Patent ID: 8770471

Claim:
An assay system configured to use an assay consumable in the conduct of an assay, said assay consumable comprising an assay consumable identifier and said assay system comprising: (a) a storage medium including a consumable data repository comprising local consumable data; (b) a reader adapted to read consumable data from said consumable identifier; and (c) an interface configured to send and/or receive consumable data to and/or from a remote computing system, wherein said consumable data and local consumable data comprises (i) consumable identification and/or configuration information, and (ii) one or more steps of an assay protocol that can be applied by said system in the conduct of an assay using said consumable, wherein said system is configured to receive updates of said repository via said interface, said updates comprising additional consumable data and at least one consumable data type comprising: (x) one or more analytical tools that can be applied by said system to analyze data generated during and/or after the conduct of an assay, (y) assay system maintenance information, (z) system-consumable promotional information, (xx) system and/or consumable technical support information, or (yy) combinations thereof.