Bizarre Patents
A helium-filled sun shade for protecting individuals engaged in outdoor activities.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7708200 | Fraud risk advisor A fraudulent business transaction application (FBTA) is provided for monitoring application based fraud. When a consumer supplies account access information in order to carry out an Internet business transaction, the FBTA uses an online fraud mitigation engine to de... | 05/04/2010 |
| 7708201 | System and method for verifying the authenticity of a check and authorizing payment thereof A system and method for verifying the authenticity and payment of a bank check at any of a plurality of banks or check cashing sites, wherein a payor or issuing site determines a first set of data including account and individualized payee data, which is communicate... | 05/04/2010 |
| 7699221 | Systems and methods for performing a simplified risk assessment Systems and methods for performing a simplified risk assessment are provided. A historical transaction value for past transactions associated with related promissory payments is maintained. A request is received from a merchant to determine authorization of a financ... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7694879 | Remote controller with hands-free function for portable terminal Disclosed is a remote controller for a portable terminal which can perform a hands-free function and control the channel selection and the volume of the portable terminal for watching television (TV) and moving pictures. The remote controller with a hands-free funct... | 04/13/2010 |
| 7694878 | RFID checkout system with tags A radio frequency identification (RFID) checkout system includes a reader, a first RFID tag, and a second RFID tag. The first tag is configured to be attached to an item selected to not be read by the reader, and the second tag is configured to be attached to an ite... | 04/13/2010 |
| 7686218 | System and method for exchanging loyalty points for acquisitions Systems and methods are provided for facilitating an acquisition from a merchant, whereby payment for the acquisition is made at least partially through automated redemption of loyalty points from a loyalty account. In particular, information is received at a loyalt... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7686216 | Method and apparatus for uniquely associating a bar code reading terminal to a cash register in a retail store network There is provided herein an encoded information reading terminal such as may be provided for by a bar code reading terminal for operation in a network such as a retail store network that is configured in one embodiment to automatically enter a unique association mod... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7686217 | Retail environment A retail store has responsive environment apparatus installed which is controlled by processing apparatus. Trigger event sensors coupled to the processing apparatus, are positioned throughout the store. When customers enter and move about the store, the processing a... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7681790 | Computer supported retail shopping systems and methods A computer assisted shopping system includes a hand-held scanner for customer scanning of information associated with a product in a retailing facility and a networked system. The networked system stores customer delivery preference information and downloads informa... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7677451 | Reducing incident infrared radiation received by one or more infrared detectors in a self checkout point of sale system A self checkout POS system including a security zone; an emitting tower including one or more infrared emitters; a detecting tower including one or more infrared detectors, the detecting tower located on a side of the security zone opposite the side on which the emi... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7677450 | Control system for cashless transactions at metered vending output devices A local area network has a first node to receive an input in the form of account identification data, and a second node to receive this input from the first node via a transport layer protocol. A vending control device connected to the second node includes a relay t... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7673796 | System and method for providing remote site intervention support for self-checkout stations A system and method enables intervention events occurring at a self-checkout station at a retail site to be addressed by an operator located at a remote site distant from the retail site. The system includes a checkout station located at a retail site, a video camer... | 03/09/2010 |
| 7673797 | Personalization of self-checkout security A method is provided for personalizing security conditions for each customer using a self-service checkout terminal to conduct a transaction on the terminal. A trust level is assigned to each customer based on a selection of factors, which may include personal infor... | 03/09/2010 |
| 7669761 | Sales shop system Conventionally, to acquire specific information of a customer, acquisition of the information is only possible by using information such as a bank account number owned by the customer, and further it is not possible to present information beneficial to the customer ... | 03/02/2010 |
| 7669762 | Method and apparatus for ordering goods, services and content over an internetwork A billing system that allows a consumer to order products from computers connected to the Internet, wherein the consumer is automatically billed for the ordered good or service by its telephone service provider. When a consumer orders a product over the Internet, a ... | 03/02/2010 |
| 7665660 | Real-time awards determinations The present invention provides systems and methods for facilitating transactions with real-time awards determinations for a cardholder. Each transaction includes transaction information, where the transaction information includes: cardholder information, merchant in... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7654452 | Self-service electronic toll collection unit and system A self-service vending unit allows a potential user of a toll transponder to buy the transponder without having to visit a customer-service facility. The vending unit automatically accepts payment, such as cash or a credit or debit card, and issues the transponder w... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7654453 | Merchandise registration processing system When obtaining an ID code from a user who holds out an arm to a corresponding merchandise in a noncontact manner, respective information terminal devices accept a registration input of the corresponding merchandise. When accepting the registration input of the corre... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7651026 | Article information display system and electronic shelf label A fingerprint detecting portion which detects a fingerprint, which is a physical characteristic inherent to an individual, is provided on an electronic shelf label. A display control device has a customer database in which fingerprint data items of respective custom... | 01/26/2010 |
