Abstract:
A commodity logistics service system and a counterfeit-impeding method thereof are disclosed. The present invention solves the problem of the prior art that lacks an impeding counterfeit function. The present invention provides a commodity logistics service system. The authorizing module of the commodity logistics service system has at least one database unit and an authorizing and authenticating unit. The database unit stores the electronic tags of all commodities, and the authorizing and authenticating unit records the legal commodity information. The present invention utilizes the commodity management unit of the brand module, the authorizing and authenticating unit of the authorizing module, and the mentioned commodity recording method to impede the counterfeiting of a commodity.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a commodity logistics service system and a counterfeit-impeding method thereof. In particular, this invention relates to a commodity logistics service system for managing legal goods between consumers, brand dealers, manufacturers, and logistic dealers (including wholesalers, distributors and retailers, etc.), and a counterfeit-impeding method for managing counterfeit goods in these multiple channels. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Under the current commodity logistics management system, commodity information is generally recorded manually or via a bar-code. Because the information cannot be directly provided to consumers, consumers merely acquire the required information by phone or e-mail. In order to provide a handy commodity logistics management, a lot of commodity logistics management systems that combine hardware and software have been developed. For example, a commodity logistics management system that utilizes RFID technology has been developed. 
         [0005]    For the RFID system of the prior art, an RFID reader is located at a proper location, the RFID tags are pasted onto goods, and the information in the RFID tags is stored in a database in the RFID system. When a commodity with a RFID tag is moved, the RFID reader induces the RFID tag and it updates the movement information to a control server of the RFID system. Then, the control server can transmit the movement information to the inquiring person via the Internet. Thereby, consumers, manufacturers, and brand dealers know whereabouts and other salient information about the goods. 
         [0006]    However, although the RFID system of the prior art can monitor the movement of goods, it still cannot prevent a pirate commodity from being sneaked in the commodity logistics management system. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a commodity logistics service system and a counterfeit-impeding method thereof 
         [0008]    One particular aspect of the present invention is to provide a commodity logistics service system for managing legal goods between consumers, brand dealers, manufacturers, and logistic dealers (wholesaler, distributor, retailer, and etc), and a counterfeit-impeding method for managing counterfeit goods in these multiple channels. 
         [0009]    The commodity logistics service system manages the logistical information of goods with an electronic tag and impedes counterfeit commodities via the Internet. The commodity logistics service system includes an authorizing module, a brand module, a manufacturing module, a selling module, and a consumer module. The authorizing module includes a first accessing control unit, a database unit, and an authorizing and authenticating unit. The database unit stores information about the electronic tag of commodities, account information, registering information, commodity logistical information, and etc. The authorizing and authenticating unit authorizes and authenticates the commodities and impedes counterfeit commodities. The brand module includes a second accessing control unit, a commodity management unit, a manufacturing management unit, a consumer management unit, a sale record unit, and an identification service unit. The information generated from the second accessing control unit, the commodity management unit, the manufacturing management unit and the consumer management unit is a reference for the authorizing and authenticating unit to authorize and authenticate commodities. The manufacturing module includes a quality control unit, and a stock management unit. The manufacturing module receives orders from the manufacturing management unit to produce the commodity, records commodities that have been passed quality examination by the quality control unit in the stock management unit, and registers the quality check passed commodities in the authorizing and authenticating unit and the manufacturing management unit. The selling module includes an Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) unit, and a commodity registering unit. The commodity registering unit allows authorized and authenticated commodities to register when sale is made. The, consumer module includes an identification service unit that lets the consumer check whether the commodity is legal or not by connecting to the brand module via the Internet. 
