asset.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user identifier code includes a cryptographic token and a public key, with a private key associated with the user identifier code being issued to a digital wallet account associated with the cryptographic digital asset.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the container is a reusable shopping bag composed of a non-plastic material.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user identifier associated with the utilization of the container is associated with a digital wallet associated with the payment instrument.

18. A point of sale (POS) device, comprising:

a sensing device;

a processing circuitry; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to:

sense, via the sensing device, a container identifier disposed on a container during a checkout transaction at the POS device, wherein the container is configured to transport one or more items associated with the checkout transaction of the one or more items at the POS device;

wherein the POS device is communicatively coupled over a network to a blockchain network that includes network nodes that are collectively configured to operate a blockchain having blocks, with each block having a header and a body with one or more transaction entries, with the header having a reference to a previous block on the blockchain and a reference to the transaction entries of the current block on the blockchain;

wherein a blockchain reference for a cryptographic digital asset associated with the container is stored on the blockchain, wherein a blockchain transaction entry associated with the cryptographic digital asset includes a container identifier code and a user identifier code associated with the cryptographic digital asset, wherein the container identifier code is associated with the container identifier, wherein the user identifier code is also associated with a payment instrument applied to the checkout transaction;

obtain a user identifier associated with utilization of the container during the checkout transaction at the POS device;

send, to a network node of the blockchain network over the network, a first indication that includes a request for block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset, wherein the request includes the blockchain reference;

receive, from the network node over the network, a second indication that includes the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset;

obtain the container identifier code and the user identifier code associated with the cryptographic digital asset from the obtained block data; and

verify ownership of the container by determining that the user identifier associated with the utilization of the container during the checkout transaction of one or more items by the POS device corresponds to the user identifier code obtained from the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset.

19. The POS device of claim 18 , wherein the memory includes further instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry:

receive, from the blockchain network node over the network, the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset responsive to the sending of the first indication including the request for the block data;

obtain, based on the received block data, the user identifier code associated with the cryptographic digital asset;

obtain the user identifier associated with the cryptographic digital asset based on the user identifier code and a public key or a private key associated with the user identifier code;

obtain a user identifier associated with the utilization of the container during the checkout transaction; and

determine that the user identifier associated with the utilization of the container during the checkout transaction corresponds to the user identifier code obtained from the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset.

20. The POS device of claim 19 , wherein the memory includes further instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, further cause the processing circuitry is to:

obtain transaction information associated with the checkout transaction; and

send, to the blockchain network node over the network, a third indication that includes a request to register a new transaction on the blockchain responsive to determining that the user identifier associated with the utilization of the container during the checkout transaction corresponds to the user identifier code obtained from the block data associated with the cryptographic digital asset, with the third indication including the container identifier code, the user identifier code associated with the cryptographic digital asset, and transaction information associated with the checkout transaction.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (22)

Cited By (1)

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