{
  "patent_number": "US 10192220",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Square Syncs Inventory Between Physical Shops and Online Stores",
  "original_title": "Integrated online and offline inventory management",
  "summary": "A system that lets store owners toggle items between online and physical sales channels using a single dashboard to keep stock counts accurate everywhere.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a centralized database that tracks inventory for both a physical store and an online shop. It uses 'flags' in a database to mark whether an item is available for in-person purchase, online purchase, or both. Through a graphical user interface, a merchant can select an item and click a button to instantly add it to their online store. The system then automatically updates the online store's product list and ensures the inventory records are synchronized so that a sale in one place reflects correctly in the central system.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover automated inventory restocking from suppliers",
    "Does not cover physical barcode scanning hardware or RFID tracking",
    "Does not cover the specific payment processing logic for transactions",
    "Does not cover logistics or shipping carrier integration"
  ],
  "filed": "2014-06-23",
  "granted": "2019-01-29",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Square Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/square-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Jesse Reiss",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/jesse-reiss"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andrew Lin",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/andrew-lin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Joseph Loree Robinson",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/joseph-loree-robinson"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ajit Kalidindi Varma",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/ajit-kalidindi-varma"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 6,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "software",
    "ecommerce"
  ],
  "abstract": "Method, systems, and apparatus for integrated online and offline sales management. A system manages both offline and online transactions and inventory in an integrated environment. An offline transaction is a sale at a point of sale (POS) system, e.g., at a typical “brick and mortar shop” physical store. An online transaction is a sale using an online store, e.g., an online shopping cart and checkout system accessed by a web browser or other application. An online store can be converted to offline store, and vice versa. An inventory management system can receive an input from a merchant device of merchant designating an item carried by the merchant as an item to be sold at the physical store, at the online store, or both. The inventory management system can modify a record of the item to respond to the input.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10192220/square-capital",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10192220/square-capital/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10192220",
  "relatedPatents": []
}