         [0010]    The counterfeit-impeding method of the commodity logistics service system includes issuing an information regarding a manufacturing order and electronic tags to a stock management unit of a manufacturing module, registering the quality check passed commodity (QC passed commodity) that the number of registered commodity has not surpassed manufacturing order in an authorizing and authenticating unit of an authorizing module and a manufacturing management unit of a brand module, checking whether QC passed commodity is legally registered or not, shipping the QC passed and registered commodity to a commodity management unit of the brand module for storage, checking whether the commodity stored in the commodity management unit is legally registered or not, storing the commodity to a commodity stock information unit of a selling module and registering the commodity in the commodity registering unit when/after a commodity is sold; sending an inquiry to determine whether the commodity is legally registered or not, determining whether the commodity belongs to a quantity-limited commodity or not, and executing the check-out process. 
         [0011]    For further understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following detailed description illustrating the embodiments and examples of the invention. The description is only for illustrating the invention and is not intended to be considered limiting of the scope of the claim. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The drawings included herein provide a further understanding of the invention. A brief introduction of the drawings is as follows: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of the commodity logistics service system of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a relationship between the authorizing module and the commodity of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a relationship between the authorizing module and the commodity, and the manufacturing module of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a relationship between the brand module and the commodity, and the manufacturing module of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a relationship between the selling module and the commodity, the consumer module, the authorizing module, and the manufacturing module of the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of a relationship between the consumer module and the authorizing module, the manufacturing module, the brand module, and the selling module of the present invention; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a flow chart of the counterfeit-impeding method of the commodity logistics service system of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    Reference is made to  FIG. 1 , which shows a schematic diagram of the commodity logistics service system of the present invention. The commodity logistics service system manages the logistical information of goods with an electronic tag and impedes counterfeit goods via the Internet. The commodity logistics service system includes a commodity  3  with an electronic tag  30 , an Internet  10 , an authorizing module  12 , a manufacturing module  14 , a brand module  16 , a selling module  18 , and a consumer module  20 . 
         [0021]    The authorizing module  12  is connected with the manufacturing module  14 , the brand module  16 , the selling module  18 , and the consumer module  20  via the Internet  10 . The authorizing module  12  can be an authorizing server. The manufacturing module  14  can be a server located at a manufacturing terminal. The brand module  16  can be a server located at a brand terminal. The selling module  18  can be a server located at a selling terminal. All authorizing information from the manufacturing module  14 , the brand module  16 , the selling module  18 , and the consumer module  20  are sent to the authorizing module  12 . 
         [0022]    The present invention uses the schematic diagrams to illustrate the relationships between the modules and their operating processes. Reference is made to  FIG. 2 , which shows a schematic diagram of a relationship between the authorizing module and the commodity of the present invention. The authorizing module  12  includes a first accessing control unit  120 , a database unit  122 , and a authorizing and authenticating unit  124 . The first accessing control unit  120  provides an account management function and a register management function to the manufacturing module  14 , the brand module  16 , and the selling module  18 . The database unit  122  stores the information of the electronic tag  30  of the commodity  3 , account information, registering information, commodity logistical information, and etc. The authorizing and authenticating unit  124  authorizes and authenticates the commodity  3  for impeding counterfeiting commodity  3 . When the authorizing and authenticating unit  124  authorized the QC passed commodity  3 , the authorizing and authenticating unit  124  will check whether the electronic tag  30  pasted on the commodity  3  has been authorized or registered. If the electronic tag  30  pasted on the QC passed commodity  3  has been authorized or registered, the authorizing process would be terminated. If the authorizing and authenticating unit  124  authorizes the QC passed commodity  3  to register, encrypted authentication codes will generate and store in the database unit  122 , authorizing and authenticating unit  124 , and the electronic tag  30  of commodity  3 . The commodity logistical information (such as commodity manufacturing, shipping, and dealing information), the information of the electronic tag  30 , the commodity register information, and the commodity authentication code are stored in the authorizing and authenticating unit  124 . The information in the authorizing and authenticating unit  124  is synchronously processed with the database unit  122 . The authorizing and authenticating unit  124  determines whether the commodity  3  is legal or not based on authorization and authentication of manufacturing orders in the manufacturing module  14 , information of commodity stored in the electronic tag  30  of commodity  3  and in the database unit  122 , and the commodity logistical information. In addition, the authorizing and authenticating unit  124  could embed in an electronic portable device that has synchronized partial database information from database unit  122  to perform the legal check offline. 
