Patent Application
20230058698
This invention relates to a computerised labelling system, a virtual labelling method actuated by a computer and a computer product for implementing said method.
The practice is known of applying labels to products and/or relative packaging which bear the data regarding the patent rights, in particular the data which allows the identification of the patents protecting the product.
Normally, the data applied in these labels concern the reference numbers identifying the patents, as well as a wording which allows identification of the patent itself and its legal state (e.g. “patented” or “patent pending”).
It is clear that, over time, the legal status of patents protecting the product can be modified (for example, “granted”, “abandoned” or “refused”): in this case, the physical label applied to protect a particular product could bear information which is no longer truthful.
The label bearing non-truthful information could therefore lead to problems of a legal nature for the production and/or marketing company of the product, as information on the patents would be presented to third parties, in particular to competitors, which is not truthful.
In light of this, it is clear that in the event of modifications such that the contents of a label no longer correspond to the truth, the labels should be replaced on the products sold. This leads to considerable logistic costs for companies in order to replace the labels.
A strongly felt need in the sector in question is that of having a labelling system and a method which is particularly simple and which allows, very easily, the information on the labels to be kept updated in a particularly simple manner.
Another strongly felt need in the sector in question is that of having available a labelling system and a method which is particularly simple, and which allows the extremely fast production of labels regarding intellectual property rights.
The aim of the invention is therefore to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks and to satisfy the above-mentioned requirements by providing a computerised labelling system, a labelling method actuated by a computer and a computer product.
The technical features of the invention, with reference to the above aims, are clearly described in the annexed claims and its advantages are more apparent from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate an example, non-limiting embodiment of the invention and in which:
With reference to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 denotes a system SL (for virtual labelling) according to the invention.
The system is shown in
It should be noted that the display module 3 makes it possible to provide a graphical information display.
The graphical information display is illustrated, by way of example, in
“Product” virtual entity and “intellectual property rights” virtual entity means entities (information) generated by the software instructions, which can be stored in a permanent (or volatile) memory. For example, if the system SL comprises a database 2, the “product” virtual entity or “intellectual property rights” virtual entity is represented by a record (e,g. a line) of the database 2 (of a table of the database 2); the line includes the first and/or the second information I1 and I2.
Alternatively, the virtual entity is represented by a static file (e.g. HTML page) with content which cannot be modified (said content includes the first and/or the second information I1 and I2).
The term “module” in this description means a SW and/or HW element or a set of SW and/or HW elements.
According to an aspect, the system SL comprises a database 2.
The database 2 may be of any type, single or distributed.
The database 2 could also be a distributed ledger database, of any type.
According to this aspect, the operating module 5A for generating a “product” virtual entity, the operating module 5B for generating a “intellectual property rights” virtual entity and the association operating module 12 are configured for writing information in the database 2 and the display module 3 is configured for reading from the database 2 the display information of at least a part of the second information I2 regarding the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities associated with each “product” virtual entity.
In other words, the database 2 constitutes a container for storing (for saving and subsequent reading) the first information I1, the second information I2, and the association between the virtual “product” virtual entity and the “intellectual property rights” virtual entity selected and set by the user.
It should be noted that the proposed system SL advantageously allows a user to create a plurality of virtual entities and to associate them with industrial/intellectual rights, patented or not.
The association is extremely simple.
Moreover, at the Internet address defined by the alphanumeric string 7, anyone, using an electronic device (e.g. a smartphone 16a, a PC 16b) can display a graphical information content representing the industrial property rights associated with a certain “product” virtual entity.
In effect, as mentioned above, the string 7 is unique for each “product” virtual entity: this means that at the Internet address corresponding to a given string 7 it is possible to display the information previously associated with the “product” virtual entity to which the string 7 corresponds.
According to another aspect, the module 6 for generating an alphanumeric string 7 defining a URL type Internet address is configured to generate an alphanumeric string 7 comprising a first portion 7A of alphanumeric string comprising a predetermined Internet address, shared by all the “product” virtual entities, and a second portion 7B of unique alphanumeric string for each “product” virtual entity.
Basically, the alphanumeric string 7 comprises two parts: an initial portion 7A shared by all the “product” virtual entities and a unique final portion 7B for each “product” virtual entity.
This advantageously makes it possible to use a same physical storage space (electronic server) for the operation of the system SL, in which physical space differentiates the information content for each “product” virtual entity through the unique final portion 7B.
In other words, advantageously, the system SL is thus extremely simplified, since it is possible to use a single physical space (that is, a single network resources) as the base for storage.
According to another aspect, the module 6 for generating an alphanumeric string 7 is configured for generating a digital image ID containing the alphanumeric string 7.
Said digital image may be of any size and type (e.g. jpg, tiff, bmp, etc.).
