Abstract:
Described herein is a system and method of using the system for notifying consumers regarding product recall comprising: assignment of a unique user account to a newly registered consumer by an internet-based product recall notification system, the user account comprising a database wherein all products registered by that consumer are listed and a web interface whereon the products the consumer has listed as owned are listed with product recall alert-level status shown, and the unique user account requiring a logon verification method that is selected from the group consisting of username-and-password match, username match, and password match; the product recall notification system collecting consumer contact information; the product recall notification system collecting product information from the consumer about one or more products that the consumer has acquired; the product recall notification system sending regular periodic email to the registered consumers; the product recall notification system responding to email returned undeliverable; the product recall notification system receiving information about a product recall; the product recall notification system comparing the information received about the product recall to the consumer&#39;s data; the product recall notification system generating an email alert at a level determined by the match between the consumer&#39;s registered product and a recalled product to the consumer notifying the consumer about the recall of the registered product; and the product recall notification system generating a flashing screen alert at a level determined by the match between the consumer&#39;s registered product and a previously recalled product when the consumer enters information about a product that has previously been recalled.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention is in the field of product recall notification, specifically internet-based communication method regarding product recall notifications. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,380, issued May 16, 2006 to Knehr-McLaren, et al., teaches methods of communicating product status information that include maintaining a record of a product identification string associated with a product of a user, the product identification string being associated with a corresponding batch of the product. A batch status request is transmitted to a directory service maintaining batch status information at selected intervals and/or responsive to a user request and the requested batch status information for the product  106  is received. The batch status request need not include personal information of the user. Related directory services, systems and computer program products are also provided. 
         [0005]    US Patent Application 20070069004 (Adler, Robert M., inventor) published Mar. 29, 2007, teaches a method of broadcasting product-recall advisory alerts via communications networks where a central notification computer is provided to broadcast advisory alerts to electronic device addresses stored in a subscriber database in a text, oral, pictorial, and computer retrievable format. The subscriber database contains subscriber data sets which each include the electronic device address, subscriber year of birth, and at least one geographic location associated with the electronic device address. When an advisory alert is initiated due to a product-recall, the affected subscribers are determined by geographic area, age, recreational activities, elderly parents, or other demographics is determined, and a geographic area defined by a perimeter is associated with the advisory alert. An algorithm retrieves addresses of the electronic devices associated with affected subscribers and the advisory alert  400  is transmitted to the electronic device addresses. 
         [0006]    United States Patent Application 20070205258 (SELF, Matthew, et al., inventors), published Sep. 6, 2007, teaches systems and methods for product information coding and authentication for product tracking purposes are disclosed here. One embodiment includes generating a plurality of product codes, each product code being a unit level code that is unique for each item, maintaining product information associated with the plurality of product codes of a plurality of items, and providing at least part of the product information associated with a product code of an item in response to receiving a request to authenticate whether the product code is one of the generated product codes. 
         [0007]    Canadian Patent Application 02473314 (Mansfield, Richard B., inventor), published Oct. 16, 2003 under International Publication Number WO 03/085578 A1, teaches a system for determining customer identifers (CIDs) associated with purchase of product items which are recalled that includes a computer database management system and network. Consumers associated with the determined CIDs are notified of the recall of the products. 
         [0008]    European Patent Office Patent Application US2007239502 (Babu, Suresh R., inventor), published Oct. 11, 2007, teaches a computerized recall management tool permits an organization to recognize and proactively manage events that can indicate a need to initiate a product recall. Product performance data often is made available to an organization through very diverse communication channels, including from customers, distributors, suppliers, governmental or industry agencies in addition to its internal manufacturing and testing sources. The recall management tool may include modules to recognize patterns of product defects from product performance data, to model an extent to which a product defect may proliferate throughout its distributed products, to alert operators when such patterns are detected, to manage regulatory reporting events and other notification milestones and to manage a recall itself. 
         [0009]    The US Government provides several websites (through the USDA, the Department of Commerce, and other agencies) that list products that have been recalled, but the Government provides email alerts based upon categories of products to consumers regarding the recalls. 
         [0010]    Another website, located at http://www.safetyalerts.com, provides searchable and browsable listings of recalled products by category and date. This site also provides email notifications to its subscribers based on types of products for which the subscriber requests notification of recalls. The emails from this site can be configured by the subscriber to arrive daily, weekly, monthly, or never. However, these emails are for the types of products being recalled, not for specific SKUs; nor are these emails coded by importance based on subscriber input. 
