Patents Examined by Allen Chein
  • Patent number: 9953387
    Abstract: The invention provides various systems and methods for establishing an identity confidence scoring system. The method includes gathering identity information about the customers from physical locations and from remote locations. The method updates the identity profiles with the gathered identity information, and based on the gathered identity information, generates an identity confidence score associated with each identity profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: The Western Union Company
    Inventor: Matthew Leland Dill
  • Patent number: 9881288
    Abstract: This disclosure describes, in part, techniques for utilizing an enhanced user interface to create interactive layouts. For instance, a merchant device may present a user interface to a merchant, where the merchant can use the user interface to create a layout of a physical establishment. The merchant device can then receive inputs indicating respective locations of designated sections and objects within the physical establishment, and update the layout to include graphical elements corresponding to the designated sections and the objects at the respective locations. After creating the layout, the merchant device can send data corresponding to the layout to a payment service. The payment service can analyze the layout to determine locations within the physical establishment for placing designated sections and objects. Additionally, the payment service can send the merchant device messages that indicate the locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: Square, Inc.
    Inventors: Bruce Bell, Brian Partridge, Ghassan Abu-Ghaida, Alfred Bautista, Amar Dhingra, Kevin Yien
  • Patent number: 9785985
    Abstract: A computationally implemented system and method that is designed to, but is not limited to: electronically receiving user status information regarding a particular individual living being including living being identification associated with the particular individual living being to at least in part electronically generate, based at least in part upon the user status information, one or more selection menus electronically identifying at least in part one or more candidate ingestible products, the electronically generated one or more selection menus to be electronically outputted to provide, via electronically enabled input in response thereto, selection opportunity of the one or more candidate ingestible products subject to ingestion by the particular individual living being prior to selection of at least one candidate ingestible product as at least one selected ingestible products via the electronically enabled input in response to the electronically outputted one or more selection menus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: Elwha LLC
    Inventors: Paul Holman, Royce A. Levien, Mark A. Malamud, Neal Stephenson, Christopher Charles Young
  • Patent number: 9785930
    Abstract: A payment terminal may receive a request to process electronic payment information from a chip card in an expedited processing mode. The payment terminal may provide an opt-in request. If a user accepts, the payment terminal may receive a request for payment and request an electronic payment response from the chip card. The payment terminal may receive the electronic payment response from the chip card and store it in memory at the payment terminal. The payment terminal may approve the payment transaction associated with the electronic payment response, allowing the chip card to be removed from the payment terminal. The payment terminal may process additional requests for payment and associate payment-type and time indicators with each electronic payment response. The payment terminal may transmit approval requests to one or more payment servers when the terminal determines they may be transmitted, and, for each request, receive a payment approval response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: Square, Inc.
    Inventors: David Terra, Koun Han, Michael Wells White
  • Patent number: 9767452
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer readable media for utilizing and provisioning an aggregated soft card are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a request for an aggregated soft card from a mobile device, wherein the aggregated soft card includes a primary component soft card and at least one secondary component soft card. The method also includes requesting component soft card data associated with each of the primary component soft card and the at least one secondary component soft card from a plurality of issuing system servers. The method further includes generating aggregated soft card data by establishing a link among the component soft card data received from the plurality of issuing system servers and sending the aggregated soft card data to the mobile device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Mohammad Khan, Pradeep Kumar, Dickey B. Singh, Philippe Martin
  • Patent number: 9704146
    Abstract: Method, systems, and apparatus for generating a storefront for a merchant, comprising: receiving a single indication to generate an online storefront for a point of sale system of the merchant, where the point of sale system includes inventory data of a plurality of items for sale; identifying the plurality of items for sale from the inventory data from point of sale system; and generating one or more resources for each item of the plurality of items for sale, where the one or more resources include details of the item, where the details are obtained from the inventory data, where the one or more resources are accessible from a web domain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2017
    Assignee: Square, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy Ben Morgan, Vanessa Erica Slavich, Brielle Alyse Rajkovich, Mathew Wilson
  • Patent number: 9659288
    Abstract: The present invention is generally a system and method for providing a measurement device with a point of sale (POS) receipt. In exemplary embodiments, a store such as a building supply store or hardware store, may implement POS devices configured to generate printed media that may be used by customers as a measuring tool. The measuring tool may comprise a printed sheet with measurement markings printed along a longitudinal border of the printed sheet adjacent to transactional information of a registered purchase, and or promotional information that may be relevant to the customer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Inventor: Timothy Wenzler
  • Patent number: 9607486
    Abstract: A computer-implemented process aiding a customer scan and rapid checkout process can include monitoring a shopping cart basket weight. The process includes monitoring, in a computerized processor installed to a shopping cart of a customer, a signal from a weight device configured to monitor the shopping cart basket weight. The process further includes automatically generating a basket weight output value based upon the shopping cart basket weight. The basket weight output value includes one of a check against an expected weight of an item from a database, a billing statement total for a bulk good, a check against an expected total order weight to confirm presence of an un-scanned item in the shopping cart basket, and a check against unsafe use of the shopping cart. The process further includes providing a message based upon the basket weight output value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: WAL-MART STORES, INC.