         [0023]    Reference is made to  FIG. 3 , which shows a schematic diagram of a relationship between the authorizing module and the commodity, and the manufacturing module of the present invention. The manufacturing module  14  includes a quality control unit  140 , a stock management unit  142 , and a commodity electronic reading unit  144 . The manufacturing module  14  receives orders from the brand module  16  to produce the commodity  3 . The quality control unit  140  has two functions. One is to check whether each of the electronic tags sent from the brand module  16  is workable or not. Another is to execute the recording processes and the authorizing &amp; registering processes after the commodity  3  with a good electronic tag  30  has passed quality examination by the quality control unit  140 . The quality control unit  140  also stores the information of the order and a commodity total quantity controlling information generated from the information of the order. The commodity total quantity controlling information controls the total quantity of the commodity that will be produced. When the quality control unit  140  detects that the electronic tag  30  is bad, the electronic tag  30  is killed and the information of the electronic tag  30  is transmitted to the brand module  16  via the Internet  10 . The brand module  16  replaces the electronic tag  30  and resends it to the manufacturing module  14 . 
         [0024]    The electronic tag  30  that has been passed quality examination by the quality control unit  140  is pasted on the manufactured commodity  3 . The information of electronic tag  30  pasted on the QC passed commodity  3  is recorded in the stock management unit  142  and is registered in the authorizing and authenticating unit  124  and in the manufacturing management unit  164 . The stock management unit  142  stores the order information, the shipment status, and the stock status. When the commodity  3  with the electronic tag  30  is registered, the quality control unit  140  will check whether the number of the registered commodity  3  surpasses total quantity registration control limit. If the quantity of the registered commodity  3  is larger than the total quantity registration control limit, the registering process cannot execute. The quality control unit  140  includes a commodity registering device  1400  and a commodity code generator  1402 . The quality control unit  140  registers and generates a commodity code for each commodity  3  that has been passed the quality examination by the quality control unit  140 . 
         [0025]    Reference is made to  FIG. 4 , which shows a schematic diagram of a relationship between the brand module and the commodity, and the manufacturing module of the present invention. The brand module  16  includes a second accessing control unit  160 , a commodity management unit  162 , a manufacturing management unit  164 , a consumer management unit  166 , a sale record unit  168 , an identification service unit  170 , an analyzing and reporting unit  172 , a commodity ID card providing unit  174 , a return merchandise authorization and reporting unit  175 , a commodity electronic reading unit  176 , and a portable electronic device  178 . The information generated from the accessing control unit  160 , the commodity management unit  162 , the manufacturing management unit  164 , and the consumer management unit  166  is a reference for the identification service unit  170 . 
         [0026]    The second accessing control unit  160  of the brand module  16  maintains, adds, and deletes the account of the manufacturing module  14  and the selling module  18 . The second accessing control unit  160  also manages the account application for the consumer module  20 . The commodity management unit  162  stores the information of the commodity list and profile, and the stock, etc. The commodity management unit  162  provides an adding and editing function for the commodity  3  profile. When the commodity management unit  162  has a new commodity  3 , a pair of encrypted keys for the new commodity  3  is also generated. One encrypted key is transmitted to the manufacturing module  14  to generate an item for the commodity  3 . Another encrypted key is transmitted to the authorizing module  12  to let the consumer check whether the commodity  3  is legal or not. 
         [0027]    The commodity profile of the commodity management unit  162  stores image data for each registered commodity  3 , the information of the electronic tag  30  corresponding to each registered commodity  3 , and the specification of the commodity  3 , etc. When the electronic tag  30  of a legal commodity  3  is stolen or illegally placed onto a pirate commodity  3 , the pirate commodity  3  is not a legal product. When the owner of the pirate commodity  3  sells the pirate commodity  3 , the buyer reads the information in the electronic tag  30  of the pirate commodity  3  to execute the verification process for checking whether the electronic tag  30  of the pirate commodity  3  is legal or not by the authorizing and authenticating unit  124  of the authorizing module  12 . Because the electronic tag  30  of the pirate commodity  3  has been legally verified, the buyer would think the electronic tag  30  of the pirate commodity  3  is legal. However, at this time, the buyer also can obtain the image data of the legal commodity  3  that corresponds to electronic tag  30  stored in the commodity profile of the commodity management unit  162 . Thereby, the buyer can judge the legalness of the commodity  3  with legal electronic tag  30 . The manufacturing management unit  164  stores the information of orders and generates a production order request based on vendor&#39;s purchase order. 