According to another aspect, said digital image ID comprises a Q-R code, which codes the alphanumeric string 7.
Advantageously, the Q-R code can be acquired using any image acquisition device (e.g. a smartphone 16A, tablet, PC 16B, etc.) to allow it to be addressed to the Internet address corresponding to the alphanumeric string 7 in a particularly fast and simple manner.
More specifically, the image acquisition device (e.g. smartphone 16A, tablet, PC 16B, etc.) is directed, following acquisition of the Q-R code, to the Internet address corresponding to the alphanumeric string 7 in a particularly fast and simple manner.
According to another aspect, the association operating module 12 is configured for generating, for each “product” entity generated, an electronic file containing at least a part of the second information I2 relative to the “intellectual property rights” entities associated with the “product” entity.
According to an aspect, said electronic file consists of a static HTML page or a dynamic HTML page.
It should be noted that the static or dynamic HTML page is positioned at the Internet address defined by the alphanumeric string 7.
According to another aspect, the graphical module 5A for entering first information I1 is configured to allow entering one or more of the following items of information:
It should be noted that the first items of information I1 make it possible to identify a physical product.
According to another aspect, the graphical module 5B for entering second information I2 is configured to allow entering one or more of the following said second items of information I2:
It should be noted that the second items of information I2 allow unique identification of the intellectual property rights and/or its legal status.
According to another aspect, the graphical association module 11 is configured to allow the setting of an association between “intellectual property rights” virtual entities and “product” virtual entities selected according to a “visible” mode or an “invisible” mode.
According to this aspect, the display module 3 is configured to exclude from the display information of a “product” virtual entity the second information I2 relating to the “intellectual property rights” associated in “invisible” mode with said “product” virtual entity and to include in the generation of display information of a “product” virtual entity the second information I2 regarding the “intellectual property rights” associated in “visible” mode with said predetermined “product” virtual entity.
In other words, accessing the Internet address corresponding to the alphanumeric string 7, according to the above-mentioned aspect, only the second information I2 relating to the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities which have been associated in visible mode are visible, whilst the second information I2 relative to the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities which have been associated in invisible mode are excluded from the display.
This possibility of selecting the mode of association, between visible and invisible, advantageously makes it possible to keep track of the association between certain intellectual property rights and products, but to exclude them from the display (this applies in many cases, to guarantee the confidentiality of the association established).
According to another aspect, the first software operating instructions 3 are configured to also provide a statistical module 14, configured for displaying statistics for access to said Internet address corresponding to the alphanumeric string 7.
According to an aspect, the access statistics comprise a value of a total number of accesses to said Internet address corresponding to the alphanumeric string 7.
According to another aspect, the statistical module 14 is configured to generate graphs for displaying the total number of accesses to said Internet address corresponding to the alphanumeric string 7, preferably charts of the “bar”, “radar”, “linear”, “polar”, “pie” type.
This allows, advantageously, a user to display the access/display statistics of a “product” virtual entity to which an alphanumeric string 7 is associated, corresponding to a potential interest for said product.
Advantageously, the statistical module 14 is of particular interest for the commercial function.
According to another aspect, the first software operating instructions 3 are configured to also provide a module 15 for printing a label, configured for transmitting to a desired electronic address, preferably of the email type, printing information of said label comprising the alphanumeric string 7.
Said printing information I3 comprises one or more of the following items of information:
In this way, advantageously, it is possible to send to an electronic address information to be able to print a physical label to be applied to the product.
According to another aspect, in fact, the SL system comprises a physical support 8, on which is marked the alphanumeric string 7 defining a URL type address.
According to another aspect, the term “patent” or “pat” or “patent pending” is also marked on the physical support 8.
According to another aspect, said physical support 8 comprises a Q-R code, which codes the alphanumeric string 7.
According to another aspect, the association operating module 12 is configured for storing, at a predetermined date and/or at predetermined events, in a remote archive, marked in terms of time, a graphical-informative content relating to the at least a part of said second information I2 regarding the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities stored in association with the above-mentioned “product” virtual entity and visible at the Internet address corresponding to said alphanumeric string 7.
In practice, the association operating module 12 saves the graphical information content visible at the Internet address corresponding to the alphanumeric string 7 in a remote archive equipped with a time marking system, allowing the task of proving what was the graphical-information content to be carried out in the future at a predetermined date.
According to another aspect, the first instructions are configured to make available a module 13 for interrogating an on-line patent database, configured to interrogate said on-line patent data database (e.g. espacenet) and to extract patent documents referring to the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities identified from the second information I2.
The module is illustrated in
The term “patent documents referring to” means the patent documents which include, in the search report or in the examination procedure, the “intellectual property rights” virtual entity identified by the second information I2.
