{
  "patent_number": "US 7672870",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How American Express Tracks Your Spending Habits Across Different Stores",
  "original_title": "System and method for monitoring consumer purchasing activity",
  "summary": "A system that links store-specific product codes to universal manufacturer codes to help consumers track their spending and stay within personal budgets.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a method for a central processor to bridge the gap between different retailers' internal tracking systems and universal product standards. It takes a store's specific Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) and maps it to a manufacturer's Universal Product Code (UPC). By doing this, the system can categorize purchases automatically regardless of which store the item was bought at. For example, if you buy a gallon of milk at a grocery store and a gallon of milk at a pharmacy, the system recognizes both as 'Groceries' and subtracts the cost from your pre-set monthly food budget.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover simple transaction logging that lacks the step of mapping store-specific SKUs to universal UPCs.",
    "Does not cover systems that only track spending at a single retailer without cross-referencing manufacturer-level data.",
    "Does not cover manual budget entry where the user must categorize each purchase themselves."
  ],
  "filed": "2006-07-17",
  "granted": "2010-03-02",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "American Express Travel Related Services Co Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/american-express-travel-related-services-co-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Fauziah B Ariff",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/fauziah-b-ariff"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mark Haines",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/mark-haines"
    },
    {
      "name": "Raymond R Ferrell",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/raymond-r-ferrell"
    },
    {
      "name": "Theodore S Voltmer",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/theodore-s-voltmer"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 36,
  "tags": [
    "finance",
    "software",
    "consumer_electronics"
  ],
  "abstract": "The present invention provides a system for implementing a purchaser incentive program on a network-wide level. The system associates SKU and UPC data on a network level to provide consumers with a purchasing environment that is both convenient and cost-efficient. The association of SKU and UPC data at a network level also provides consumers with the ability to analyze their own purchase data for a variety of purposes, including analyses relating to the consumer's spending behaviors or patterns for example. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the association of UPC and SKU data by the system facilitates a network-wide search for an item that a consumer desires to purchase under terms or conditions that are selected by the consumer and are therefore perceived to be optimal by that consumer. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the association of UPC and SKU data by the system facilitates data analysis by a consumer based upon any of several factors, including items purchased, prices for those items, retailer ID, SKU number, UPC, manufacturer ID, and/or the like. The system may compile any of the above data across multiple entities for the purpose of data analysis, such as analyses which may be employed in consumer budgeting for example.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7672870/amazon-prime",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7672870/amazon-prime/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US7672870",
  "relatedPatents": []
}