         [0028]    The consumer management unit  166  manages the register of the consumer and analyzes the selling status of the commodity  3 . The sale record unit  168  stores the order status of the commodity  3  and the selling status. The analyzing and reporting unit  172  includes a market analyzing function and a commodity information reporting function. The analyzing and reporting unit  172  analyzes the information of the sale record unit  168  to help marketing and product plan by understanding product segmentation, customer group, sales distribution, sales cycle, purchase behavior of consumers, and other sales activities. The analyzing and reporting unit  172  reports the daily sale information of the commodity  3 . The brand module  16  provides a customized customer service for a specific customer group according to the market analyzing function. The commodity ID card providing unit  174  makes a commodity ID card for the quantity-limited commodity  3 . The commodity ID card has a pair of identification information. One is an electronic tag  30  of the commodity  3 . Another is a quantity-limited commodity tag. The return merchandise authorization and reporting unit  175  deals with the return merchandise authorization process according to the item of the commodity  3  and the cause of return merchandise authorization from the customer module  20 . 
         [0029]    The portable electronic device  178  stores a database with the legal registering information of the commodity  3 . The database is stored in a memory. The portable electronic device  178  can be a PDA, an information collector, or a smart cell phone etc. The brand module  16  utilizes the portable electronic device  178  to check whether the commodity  3  in the manufacturing module  14 , the brand module  16 , and the selling module  18  is legally registered or not. 
         [0030]    Reference is made to  FIG. 5 , which shows a schematic diagram of a relationship between the selling module and the commodity, the consumer module, the authorizing module, and the manufacturing module of the present invention. The selling module  18  includes an Electronic Article Surveillance unit  180 , a sales and service unit  182 , a commodity registering unit  184 , a verification and service unit  186 , a commodity electronic reading unit  188 , a commodity stock information unit  190 , and a return merchandise authorization and reporting unit  192 . Firstly, the selling module  18  sends an order requesting command to the sale record unit  168  of the brand module  16 . The brand module  16  transmits the QC passed commodity  3  to the selling module  18  and stores the commodity  3  in the commodity stock information unit  190 . After the commodity  3  stored in the selling module  18  is sold, the sale information is transmitted to the sales and service unit  182 , database unit  122 , and the authorizing and authenticating unit  124  of the authorizing module  12 . The Electronic Article Surveillance unit  180  prevents the commodity  3  from being stolen by utilizing the detection algorithm in the electronic tag  30  of the commodity  3  and the sensor alarm gateway. 
         [0031]    When the customer module  20  receives the commodity  3  from the selling module  18 , the commodity electronic reading unit  188  reads the information of the electronic tag  30  of the commodity  3 , sends the information of the electronic tag  30  of the commodity  3  to the commodity registering unit  184  to register the commodity  3 , and sends the information to the sale record unit  168  of the brand module  16  via the Internet  10  to record the commodity  3  is sold. Finally, the verification and service unit  186  provides a commodity ID card with a pair of identification information to the customer module  20 . The return merchandise authorization and reporting unit  192  deals with the return merchandise authorization process according to the defect problem of the commodity  3  and the cause of return from the customer module  20 . When the customer module  20  receives the commodity  3  from the selling module  18  via an abnormal process (without a check-out process), the Electronic Article Surveillance unit  180  issues an alarm signal to drive an alarm (not shown in the figure) or transmit the alarm signal to a police station (not shown in the figure) via the Internet  10 . 