         [0011]    Another website, located at http://www.recall-warnings.com, provides searchable and browsable listings of recalled products by category and date. This site appears to be a vertical portal linked listing of recalled products. 
         [0012]    Another website, located at http://www.kidsindanger.org, provides information and advocacy regarding the safety of children&#39;s products. There is a notification system associated with this site. It is not a customizable system. 
         [0013]    On information and belief, another website, located at http://www.kidsrus.com, may be planning to provide or may currently provide notification to consumers who purchase products at the website  110  and/or at a physical store that is franchised or otherwise associated with the KIDS R US® retailer brand. KIDS R US is a trademark or registered trademark of Geoffrey, Inc., a Delaware corporation. 
         [0014]    On information and belief, another website, located at http://www.amazon.com, may currently be planning to provide or may currently provide product recall notification to consumers who purchased products at the website. 
         [0015]    There is an unmet need in the art for a method to notify consumers of product recalls, based on the products that a consumer owns and not based in any way on the retailer from which the consumer purchases the product, in a way that is tailored to each individual consumer and in a way that each individual consumer will receive actual, as opposed to constructive, notice of the recall, in a way that differentiates between various likelihoods that the particular product being recalled is the product owned by the consumer, and have the opportunity to react to the product recall in a timely manner. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    The present invention teaches a system and method for selectively providing consumers with actual notice about product recalls of products that the consumer owns such that the consumer can react to the recall in a timely manner. The invention uses various levels of internet-based (email and web-based) alerts to reflect the various likelihoods that the particular product being recalled is the product owned by the consumer. The product can be new or used, and the point of sale is immaterial to the notice. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an internet-based product recall notification system  100  is shown. 
           [0018]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a process  200  for communication with the consumer  104  is shown. 
           [0019]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , criteria  300  against which a recalled product  106  is matched are shown. 
           [0020]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , alert levels  400  that show the importance of the recall to the consumer are shown. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an internet-based product recall notification system  100  is shown. 
         [0022]    A consumer  104  acquires a product  106 . The product  106  may be new or used, and may be received as a gift or purchased from any source, the most likely sources being retail stores or outlets, which may include stores, roadside stands, mall kiosks, at-home product parties, or other physical retail location, and used-merchandise sales such as garage sales, For Sale classified advertisements, and online auctions. However, these sources are listed merely as examples; the listing is not intended to exclude other possible sources of products  106 . After acquisition of either a new or used product  106 , the consumer  104  decides whether to register the product  106  with the product recall notification system  100 . If the consumer  104  decides not to register the product  106 , the product recall notification system  100  ends and no further work is done. 
         [0023]    If the consumer  104  decides to register, the consumer  104  must first set up a unique user account  108  in the product recall notification system  100  at a website  110  online. Certain information, such as name  112 , mailing address  114 , physical address  116 , telephone number  118 , fax number  120 , and email address  122 , is collected at registration  240 , and the product recall notification system  100  assigns a unique user account  108  to the consumer  104 . The consumer  104  then logs onto the website  110  using a security level that may be a username-and-password  126  combination  122 , just a username  124 , or just a password  126 , and enters information  222  about the acquired product  106  and about the consumer  104 . The product recall notification system  100  may or may not require payment  128  by the consumer  104 ; if the product recall notification system  100  requires payment  128 , the consumer  104  enters payment  128  information in a form that is accepted by the product recall notification system  100 , such as electronic funds transfer information, credit card information, ACH information, or other method of transferring funds from the consumer  104  to the product recall notification system  100 . After registration  240 , the product recall notification system  100  sends the consumer  104  a newsletter  130  at predetermined intervals using email  134 ; in the current embodiment, the newsletter  130  is sent quarterly, but it may be sent at other intervals within the scope of the invention. The consumer  104  may opt out of receiving the newsletter  130 . In another embodiment, the consumer  104  may opt back in to receive the newsletter  130 . When a product  106  that the consumer  104  has registered is recalled, the product recall notification system  100  matches the recalled product  106  to criteria  300  about the product  106  and the consumer  104  that the consumer  104  input when registering the product  106  and generates a recall notification  136  email  134  at the appropriate level of alert  400 , as discussed infra. 
         [0024]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a process  200  for communication with the consumer  104  is shown. 
         [0025]    Each consumer  104  who registers with the product recall notification system  100  is assigned a unique user account  108  which contains a database  202  of the consumer&#39;s  104  reported products  106 . The consumer  104  is required by the product recall notification system  100  to log into the user account  108  using a username-and-password combination  122 . In another embodiment, a username  124  only may be required. In another embodiment, a password  126  only may be required. A listing of the consumer&#39;s  104  reported products  106  appears on the computer screen  258  when the consumer  106  logs into the product recall notification system  100 , along with any recall notification  136  associated with that product  106 . 