According to another aspect, the display module 3 can be activated following an access to said URL type Internet address and is configured for:
The user can display the results of said interrogation on any computer, notebook, smartphone, tablet etc.
In practice, the user can display the second information I2 relating to the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities.
Further, the display module 3 is configured for transmitting, together with the second information I2, a string comprising the wording “This web page is intended to serve as virtual patent marking notice under 35 U.S.C. § 287(a)” for a relative display.
It should be noted that, advantageously, the system SL allows virtual labels to be generated for the industrial property sector in a particularly simple and fast manner: in fact, it is possible to generate “product” virtual entities and “intellectual property rights” virtual entities in a particularly quick and easy manner, by entering the first and second information I1 and I2.
Moreover, through the system SL, it is possible for a user to always keep up-to-date the status of the intellectual property rights associated with his/her products: the physical label is in fact replaced by a virtual labelling and at the URL type Internet address associated with the relative product it is possible to display the list of intellectual property rights with their updated legal status.
The updating can be performed in an extremely simple and fast manner: in fact, it is sufficient to modify, for example through the user interface 5, the second information I2 stored in the database 2.
This avoids considerable management costs for the user, due to physical replacement of the physical labels, and considerably reduces the management complexity of the labelling.
Moreover, by providing a physical support 8 on the product bearing the alphanumeric string 7 or by printing it on the packaging of the product the alphanumeric string 7 it is possible to set up a virtual labelling system, wherein all the information of interest for the product (in particular, information relating to the associated intellectual property rights) can be traced at the predetermined Internet address.
The invention also provides a method (for virtual labelling), comprising the following steps:
It should be noted that the method described above allows the generation of virtual labels.
Said method is actuated by at least one computer 4, or server 4.
According to another aspect, the step of generating an alphanumeric string 7 defining said URL type Internet address comprises the steps of:
According to another aspect, a step of generating, for each “product” virtual entity, an electronic file containing the second information (I2) relative to the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities associated with the “product” virtual entity and a step of storing said electronic file at a storage space accessible to said URL type Internet address.
According to another aspect, said electronic file consists of an HTML page.
According to yet another aspect, said electronic file consists of a dynamic HTML page.
According to another aspect, the step of entering, using said user interface 5, first information I1 associated with said “product” virtual entity comprises entering one or more of the following items of information:
According to a further aspect, the step of entering, by means of said user interface 5, second information I2 associated with said “intellectual property rights” virtual entity comprises entering one or more of the following items of information:
According to yet another aspect, the step of associating, by means of the user interface 5, at least one “intellectual property rights” virtual entity to at least one “product” virtual entity and storing said association executed comprises a step of setting up an association between the at least one “intellectual property rights” virtual entity and the at least one “product” virtual entity according to a “visible” or “invisible” mode.
According to this aspect, in the step of providing, as a result of an access to said URL, at least a part of said second information I2 regarding the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities stored in association with the above-mentioned “product” virtual entity only the second information I2 is provided corresponding to the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities associated in the “visible” mode to the “product” virtual entity and the second information I2 is not provided (hidden) corresponding to the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities associated in the “invisible” mode to the “product” virtual entity.
According to yet another aspect, the method comprises a step of interrupting an association, by means of the user interface 5, between at least one “intellectual property rights” virtual entity and at least one “product” virtual entity, with said association being established previously.
According to yet another aspect, the method comprises a step of storing, as a result of an access to said URL type Internet address, information for access to said URL type Internet address.
According to an aspect, the access information comprises a value indicating accesses to said URL type Internet address.
According to another aspect, the method comprises a step of generating a digital image, containing said alphanumeric string 7 defining a URL type Internet address.
According to another aspect, the method comprises a step of entering printing information, comprising one or more of the following items of information:
Preferably, the method also comprises a step of sending said digital image and said printing information to the electronic dispatch address.
According to another aspect, the method comprises a step of storing in a remote archive a graphical-informative content concerning the at least a part of said second information I2 regarding the “intellectual property rights” virtual entities stored in association with the above-mentioned “product” virtual entity, said graphical-informative content being visible as a result of an access to said URL type Internet address.
According to another aspect, the method comprises a step of preparing a physical support 8, on which the wording “patent” or “pat” or “patent pending” is marked (in any language, preferably English) and the alphanumeric string 7 defining a URL type Internet address.
According to another aspect, said physical support 8 comprises a Q-R code, which codes the alphanumeric string 7 defining a URL type Internet address.
The invention also relates to a computer product which can be loaded in a memory of at least one calculator 4 and comprising portions of software code for performing the steps of the method described above.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102020000003644 | Feb 2020 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2021/051364 | 2/18/2021 | WO |