    Inventors: Joel Bennett Acker, Jr., Douglas James Pedley, Richard Neil Cancro
  • Patent number: 9576282
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for recovering a transaction cost in connection with a transaction between a customer and a merchant are provided. The transaction cost may be recovered from a transaction that originates at a merchant location associated with a merchant category code. The transaction cost may be recovered from a low-value purchase. A recovery amount associated with the low-value purchase may include a fixed amount. The recovery amount associated with the low-value purchase may include a percentage of the acceptance cost. The recovery amount may be shared among two or more transaction participant. The recovery amount may be dynamically adjusted. Methods and apparatus may include providing adequate notice of changes in the recovery amount. The transaction cost may be recovered utilizing central control over network of merchant locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: Bank of America Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew D. Murphy, Scott A. Weigman
  • Patent number: 9576280
    Abstract: A method and system for making electronic payments is disclosed herein. The method for making a payment for items being purchased by a customer at a point of sale comprises acquiring and sending a payment pending notification comprising an account number of the customer and a first terminal identification number to a host system. A payment request comprising a total cost of the items, a second terminal identification number, and a control bank card number is then acquired and sent to the host system. The host system associates the customer's account in the host system with the purchase by correlating the first terminal identification number with the second terminal identification number. A payment decision using information in the customer's account is made with the host system and is sent to the point of sale, where the transaction is closed. A system configured to perform the method is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: SELEUCID, LLC
    Inventors: Edward Craig, Premal V Patel, Rebecca Burch
  • Patent number: 9552615
    Abstract: In various embodiments, systems, methods, and techniques are disclosed for analyzing various entity data items including users, computing devices, and IP addresses, to detect malfeasance. The data and/or database items may be automatically analyzed to detect malfeasance, such as criminal activity to disguise the origins of illegal activities. Various money laundering indicators or rules may be applied to the entity data items to determine a likelihood that money laundering is occurring. Further, the system may determine one or more scores (and/or metascores) for each entity data item that may be indicative of a likelihood that it is involved in money laundering. Scores/metascores may be determined based on, for example, various money laundering scoring criteria and/or strategies. Account entities may be ranked based on their associated scores/metascores. Various embodiments may enable an analyst to discover various insights related to money laundering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC.
    Inventors: Shivam Mathura, Lucas Lemanowicz, Tim Vergenz
  • Patent number: 9471921
    Abstract: A method to authorize a mobile payment for a transaction. The method includes receiving a facial image of a consumer who requests the mobile payment for the transaction using account information stored in a mobile device of the consumer, wherein the facial image is provided by a point-of-sale (POS) device while initiating the transaction on behalf of the consumer, receiving a verified facial image of an account holder, comparing the facial image of the consumer and the verified facial image of the account holder based on a pre-determined criterion to verify the consumer as the account holder, generating, in response to verifying the consumer as the account holder, an authorization of the mobile payment based on the account information, and sending the authorization to the POS device to complete the transaction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: Intuit Inc.