         [0026]    The product recall notification system  100  interacts with the consumer  104  four times in the current embodiment; more or fewer interactions also fall within the scope of the invention. 
         [0027]    The first interaction occurs when the consumer  104  purchases a product  106  and decides to register that product  106 . At this point, the consumer  104  creates a user account  108  or logs into an existing user account  108  on the product recall notification system  100  and enters information  222  into the product recall notification system  100  regarding the product  106 . The more information that is available to the product recall notification system  100 , the better the matching of criteria  300  will be in the event of a product recall  102  of that product  106 . Data such as the consumer&#39;s name  112 , physical address  116 , mailing address  114 , telephone number  118 , fax number  120 , and email address  122  may be required in any combination so the product recall notification system  100  can contact the consumer  104  to send a regular email  134  or in the event of a product recall  102 . Data regarding the product  106  is also requested: the product type  206 , the product name  208 , the manufacturer  210 , the Stock Keeping Unit (hereinafter “SKU”) code  210 , the manufacturer&#39;s code  260  the Universal Product Code (hereinafter “UPC”)  212 , the purchase date  214 , and the place of purchase  216  comprise the current embodiment; other fields  220  may be included (such as location of manufacturer  218 , for example) within the scope of the present invention. The product recall notification system  100  requires only the product name  206  to be filled in, but the accuracy of the recall notification  136  product recall notification system  100  is directly related to the number of database fields  220  that the consumer  104  fills in and the accuracy of the consumer&#39;s product information  222  provided in the consumer database  204 . 
         [0028]    The product recall notification system  100  checks the consumer&#39;s product information  222  against a pre-entered listing  224  of known products  106 . The pre-entered listing  224  comprises a product database  226  within the product recall notification system  100 , and the product data  228  therein may be manually entered by a system administrator  230 , or it may be entered by a consumer  104  and manually verified by a system administrator  230  or automatically verified by the product recall notification system  100  itself, or it may be transferred from portable electronic media  232  such as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, tape, diskette, portable hard drive, or other portable electronic media  232 , or it may be automatically entered or downloaded from one or more internet-based sources  234  such as manufacturers&#39; websites, retail store websites, or government websites. 
         [0029]    If the consumer product information  222  entered matches a pre-entered listing  224  for that product  106 , the product recall notification system  100  accepts the information  222  without contacting the consumer  104 . 
         [0030]    If the consumer product information  222  entered does not match the pre-entered listing  224  for that product  106 , but can be matched tentatively to a pre-entered listing  224  for that product  106 , the product recall notification system  100  generates an email  134  to the consumer  104  that indicates what the pre-entered listing  224  is and asks the consumer  104  to accept or reject the substitution  236  of the pre-entered listing  224  for the consumer product information  222 . If the consumer  104  accepts the substitution  236 , the substitution  236  is made to match the consumer&#39;s  104  product  106  with the pre-entered listing  224 . If the consumer  104  rejects the substitution  236 , then the consumer product information  222  becomes part of the consumer database  202 , and any inaccuracies in the information  222  decrease the accuracy of the product recall notification system  100 . If the consumer  104  ignores the email  134 , the product recall notification system  100  attempts to send another email  134  the consumer  104  at least one more time after a pre-determined time  238  that may range from one second to one year, has elapsed. In the present embodiment, this pre-determined time  238  is three days. If the consumer  104  continues to ignore the email  134  for a second pre-determined time  238 , which may range from one second to one year, the product recall notification system  100  accepts the consumer&#39;s  104  input as part of the consumer database  202 . In the present embodiment, the second pre-determined time  238  is one week. Any inaccuracies in the consumer product information  222  decrease the accuracy of the product recall notification system  100 . 
         [0031]    If the product recall notification system  100  cannot match the consumer&#39;s  104  data to any product  106  in the pre-entered listing  224 , the product recall notification system  100  generates an email  134  to the consumer  104  requesting more information. If the consumer  104  responds to the email  134  with more information about the product  106 , the product recall notification system  100  again attempts to match the product  106  against the pre-entered listing  224 . If that match is successful, there is no further action at this time. If that match is unsuccessful, the product recall notification system  100  generates another email  134  requesting more information; if the consumer  104  responds, another match attempt is made. This continues until either the consumer  104  fails to respond to an email  134  or a match is successfully made. The product recall notification system  100 , in another embodiment, may limit the number of times a request for more information is made. 
