# US 9,750,239 B2 · Tracking system and method

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- Number: US 9,750,239 B2
- Document ID: US9750239B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/936,583
- Filed: 2015-11-09
- Published: 2016-03-03
- Granted: 2017-09-05
- Earliest claimed: 2013-05-14
- Assignees: Infestation Tracking Systems Pty. Ltd.
- Applicants: Infestation Tracking Systems Pty. Ltd.
- Inventors: Arron Vilinskis; Troy Awad
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9750239B2

## CPC

- A01M 31/002: {Detecting animals in a given area}
- A01M 1/026: {combined with devices for monitoring insect presence, e.g. termites (bait stations A01M1/2005; detecting other animals in a given area A01M31/002)}
- A01M 99/00: Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
- G06Q 10/10: Office automation; Time management
- G06Q 50/00: Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism (healthcare informatics G16H)
- A01M: CATCHING, TRAPPING OR SCARING OF ANIMALS (appliances for catching swarms or drone-catching A01K57/00; fishing A01K69/00 - {A01K99/00}; biocides, pest repellants or attractants A01N); APPARATUS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF NOXIOUS ANIMALS OR NOXIOUS PLANTS
- 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

## Abstract

Disclosed is a tracking system comprising: a data receiver arranged to: i) receive work data indicative of at least a location of an infestation or other item of interest from a data provider, and ii) receive property data indicative of an address or location from a client device; a module arranged to: i) update an existing record in a database according to the received work data upon determining the record corresponds to the location based on a geographical matching process, ii) create a new record in the database according to the received work data upon determining that no record corresponding to the location exists based on a geographical matching process, and iii) retrieve a record from the database corresponding to the location upon determining that the record corresponds to the address based on a geographical matching process; and a data transmitter arranged to transmit the retrieved record to the client device for output to a user. A tracking method is also disclosed.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An infestation tracking system comprising:
a data receiver arranged to: i) receive work data, including data indicative of a location and whether any pest was located, from a data provider logged in to the infestation tracking system, and ii) receive (a) property data related to properties of interest from users who have subscribed to an alert system, the property data of each property of interest indicative of an address or location of the property, and (b) contact information for the user associated with the property
a module arranged to upon receiving the work data: i) update an existing record in a database according to the received work data upon determining the record corresponds to the location based on a geographical matching process by including the received work data and automatically appending data provider data of the data provider based on the logged in account, ii) create a new record in the database according to the received work data upon determining that no record corresponding to the location exists based on a geographical matching process by including the received work data and automatically appending data provider data of the data provider based on the logged in account, and iii) responsive to receipt of the work data, determine whether any properties of interest are in a risk area corresponding to the updated record or the new record, based on a geographical matching process, and
a data transmitter arranged to, upon the module determining that one or more properties are in a risk area, transmit a notification based on the updated record or the new record to the respective user using the contact information for the user associated with the property, the notification including details of the data provider that entered the work data, wherein the details of the data provider include at least one of a phone number, fax number, email address, physical address and website address.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A tracking system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the geographical matching process compares a postcode in the record to a postcode in the work data or property data to determine whether the record corresponds to the work data or property data.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A tracking system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the geographical matching process compares a street name in the record to a street name in the work data or property data to determine whether the record corresponds to the work data or property data.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A tracking system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the geographical matching process compares an area based on the record to an area based on the work data or property data to determine whether the record corresponds to the work data or property data.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

A tracking system as claimed in claim 4 where the area is defined by a circle centered on the location or address and with a radius.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

A tracking system as claimed in claim 5 wherein the radius of the circle depends on the pest or species in question and characteristics of a known nest or infestation.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

A tracking system as claimed in claim 1 arranged to display advertisements on a screen of a client device.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

A tracking system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the displayed advertisement is an advertisement for the data provider.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

A tracking system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the data indicative of the location is derived from GPS data of a client device used to enter the work data.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

A tracking system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the module is configured to require the user to provide an artefact such as a reference number that can be verified against an invoice or inspection paperwork in order to have information maintained in the database.

### Claim 11

A tracking module arranged to:
respond to the receipt of work data, including data indicative of a location and whether any pest was located, from a data provider logged in to an infestation tracking system by:
updating an existing record in a database according to the received work data indicative of at least the location of an infestation or other item of interest upon determining the record corresponds to the location based on a geographical matching process by including the received work data and automatically appending data provider data of the data provider based on the logged in account,
creating a new record in the database according to the received work data upon determining that no record corresponding to the location exists based on a geographical matching process by including the received work data and automatically appending data provider data of the data provider based on the logged in account,
determine whether any properties of interest registered by users have subscribed to an alert system are in a risk area corresponding to the updated record or the new record, based on a geographical matching process, wherein the property data of each property of interest is indicative of an address or location of the property, and
upon determining that one or more properties are in a risk area, cause the transmission of a notification based on the updated record or the new record, the notification including details of the data provider that entered the work data, wherein the details of the data provider include at least one of a phone number, fax number, email address, physical address and website address.

### Claim 12

A tracking method comprising:
receiving at a tracking module work data indicative of at least the location a location and whether any pest was located from a data provider logged in to an infestation tracking system,
updating an existing record in a database according to the received work data upon determining the record corresponds to the location based on a geographical matching process by including the received work data and automatically appending data provider data of the data provider based on the logged in account,
creating a new record in the database according to the received work data upon determining that no record corresponding to the location exists based on a geographical matching process by including the received work data and automatically appending data provider data of the data provider based on the logged in account
receiving at the module property data related to properties of interest from users who have subscribed to an alert system, the property data of each property of interest indicative of an address of a property or location of the property, and the contact information for the user associated with the property,
responsive to receipt of the work data, determining at the module whether any properties of interest are in a risk area corresponding to the updated record or the new record,
upon the module determining that one or more properties are in a risk area, transmit a notification based on the updated record or the new record to the respective user using the contact information for the user associated with the property, the notification including details of the data provider that entered the work data, wherein the details of the data provider include at least one of a phone number, fax number, email address, physical address and website address.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

A tracking method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the geographical matching process compares a street name in the record to a street name in the work data or property data to determine whether the record corresponds to the work data or property data.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

A tracking method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the geographical matching process compares an area based on the record to an area based on the work data or property data to determine whether the record corresponds to the work data or property data.

### Claim 15 (depends on 12)

A tracking method as claimed in claim 12 where the area is defined by a circle centered on the location or address and with a radius.

### Claim 16 (depends on 12)

A tracking method as claimed in any claim 12 comprising displaying advertisements on a screen of a client device.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

A tracking method as claimed in claim 16 wherein the advertisement is an advertisement for the data provider.

### Claim 18 (depends on 12)

A tracking method as claimed in claim 12 comprising deriving the data indicative of the location from GPS data of a client device used to enter the work data.

### Claim 19 (depends on 12)

A tracking method as claimed in claim 12 comprising requiring the user to provide an artefact such as a reference number that can be verified against an invoice or inspection paperwork in order to have information maintained in the database.

### Claim 20 (depends on 12)

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program code which when executed by a processor implements the method of claim 12.