How Smartphones Use Flashing Barcodes for Secure Ticketing
A system for mobile devices to display a series of flashing barcodes that a scanner reads, ensuring tickets are only used during specific valid time windows.
Original patent title: “USRE45784E1 - OFDM signal transmission system, portable terminal and E-commerce system”
A system for mobile devices to display a series of flashing barcodes that a scanner reads, ensuring tickets are only used during specific valid time windows. Granted to Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd in 2015 with 7 claims.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent describes a way for a smartphone to turn digital data into a sequence of barcodes that appear on the screen one after another. The phone includes a detector that senses light or signals from an external barcode reader, which tells the phone exactly when to switch to the next barcode in the sequence. This ensures the reader captures all parts of a large data set, like a complex ticket, even if the screen is small. The system also includes a backend server that checks if a ticket is being scanned at the correct time, preventing unauthorized entry if the reservation window has passed.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover static, single-frame barcodes that do not change based on reader feedback.
- Does not cover systems that rely on GPS or location services to validate ticket entry.
- Does not cover NFC or Bluetooth-based contactless ticketing methods.
- Does not cover the internal hardware design of the barcode scanner itself.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The phone acts as a two-way communicator; it doesn't just show a code, it waits for the scanner to 'signal' that it has successfully read the current frame before advancing to the next one.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Digital concert ticketing apps
Mobile boarding pass systems
Automated event entry kiosks
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This technology addresses the limitations of early smartphone screens, which often struggled to display high-density barcodes clearly. By breaking data into a sequence of flashing codes, it allowed for more secure and detailed digital ticketing. It highlights the transition from paper tickets to dynamic, time-sensitive digital credentials in e-commerce.
Filed
January 9, 2013
Granted
October 27, 2015
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Panasonic, the original assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →, has a long history in consumer electronics and display technologies. Modern mobile wallet providers and event ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster or specialized venue-access startups continue to refine the logic of time-gated digital ticketing.
Market impact
This patent helped standardize the way mobile devices communicate with legacy optical scanners at venues. It provided a bridge for businesses to adopt digital ticketing without needing to replace every single barcode scanner at their entry gates.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent describes a way for a smartphone to turn digital data into a sequence of barcodes that appear on the screen one after another. The phone includes a detector that senses light or signals from an external barcode reader, which tells the phone exactly when to switch to the next barcode in the sequence. This ensures the reader captures all parts of a large data set, like a complex ticket, even if the screen is small. The system also includes a backend server that checks if a ticket is being scanned at the correct time, preventing unauthorized entry if the reservation window has passed.
The clever bit
The phone acts as a two-way communicator; it doesn't just show a code, it waits for the scanner to 'signal' that it has successfully read the current frame before advancing to the next one.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover static, single-frame barcodes that do not change based on reader feedback.
- Does not cover systems that rely on GPS or location services to validate ticket entry.
- Does not cover NFC or Bluetooth-based contactless ticketing methods.
- Does not cover the internal hardware design of the barcode scanner itself.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Early stage
Citation count
0/40
No citations yet
Claim breadth
5/20
Moderate scope
Recency
5/20
Granted 10–20 years ago
Assignee scale
20/20
Major company or institution
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$21K – $67K
Midpoint $42K · 6.6 yr remaining · industry ×1.6
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
7 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Kageyama, S., Isogawa, T., Sakashita, S., Hayashi, K., Takayama, H., & Oshima, M. (2015). How Smartphones Use Flashing Barcodes for Secure Ticketing (U.S. Patent No. RE45,784). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/RE45784/multi-room-wireless-audio
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How Smartphones Use Flashing Barcodes for Secure Ticketing cover?
A system for mobile devices to display a series of flashing barcodes that a scanner reads, ensuring tickets are only used during specific valid time windows.
Who owns patent US RE45784?
Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd owns this patent, granted in 2015.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on October 27, 2035, when the invention enters the public domain.
What problem does this patent solve?
This technology addresses the limitations of early smartphone screens, which often struggled to display high-density barcodes clearly. By breaking data into a sequence of flashing codes, it allowed for more secure and detailed digital ticketing. It highlights the transition from paper tickets to dynamic, time-sensitive digital credentials in e-commerce.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover static, single-frame barcodes that do not change based on reader feedback.
Patent monitoring