         [0032]    If the consumer  104  is the first to enter information about a product  106 , and if that information is verified either manually by a system administrator  230  or through any one of several automatic verification methods which are not part of this invention, then the consumer product information  222  is entered into the pre-entered listings  224  and into the consumer database  202 . 
         [0033]    If the consumer  104  fails to respond to an email  134  requesting more information about the product  106  entered, the product recall notification system  100  accepts the consumer&#39;s  104  input into the consumer database  202 . However, since no match is possible, no recall notifications  136  can be sent to the consumer  104 . 
         [0034]    The second contact is billing for registration  240 . Registration  240  may be billed on a per-product basis  242  or on a per-family basis  244 ; the per-family basis  244  covers all products  106  owned by the family and is the preferred embodiment of the invention. Registration  240  may be required to be renewed at periodic intervals  246 , such as weekly, semimonthly, monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, semiannually, annually or another interval, or the product recall notification system  100  may accept a one-time registration  240 . The current embodiment provides a set fee billed annually covering all products  106  registered. Registration  240  may but need not require that the consumer  104  pay a registration fee  248  to register a product  106  or a family&#39;s products  106 . The registration fee  248  may or may not vary depending on the type of registration  240  (per-family  244  or per-product  242 ), the class  250  of products  106  registered (toys and cars are two of many examples of classes  250  of products  106 ), the number of classes  250  of products  106  registered, the country in which the consumer  104  resides, the tax structure of the state or country in which the consumer  104  resides. 
         [0035]    The third contact is the newsletter  130 . This is provided as a service to consumers  104  in the product recall notification system  100  and is sent on a regular periodic basis  252  using email  134  to those consumers  104  who receive the newsletter  130 . Consumers  104  may opt out of receiving the newsletter  130 ; in another embodiment, the consumer  104  may opt back in and receive the newsletter  130  again after opting out. The regular periodic basis  252  may be daily, semiweekly, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually. It is possible to opt out of receiving the newsletter  130  at any time by clicking on a link provided in the newsletter  130  or by visiting a website  110  and selecting an opt-out option. The newsletter  130  provides general information about recalls that have occurred since the last newsletter  130  was issued. Another purpose of the newsletter  130  is maintenance of the database of consumer  104  contact information  112 ,  114 ,  116 ,  118 ,  120 ,  122 . If a newsletter  130  is returned as undeliverable email  134 , the product recall notification system  100  waits for a predetermined time  238 , currently twenty-four hours but other timeframes are also within the scope of the invention, then sends the newsletter  130  again. If the newsletter  130  is returned undeliverable a second time, the product recall notification system  100  prints out a postcard  254  addressed to the consumer  104  at the last known mailing address  114  of the consumer  104  and requests that the consumer  104  update the email address  122 . 
         [0036]    The fourth contact is the notification of product recall  102 . The notification method is a multi-tiered product recall notification system  100 , the alert levels  400  being determined by a database match  256  between the product recall  102  and the consumer product information  222 . In the present embodiment, the product recall notification system  100  contains four alert levels  400 . When a product  106  is recalled, the product recall notification system  100  matches the product  106  being recalled to the consumer product information  222  and sends an email  134  at the appropriate alert level  400 . If this email  134  is returned undeliverable, the product recall notification system  100  waits for a predetermined time  238 , currently twenty-four hours but other timeframes are also within the scope of the invention, then sends the notification email  134  again. If the notification email  134  is returned undeliverable a second time, the product recall notification system  100  prints out a postcard  254  addressed to the consumer  104  at the last known address of the consumer  104  and requests that the consumer  104  update the email address  122 . This postcard  254  may also contain an appropriate alert level  400  notice of the product recall  102 . 
         [0037]    If the consumer  104  enters information  222  about an already-recalled product  106  into the consumer database  202 , the product recall notification system  100  flashes a recall notice at the appropriate alert level  400  on the consumer&#39;s  104  computer screen  258 . 
         [0038]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the criteria  300  against which a recalled product  106  is matched are shown. 
         [0039]    Recall criteria  300  may include product name  208 , manufacturer&#39;s product number  260 , SKU  210 , UPC  212 , manufacturer  210 , places of distribution  305 , times of distribution  310 , product type  206 , target market  315 , where target market  315  may include such factors as intended age of the user, gender, income level, race, religion, national origin, and interests. These criteria  300  are matched by the product recall notification system  100  against information input by the consumer  104  at the time of registration  240 , which includes contact information as described in  FIG. 2 , and product  106  information about the particular product  106  purchased by that consumer  104 . 
