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:
Mar. 08, 2016
Filed:
Jun. 13, 2012
Imran Maskatia, Milpitas, CA (US);
Jason Rubinstein, Lake Forest, IL (US);
Imran Maskatia, Milpitas, CA (US);
Jason Rubinstein, Lake Forest, IL (US);
REDBOX AUTOMATED RETAIL, LLC, Oakbrook Terrace, IL (US);
Abstract
A method of substituting digital alternative media for a physical media article at an article dispensing machine to a customer is provided. The method includes receiving a request related to the media article through a user interface from the customer, identifying an associated content provider, and determining the alternative media selection at the associated content provider that corresponds to the media article. The method also includes receiving a unique customer identifier and identifying the associated content provider based on the unique customer identifier. The method further includes mapping the media article to the alternative media selection based on metadata. The media article may be available at the article dispensing machine or may be unavailable due to being out-of-stock or reserved to another customer. The associated content provider may be linked to the customer based on a subscription. The digital alternative media selection may be accessed by an audio/visual display interface.