Walmart has been granted a patent for a system that electronically validates coupons. The system includes a primary positive coupon database, a manufacturer database, and a computing system. The system receives electronic coupon data, parses it, and compares it to the positive coupon data in the database to determine if the coupon is valid. It also checks for expiration dates. GlobalData’s report on Walmart gives a 360-degree view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s company profile on Walmart, Transaction splitting was a key innovation area identified from patents. Walmart's grant share as of September 2023 was 37%. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.
Electronic validation system for coupons with dynamic field removal
A recently granted patent (Publication Number: US11775997B2) describes a system for electronically validating coupons. The system includes a primary positive coupon database containing positive coupon data, a manufacturer database containing manufacturer codes, and a computing system with a control circuit and processing module.
When a customer provides an electronic coupon with a machine-readable code, the processing module receives and parses the electronic coupon data. It then identifies the manufacturer code and queries the manufacturer database to determine if the code is associated with an accepted manufacturer.
To determine the validity of the coupon, the processing module queries the primary positive coupon database for a match between the parsed electronic coupon data and the positive coupon data. If there is no match, it identifies and removes dynamic fields from the parsed data and compares the remaining data to the positive coupon data. The module also checks the expiration date of the coupon to determine if it has expired.
Based on the determination of validity, the processing module can transmit instructions to accept or reject the coupon.
The system can receive electronic coupon data from a point-of-sale system with an optical reader or from an application on a mobile device, both connected to the computing system over a network.
Additionally, the computing system can receive updated positive coupon data from manufacturers over a distributed communication network at regular intervals, allowing for the continuous updating of the primary positive coupon database.
Overall, this patented system provides a comprehensive and efficient method for electronically validating coupons, ensuring that only valid and non-expired coupons are accepted.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData Patent Analytics tracks bibliographic data, legal events data, point in time patent ownerships, and backward and forward citations from global patenting offices. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
