Abstract:
A method and system for implementing a secure return policy of supply chain for digitally stored products. The method and system verifies whether each product for return originated within the supply chain. If the product did originate within the supply chain and qualifies for return under the supply chain&#39;s return policy, the data existing on the physical media is securely rendered unusable. A record of the destruction allows for a reversal of the entire transaction within the supply chain.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation in part of U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/120,866 filed on Feb. 20, 1999 and claims priority therefrom. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and system for inventory tracking and destruction of returned digitally stored products to a supply chain having one or more stores. In particular, the present invention relates to a method, an apparatus, and system for electronically handling, confirming, and destroying a digitally stored product such as a Compact Disc, a Digital Versatile Disc or a Digital Audio Tape returned to a supply chain such as a store or chain of stores selling such merchandise. 
     2. The Prior Art 
     The prior art discloses various inventory tracking systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,560 to Newell et al. relates the return of rented videocassette. The videocassettes are intended to be reused in further rentals and are not destroyed or marked void. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,954 to Weaver et al. discloses a matching system for scanning and sorting documents. 
     None of the aforementioned prior art inventions discloses or suggests a method and system for implementing a return policy of a supply chain for digitally stored merchandise. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a method and a system for implementing a return policy of a supply chain for digitally stored products in which each product for return can be verified as originating within the supply chain, rendered unusable, and the transaction voided within the supply chain. 
     It is a further object of the inventon to vary the method of rendering the returned product unusable based on the physical nature of the product being returned. 
     It is yet another object of the invention to provide a receiving bin in which the product for return is placed and from which the deposited product for return can not be removed until the product is rendered unusable or is determined as not originating from the supply chain. 
     It is still another object of the invention to identify the product for return as originating from the supply chain and/or the return policy of the product for return by external examination of indicia on the product and/or by internal examination of files in the product. 
     Other objects in the present invention will become apparent from the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings in which: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 (encompassing FIG. 1.1 and FIG. 1.2) is a flow chart describing the method and system of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 2 is an overall block diagram describing the present invention and alternative components therein. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, which is a flow chart of the present invention in which the invention remains idle until a customer decides to return a product. The product is reviewed to determine if this product qualifies for return under the supply chain&#39;s return policy ( 1  of FIG.  1 . 1 ). This review can be done manually by the retailer or store clerk by external examination of the product and/or by electronically scanning the external markings by a barcode scanner or other suitable device. If the markings are internal such as a file containing a unique product identifier or a file containing the information addressing the returnability of the product, then the product would be examined after it is placed in the receiving bin or bay ( 8  of FIG. 1.2) and examined by a media reader or reading device. 
     The product for return is a digitally stored product and can preferably fall into one of the following three categories: 
     Category (a): Erasable or non-erasable optical medium, which can be altered by application of a laser such as: Compact Disc Rewriteable (CD-RW), Compact Disc Recordable (CD-R), or Digital Versatile Disc Random Access Memory (DVD-RAM). 
     Category (b): Non-erasable optical medium such as: Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) or Digital Versatile Disc Read Only Memory (DVD-ROM). 
     Category (c): Erasable or non-erasable magnetic medium such as: Digital Audio Tape (DAT) or VHS Video Tape. 
     The supply chain may be a single store, a number of stores, or a chain of stores. Each store of the supply chain has a Product Fulfillment Server ( 22  of FIG. 2) shown in FIG. 2 networked to a Transaction Metering Server ( 29  of FIG. 2) and Secure Transaction Database ( 30  of FIG. 2 ), a transaction database for the supply chain containing database information associated with the supply chain, for the Content Metering Authority which can be formed as one or more servers and databases used to record and authorize activity with the supply chain. After the returns procedure is initiated ( 2 ) the retailer determines if the reason for the return is valid ( 3  of FIG.  1 . 1 ). If it is not valid then the process is terminated ( 4   b  of FIG.  1 . 1 ). If the return is valid then the product is examined for an external marking for a unique serialized number ( 4   a  of FIG.  1 . 1 ). This serial number can be inputted into the Product Fulfillment Server by keyboard, by scanning the product&#39;s marking by a barcode reader ( 4   c  of FIG.  1 . 1 ), or by other means such as an Optional Data Collection Device ( 25  of FIG. 2) such as but not limited to a light pen or a wireless PDA. The Product Fulfillment Server then searches the Secure Transaction Database ( 30  of FIG.2) with the inputted serial number to determine if the product originated within the supply chain ( 7  of FIG.  1 . 1 ). If the comparison indicates that there is no match within the Secure Transaction Database ( 30  of FIG. 2) for the serial number, then the process is terminated ( 7   a  of FIG.  1 . 1 ). If there is a match, then the retailer is prompted to insert the product into the appropriate receiving bin or bay ( 7   b  of FIG.  1 . 1 ). The appropriate bay will depend on the category product as being in the aforementioned categories “a”, “b” and “c” so that the appropriate media is processed by the appropriate media processing equipment such as media reader and writer, etc. In the bay, the product or media is then read by a Media Reading/Writing ( 23  of FIG. 2) device to verify that the product placed into the bin or bay is the same product identified by the retailer prior to the placement into the bin ( 9  of FIG.  1 . 2 ). Thus verification can be attempted any number of times such as X times, where X can be any integer selectively chosen by the user of the system, thus giving the system several attempts to have the product placed in the correct bin if it is mistakenly placed in the wrong bin where it cannot be read by the correct media reading device. 
     Once the product is read, the information is retained in the receiving bin for transmission to the Transaction Metering Server following confirmation that the product has been rendered unusable. The product or media is then rendered unusable in a manner consistent with the category of product it is. If it is a category “a” product, namely a Compact Disc Rewriteable (CD-RW), Compact Disc Recordable (CD-R), or Digital Versatile Disc Random Access Memory (DVD-RAM), then the category “a” product is rendered unusable by a medium writer which has a laser for rewriting the product, thus overwriting and changing the data on the product ( 10   c  of FIG.  1 . 2 ). In addition, a printer ( 28  of FIG. 2) can then print stripes such as zebra type stripes on the face of the product and a label with the word “voided” printed on the label can be adhesively placed on the face of the product ( 11   a  of FIG.  1 . 2 ). 
     If the product is a category “b” product such as a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) or Digital Versatile Disc Read Only Memory (DVD-ROM) then it is rendered unusable by physically destroying said product for return. In addition, a printer ( 28  of FIG. 2) can then print a label with the word “voided” printed on the label, can be adhesively placed in the face of the product ( 11   a  of FIG.  1 . 2 ). 
     If the product is a category “c” product such as a Digital Audio Tape (DAT) or VHS Video Tape then the products can be rendered unusable by a magnetic device employing magnetic means to erase all data contained on the product. The label and/or zebra stripes can then be placed on the product ( 11   a  of FIG.  1 . 2 ). 
     After the printing step ( 11   a  of FIG. 1.2) (or if there is no label printer or zebra stripe printing then the printing step ( 11   a  of FIG. 1.2) is bypassed) and the Product Fulfillment Server communicates and transmits to the Transaction Metering Server ( 29  of FIG. 2) the reversal of the sales transaction of the product returned and now rendered unusable. The Transaction Metering Server then reverses the transaction through the supply chain by entering the return in the Secure Transaction Database ( 30  of FIG.  2 ). The process is then terminated ( 12  of FIG.  1 . 2 ). 
     While presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, numerous changes in the arrangement of method steps and apparatus parts can be made by those skilled in the art. Such changes are encompassed within the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.