| 7648067 | POS system, input/output control apparatus for use in a POS system, and method A POS system and method having a POS terminal, at least one input device for providing input data such as product sale information to said POS terminal, a POS server to enable the POS terminal to complete a POS transaction based upon such product sale information, a... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7648068 | Shopping cart system with automatic shopping item total calculator A shopping cart system includes a shopping cart. The shopping cart includes a receptacle to hold shopping items bearing coded data tags. A scanning device is mounted to the shopping receptacle and is configured to scan the data tags of the shopping items to thereby ... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7648066 | Apparatus, system, and method for sorting purchase items An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for sorting purchase items. A selection module selects a plurality of categories. In one embodiment, the selection module receives a category selection. In addition, the selection module may receive a criterion selectio... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7648065 | Storage cabinet with improved RFID antenna system A system for reading RFID tags of articles within a cabinet includes a repositionable shelf. The repositionable shelf includes an antenna assembly having three antenna pairs. Each antenna pair has a loop antenna and a figure eight antenna. The antenna pairs are on a... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7644862 | Affiliate marketing system and method for retail stores A affiliate marketing system and method for retail stores involves assigning a unique retail store identifier to a retail store and presenting the unique retail store identifier and a website address in conjunction with a product offered for sale in the retail store... | 01/12/2010 |
| 7637428 | Apparatus and methods for enforcing purchase agreements Systems and methods are provided for establishing online a buyer price for a first plurality of products. In one embodiment, the buyer price is lower than a retail price of the first plurality of products, the first plurality of products to be picked up during a sub... | 12/29/2009 |
| 7637427 | Shared financial service systems and methods A computer system is configured to execute software, where the software may include a communication application capable of sending a communication from at least one party to a financial or accounting transaction. The software may also include an accounting control a... | 12/29/2009 |
| 7637426 | Method and system for finding an alternative grouping of selected items A method and system are provided for finding items for grouping items according to sorting characteristics. For example, a price comparison engine is described that obtains the original total purchase price for all items placed in the customer's shopping cart and co... | 12/29/2009 |
| 7631808 | Method and apparatus for detecting suspicious activity using video analysis A system detects a transaction outcome by obtaining video data associated with a transaction area and analyzing the video data to obtain at least one video transaction parameter concerning transactions associated with the transaction area. The transaction area can b... | 12/15/2009 |
| 7631807 | Transaction terminal including imaging module A transaction terminal includes a housing, a touch screen, a card reader, an imaging module, and a decode circuit coupled to the imaging module. The imaging module in one embodiment is disposed in the housing so that an imaging axis extends rearward of the housing. ... | 12/15/2009 |
| 7624923 | Providing directed content to anonymous customers A method includes electronically identifying a first item that a customer intends to purchase while the customer is shopping and electronically providing content to the customer in response to the identifying to entice the customer to purchase a second, different it... | 12/01/2009 |
| 7621446 | Convertible self-checkout system A convertible self-checkout system includes a base and a stand rotatably mounted to the base. The stand includes an input/output device facing in a first direction and a product scanner, and the stand is positionable relative to the base in at least a first angular ... | 11/24/2009 |
| 7617976 | Shopping receptacle for receiving interactive product items A shopping receptacle for receiving a product item. The product item comprises an interface surface a position-coding pattern containing coded data is printed on the interface surface. The coded data identifies a plurality of position coordinates on the interface su... | 11/17/2009 |
| 7614552 | Marketplace system that supports user-to-user sales via a definitive product catalog An electronic marketplace system embodies various inventions for assisting users in listing products for sale, locating the listings for a product, and performing related actions. A user wishing to sell a product can browse to an existing description of the product ... | 11/10/2009 |
| 7611054 | Mobile phone including wildcard data string A mobile phone with a data string including a wildcard value. The mobile phone includes a computer readable medium comprising code for storing a data string including a wildcard value, and a body. The mobile phone may be used in purchase transactions. ... | 11/03/2009 |
| 7607576 | Local zone security architecture for retail environments A security architecture for a retail environment providing both on-line and off-line personal identification number (PIN) validation for a smart card transaction using a reduced number of secure access modules (SAMs). In one embodiment, the retail environment includ... | 10/27/2009 |
| 7607577 | Method and system for analyzing inventory purchasing opportunities with respect to inventory health A method and system for determining analyzing an inventory purchasing opportunity with respect to inventory health. A method may include receiving an offer to purchase units of an inventory item via a purchasing channel for a purchase price per unit; determining a r... | 10/27/2009 |
| 7604167 | Active backscatter wireless display terminal A wireless display tag, adapted to fit within the C-channel of a shelf-edge, or otherwise usable as a hang tag or small identification device, includes, depending on implementation, an active transceiver, a passive transceiver, or both, with analog and digital contr... | 10/20/2009 |
| 7600681 | Low power wireless display tag systems and methods A low-power system for use with Wireless Display Tags (WDTs) includes, in one or more exemplary arrangements, various power management techniques, including receiver wake-up, RF logic sharing, RF repeaters and a frequency doubling power amplifier which operates on t... | 10/13/2009 |
| 7600682 | Marketplace system in which users generate preorder listings via a definitive product catalog An electronic marketplace system provides various features for assisting users in listing products for sale, locating the listings for a product, and performing related actions. A user wishing to sell a product can browse to an existing description of the product in... | 10/13/2009 |
| 7597255 | System and method for redeeming rewards and incentives A transaction card, including a substrate having a front face and a back face, a first magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a credit account, the first magnetic stripe being located along an edge of the back face, a second magnetic stripe for storing dat... | 10/06/2009 |