         [0040]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the email  134  alert levels  400  that show the importance of the recall  102  to the consumer  104  are shown. 
         [0041]    A Green, or low-level, alert  402  is issued when the product name  208  of the recalled product  106  matches the product name  208  in the consumer product information  222 , but one of the other variables does not match, so the consumer&#39;s  104  product  106  is NOT recalled. This gives the consumer  104  the reassurance that their particular product  106  is not part of a recall  102 ; there is no further action required. 
         [0042]    A Yellow, or medium-low level, alert  404  is issued when the product name  208  of the recalled product  106  matches the product name  208  input by the consumer  104 , but one of the other four criteria  300  was left blank by the consumer  104 , so the consumer  104  may not be able to manually compare their product  106  to the recalled product  106 . It is possible that their product  106  was recalled; the consumer  104  can use personal judgment as to whether to continue to use the product  106 . 
         [0043]    An Orange, or medium-high level, alert  406  is issued when the product name  208 , manufacturer&#39;s product number  260 , SKU  210 , and/or UPC  212 , and purchase date  214  of the consumer&#39;s product  106  match the recall  102 , but the recall  102  contains untracked information  408 . It is likely the consumer&#39;s product  106  is recalled but the consumer  104  must manually compare their product  106  to the recall  102 . 
         [0044]    If the recall  102  matches all criteria  300  input by the consumer  104  at registration  240 , the product recall notification system  100  sends a red, or high-level, alert  410  to the consumer  104  at the consumer&#39;s  104  registered email address  122 . This indicates that the product  106  the consumer  104  owns is the product  106  being recalled and includes the hazard and remedy details of the recall  102 . 
         [0045]    If the product  106  was subject to recall  102  prior to the consumer&#39;s  104  entering information  222 , a notice flashes on the consumer&#39;s  104  computer screen  258  when the consumer  104  enters the information into the consumer database  202 , at the appropriate recall level of alert  402 ,  404 ,  406 ,  410 . 
         [0046]    The differing levels of alerts  400  are customized by the consumer product information  222  at the time a product  106  is registered. The consumer  104  can input all information  222  that may be available with a new product  106 ; if the consumer  104  does this, the resulting emails  134  are tailored specifically to that consumer&#39;s  104  owned products  106 . However, it is not always possible to input all information available about a newly acquired product  106 . If a used product  106  is purchased, for example, the information that is originally available with the product  106  is less likely to still be available. The consumer  104 , in this case, inputs all the information  222  available at the time the product  106  is registered. This situation leads to more orange  404  and yellow  406  alerts. When a product  106  is closely matched by having most or all of the available information  222 , the product recall notification system  100  generates more closely matched emails  134 , designated by green  402  and red  410  alerts. 
         [0047]    In an alternate embodiment, the manufacturer  210  may subscribe to the notification product recall notification system  100  described herein a line of its merchandise, and provide email address  122  contact information for each consumer  104  of all products  106  within that line for notification of any future product recall  102 . The manufacturer  210  or retailer would be required to collect (a) the consumer&#39;s email address  122 ; and (b) the consumer&#39;s  104  permission to add the email address  122  to the email addresses  122  to be registered. The manufacturer  210  could then submit a bulk registration  240  to the product recall notification system  100  at any interval. The bulk registration  240  may or may not be discounted in price to register in the product recall notification system  100 . Should the consumer  104  deny permission to the manufacturer  210  to register his or her email address  122 , the manufacturer  210  would delete that email address  122  from the list of email addresses  122  to be registered, or would not add the email address  122  to the list of email addresses  122  to be registered. The manufacturer  210  may or may not mark up the price of such registered product lines  106  to the retail cost of the product  106 . This registration  240  would be provided by the manufacturer  210  as a service for its customers  106 . The remainder of the described invention performs in a manner identical to that described herein. 
         [0048]    In another alternate embodiment, the product recall notification system&#39;s  100  pre-entered listings  224  may be configured to interact with a merchant&#39;s  412  database  414 , particularly the database  414  of an online merchant  412 . The consumer  104  would purchase a product  106  online and follow a link to automatically load the data from that online merchant&#39;s  412  database  414  into a new or existing user account  108  in the product recall notification system  100 . 
         [0049]    The embodiments provided here are examples only and are not intended to be a complete listing of possible embodiments, nor should they be construed as an exclusive listing of embodiments. Variations in the described invention and its uses are possible within the scope of this disclosure without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of claims to be examined, and a reasonable equivalency thereof, which I regard as my invention.