Patent ID: 7081595

Claim:
A mail processing system for processing a mailpiece received by a delivery service having a plurality of sites, comprising: a database storing address data while the mailpiece is being processed by a plurality of process sites; an input subsystem for generating address data from at least one of a legible destination address on the mailpiece and a legible first code on the mailpiece, the input subsystem transmitting the address data to the database and placing on the mailpiece an identification code identifying the address data, the input subsystem being located at a first site; a mail processing device; a first code reader connected to the mail processing device and configured for determining that a first code previously placed on the mailpiece has become illegible; an identification code reader connected to the mail processing device and configured for reading the identification code from the mailpiece; a processor executing sorter application software for communicating between the identification code reader and the database and using the identification code to obtain address data corresponding to the mailpiece from the the processor executing reconstruction application software for reconstructing the illegible first code using the obtained address data; and an output subsystem, at a second site, for applying the reconstructed first code to the mailpiece.