    Inventors: Christian G. Dalit, Colin J. Roper
  • Patent number: 9436939
    Abstract: A merchant point-of-sale terminal may include a local merchant file having a list of preferred AIDs (application identifiers) determined by the merchant and used to select the payment vehicle used to conduct a transaction with a smart card. The list of preferred AIDs may be used in a priority established by the merchant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: FIRST DATA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Vijay K. Royyuru, Dennis Ciaran O'Hegarty
  • Patent number: 9418413
    Abstract: A system, a non-transitory computer program product and a method for selecting an inspection recipe, the method includes: (i) obtaining an image of a structural element of the semiconductor device; (ii) calculating multiple types of distances between the image of the structural element and each of a plurality of reference images obtained by applying a plurality of inspection recipes; and (iii) automatically selecting at least one selected inspection recipe out of the plurality of inspection recipes based on values of the multiple types of distances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: CAMTEK LTD.
    Inventors: Shimon Koren, Or Shur
  • Patent number: 9418360
    Abstract: The present invention includes systems and methods for operating a fan kiosk. A graphical user interface at a kiosk provides a user with an option to select a player. One or more displays at the kiosk display one or more life-size representations and one or more sponsor identifiers of one or more sponsors of the selected player. The kiosk also uses information from a database to generate the displays. The kiosk can provide an image of the selected player superimposed on an image of the user. The kiosk saves user information and synchronizes saved data with the database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: PROSPORTS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: John E. Cronin, Nick Reasner
  • Patent number: 9384492
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for monitoring product purchasing activity on a network are described. In some examples, processing of network traffic in a network is performed. Web content is extracted from the network traffic at a node in the network. A statistical analysis of the web content is performed to detect product purchasing activity. Product attributes associated with the product purchasing activity are extracted. The product attributes are stored in a log implemented in a memory on the network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: Symantec Corporation
    Inventors: Keith Newstadt, Shaun Cooley
  • Patent number: 9358894
    Abstract: Methods and systems for reconciling a charging event are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method establishes an identity tag at a grid connection point that uniquely identifies the point and receives tag information to uniquely identify the point at a mobile charging device. The method monitors charge event information indicating attributes of the charging event, associates event information with the identity tag information, and sends the information for reconciliation of billing accounts associated with the point and the mobile device. In another embodiment, a method receives an energy storage device for powering a mobile asset, couples the storage device to an electric grid during a connection event, realizes energy services from the connected storage device to the grid, determines a quantity of energy services realized by the storage device during the connection event, and reports the quantity of energy services realized and a unique identifier of the energy storage device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: THE AES CORPORATION
    Inventors: John Christopher Shelton, John Michael Zahurancik
  • Patent number: 9299094
    Abstract: Some embodiments of a system and a method to verify compliance in a disconnected system have been presented. For instance, a provider server can collect system management server state hashes from a set of computer systems in transactions not directly related to billing between the provider server and the computer systems. The computer systems may be coupled to a system management server that is within an internal network of a customer. The provider server can verify compliance information submitted by the customer using the system management server state hashes collected without communicating with the system management server in the internal network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: Red Hat Inc.
    Inventors: Jan Pazdziora, Tomá{hacek over (s)} Mráz
  • Patent number: 9275361
    Abstract: A weight sensing system for retail shelves includes multiple shelves having an electrical communication and power distribution system, and weight sensors located on the top surfaces of the shelves and coupled to the electrical communication and power distribution system for detecting the placement of retail products on the shelves. A controller monitors real-time at-the-shelf inventory and issues alerts when a retail product becomes out-of-stock, is anticipated to become out-of-stock, or is misplaced on a shelf. Collection of real-time inventory data enables comprehensive inventory control at the shelf and in storage areas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: Tagnetics, Inc.
    Inventor: Matthew Meyer
  • Patent number: 9262756
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for adjusting a transaction cost and/or a transaction cost recovery amount. The adjusting may be based on a comparison of historical usage of a first payment instrument relative to use of a second payment instrument. Usage of the first or second payment instruments may be correlated to imposition of the transaction cost recovery amount. The adjusting may be based on determining a convenience fee and/or a transaction cost recovery amount for a funds transfer. The adjusting may be based on identifying a purchasing behavior. The purchasing behavior may include terminated or reduced spending, relative to historical spending, at a location that imposes a transaction cost recovery amount. The purchasing behavior may include identifying current payment instrument use at a location that imposes a transaction cost recovery amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2016
    Assignee: Bank of America Corporation
    Inventor: Elbert Lee Whitler