         [0032]    Reference is made to  FIG. 6 , which shows a schematic diagram of a relationship between the consumer module and the authorizing module, the manufacturing module, the brand module, and the selling module of the present invention. The consumer module  20  includes an identification service unit  200 , and a commodity reading unit  202 . The consumer can check whether the commodity  3  is legal or not by connecting to the brand module  16  via the Internet  10 . 
         [0033]    Reference is made to  FIG. 7 , which shows a flow chart of the counterfeit-impeding method of the commodity logistics service system of the present invention. In order to clearly illustrate the flow chart, reference also is made to  FIGS. 1-6 . 
         [0034]    In  FIG. 7 , the present invention manages the logistical information of the commodity with an electronic tag via the Internet. The manufacturing management unit  164  of the brand module  16  issues manufacturing orders and the exactly amount of electronic tags  30  described in the manufacturing order to the stock management unit  142  of a manufacturing module  14  (S 100 ). After the manufacturing module  14  receives manufacturing orders from the manufacturing management unit  164 , the manufacturing module  14  produces the commodity  3 . Each electronic tag  30  of commodity  3  is examined by the quality control unit  140  of the manufacturing module  14  for authorization and registration. The amount of QC passed commodity  3  and information of associated electronic tag  30  are stored in the stock management unit  142  of the manufacturing module  14 , and registered in the authorizing and authenticating unit  124  of the authorized module  12  and in the manufacturing management unit  164  of the brand module  16  (S 102 ). When the quantity of registered commodity  3  surpasses the total quantity registration control limit, the commodity  3  cannot be registered. Next, whether the QC passed commodity  3  is legally registered or not is determined (S 104 ). If the commodity  3  is legal, the manufacturing module  14  sends the QC passed commodity  3  to the commodity management unit  162  of the brand module  16  and stores the commodity  3  (S 108 ). If the commodity  3  is illegal, an illegal notice is issued to the manufacturing module  14  (S 106 ). 
         [0035]    Whether the commodity  3  stored in the commodity management unit  162  is legally registered or not is checked (S 110 ). If the commodity  3  is legally registered, the commodity  3  is shipped to the commodity stock information unit  190  of the selling module  18 , and is registered in the commodity registering unit  184  (S 114 ). If the commodity  3  is not legally registered, an illegal notice is issued to the brand module  16  (S 112 ). Next, a commodity check-out process is executed (S 116 ). When a customer represented by the customer module  20  takes a commodity  3  from the selling module  18 , the commodity electronic reading unit  188  sends an inquiry to the commodity registering unit  184  to determine whether the commodity  3  is legally registered or not (S 118 ). If the commodity  3  is not legally registered, an illegal notice is issued to the selling module  18  (S 120 ). If the commodity  3  is legal, the selling module  18  checks whether the commodity  3  taken by the customer module  20  belongs to the quantity-limited commodity or not (S 122 ). If the commodity  3  is a quantity-limited commodity, the verification and service unit  186  of the selling module  18  provides a commodity ID card with a pair of identification information to the customer module (S 124 ). The commodity ID card is provided from the commodity ID card providing unit  174  of the brand module  16 . If the commodity  3  is not a quantity-limited commodity, the check-out process is executed (S 126 ). The sales and service unit  182  of the selling module  18  and the sale record unit  168  of the brand module  16  records the commodity  3  as having been sold (S 128 ), and the sale information of the authorizing module  12  is updated. 
         [0036]    The present invention utilizes the verifying mechanism of the authorizing and authenticating unit of the authorizing module and the commodity management unit of the brand module of the commodity logistics service system to impede the counterfeiting of a commodity. All commodities are registered in the database of the authorizing module. The commodity management unit of the brand module records the commodity information that the commodity has passed quality examination by the quality control unit of the manufacturing module. Thus, counterfeit commodities are impeded via the verifying algorithms and the multiple commodity recording method. 
         [0037]    The description above only illustrates specific embodiments and examples of the invention. The invention should therefore cover various modifications and variations made to the herein-described structure and operations of the invention, provided they fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the following appended claims.