# US 11,113,657 B2 · Method and system for physical asset tracking

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- Number: US 11,113,657 B2
- Document ID: US11113657B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/127,244
- Filed: 2020-12-18
- Published: 2021-06-24
- Granted: 2021-09-07
- Earliest claimed: 2019-12-19
- Assignees: Lob.com, Inc.
- Applicants: Lob.com, Inc.
- Inventors: Leore Avidar; Ami Wang; Manushika Yapa
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11113657B2

## CPC

- G06Q 10/0833: Tracking
- G06F 3/12: Digital output to print unit {, e.g. line printer, chain printer}
- G06K 7/1413: {1D bar codes}
- G06K 19/06028: {using bar codes}
- G06Q 30/04: Billing or invoicing
- G06K 19/06112: {the marking being simulated using a light source, e.g. a barcode shown on a display or a laser beam with time-varying intensity profile}
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS

## 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

### Claim 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.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

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

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

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

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

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.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

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.

### Claim 7 (depends on 2)

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

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

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.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

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.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

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

### Claim 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.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

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

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

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.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

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

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

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.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

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.