The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 27, 2006
Filed:
Sep. 26, 2002
J. P. Leon, Tucson, AZ (US);
J. P. Leon, Tucson, AZ (US);
Neopost Inc., Hayward, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of preparing a mailpiece includes applying a mailpiece identification (MI) code that uniquely identifies the mailpiece, and applying a destination code to the mailpiece signifying at least part of an address. Tracking and accounting for such a mailpiece includes: at an postal service mail processing (MP) site, obtaining the MI code and the destination code, and sending a mailpiece message including at least the MI code to a postage vendor (PV) site; and at the PV site, storing information from the mailpiece message, debiting an account of the mailer for postage, crediting an account of a postal service for postage, and when the mailpiece message indicates that the mailpiece has arrived at its destination, retiring the MI code as no longer available for use on a mailpiece (at least for some predetermined time).