System and method for managing the unlocking of an anti-theft device

A system for managing a transaction relating to the purchase of a commercial article and for unlocking an identification device of the commercial article to which the device is fixed, wherein the system comprises:

• an identification device of a commercial article which is a packaged or unpackaged physical object, the device comprising at least two elements which are displaceable with respect to one another between two positions, a locked position, in which said at least two elements imprison between them, in a locked manner under the action of locking means, the article or its packaging, and at least one unlocked position,
• at least one optical-reading code carried by the identification device and uniquely identifying the physical object to which the device is fixed, said at least one optical-reading code being associated with the commercial article by a commercial article code (EAN), said at least one optical-reading code being representative of a URL address of a site or of a Web page dedicated to the commercial article,
• a mobile communication apparatus which is able to read said at least one optical-reading code and to establish a connection to the URL address with a view to performing the on-line purchase of the object,
• an unlocking device for unlocking, with respect to one another, said at least two elements of the identification device and freeing the article or its packaging of said identification device,
• means for managing the operation of the unlocking device which are able to manage the operation of said unlocking device as a function of the identification or of the non-identification of the identification device-physical object association established during the on-line purchase,
• means for dissociating said at least one optical-reading code and said URL address which are able to be activated after the unlocking and the withdrawal of the identification device from the unlocking device.

A method for managing a transaction relating to the purchase of a commercial article and for unlocking an identification device of the commercial article to which the device is fixed, wherein, the identification device of a commercial article, which is a packaged or unpackaged physical object, comprising at least two elements which are displaceable with respect to one another between two positions, a locked position, in which said at least two elements imprison between them, in a locked manner under the action of locking means, the article or its packaging, and at least one unlocked position, the identification device bearing at least one optical-reading code uniquely identifying the physical object to which the device is fixed,

• the method comprises:
• the association between said at least one optical-reading code and a commercial article code (EAN) identifying the commercial article, said at least one optical-reading code being representative of a URL address of a site or of a Web page dedicated to the commercial article,
• the reading of said at least one optical-reading code and the establishing of a connection to the URL address with a view to performing the on-line purchase of the object,
• the management of the operation of a device for unlocking said at least two elements of the identification device as a function of the identification or of the non-identification of the identification device-physical object association established during the on-line purchase,
• the dissociation of said at least one optical-reading code and of said URL address after the unlocking and the withdrawal of the identification device from the unlocking device.