Patent ID: 7289969

Claim:
A method in a computing system for managing ownership of units of a plurality of items relative to an inventory commingling zone, comprising: in the computing system, receiving a plurality of inter-zone product unit relocation indications each signifying the relocation on behalf of an identified owner of an identified number of units of an identified item either (1) from an identified location within the commingling zone to a location outside the commingling zone, or (2) from a location outside the commingling zone to an identified location within the commingling zone; in the computing system, for each received inter-zone product unit relocation indication: altering an owner-differentiated count of the units of the identified item residing anywhere within the commingling zone that are owned by the identified owner by the identified number of units; altering an owner-undifferentiated count of the units of the identified item residing at the identified location within the commingling zone by the identified number of units; in the computing system, receiving a plurality of intra-zone unit relocation indications each signifying the relocation of an identified number of units of an identified item from an identified source location within the commingling zone to an identified destination location within the commingling zone; in the computing system, for each received intra-zone product unit relocation indication: decrementing an owner-undifferentiated count of the units of the identified item residing at the identified source location within the commingling zone by the identified number of units; and incrementing an owner-undifferentiated count of the units of the identified item residing at the identified destination location within the commingling zone by the identified number of units.