Researchers Submit Patent Application, “Facilitating Transactions With A User Account Using A Wireless Device”, for Approval (USPTO 20230014371): Patent Application

2023 FEB 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Washington, D.C., NewsRx journalists report that a patent application by the inventor Maragoudakis, Zachary (Cupertino, CA, US), filed on September 23, 2022, was made available online on January 19, 2023.

No assignee for this patent application has been made.

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present disclosure relates generally to wearable electronic devices and in particular to a wearable device that can facilitate access to another (host) device.

“Mobile electronic devices, such as mobile phones, smart phones, tablet computers, media players, and the like, have become quite popular. Many users carry a device almost everywhere they go and use their devices for a variety of purposes, including making and receiving phone calls, sending and receiving text messages and emails, navigation (e.g., using maps and/or a GPS receiver), purchasing items in stores (e.g., using contactless payment systems), and/or accessing the Internet (e.g., to look up information).

“However, a user’s mobile device is not always readily accessible. For instance, when a mobile device receives a phone call, the device may be in a user’s bag or pocket, and the user may be walking, driving, carrying something, or involved in other activity that makes it inconvenient or impossible for the user to reach into the bag or pocket to find the device.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to wearable electronic devices that can be connected (e.g., via wireless pairing) with another device (referred to herein as a “host device”), such as a smart phone, other mobile phone, tablet computer, media player, laptop computer, or the like. When paired, the wearable device can provide access to various functionalities of the host device.

“Certain embodiments relate to using a wearable device to facilitate a purchase transaction with a point-of-sale terminal in a store. In some embodiments, the wearable device can facilitate creation of a purchase order, e.g., by obtaining product information for products of interest as selected by the user. As the user selects products to purchase, the user can operate the wearable device to add each product to a purchase order. After selecting one or more desired products, the user can proceed to a point-of-sale (“POS”) terminal located somewhere in the store. The wearable device can establish communication with the POS terminal, e.g., using a near-field communication (“NFC”) transceiver. The wearable device can provide the purchase order to the POS terminal, which can determine a final price for the transaction.

“In some embodiments, a wearable device can also facilitate payment for products in a purchase transaction. For example, a user can store financial account identifying information (e.g., credit card or debit card numbers and related information) in a wearable device, e.g., by transferring the information from a host device during a verified session. At a POS terminal, the user can select a financial account to be used for a purchase transaction by interacting with the wearable device, and the wearable device can transmit the financial account identifying information to the POS terminal, e.g., using an NFC communication channel. The POS terminal can send a transaction request to a payment processor associated with the financial account and receive a response, e.g., an approval of the transaction.

“In some embodiments, a host device that is paired with the wearable device can also participate in the purchase transaction. For example, a wearable device at the POS terminal can communicate with a host device (e.g., in a verified session) to obtain financial account identifying information in real time. As another example, the host device can communicate with the payment processor to verify the transaction request.

“To facilitate payment transactions and/or other transactions involving access to a user’s accounts, a user can store account identifying information (also referred to as an “account identifier” or “account ID”) in a wearable device. The account identifying information can be obtained from a host device during a verified session in which the wearable device is being worn while the host device and the wearable device are confirmed to be in proximity to each other and in communication with each other. The wearable device can store the account identifying information, e.g., until it ceases to be worn.

“In some embodiments, a wearable device can facilitate a purchase transaction. For instance, the wearable device can obtain product information (e.g., product name and/or price) for one or more products to be purchased (e.g., by reading a computer-readable tag such as a UPC bar code, QR code, or RFID tag as described below) and can add the product information to a purchase order. The wearable device can transmit the purchase order to a point-of-sale terminal (e.g., using a near-field communication channel) and can further communicate with the point-of-sale terminal to complete a purchase transaction for the products.

“In some instances, the wearable device can provide account information for the user’s payment account to the point-of-sale terminal. For example, the wearable device can interact with the user to obtain a user selection of a payment account, and the wearable device can provide the account identifying information for the selected payment account to the point-of-sale terminal. If the account identifying information has been pre-loaded onto the wearable device (e.g., in a verified session as described below), the wearable device can retrieve the stored information. Alternatively, the wearable device can communicate with a paired host device to obtain account identifying information on an as-needed basis. In either case, the wearable device can provide account identifying information to the point-of-sale terminal, allowing the point-of-sale terminal to perform a purchase transaction with a payment processor.

“In some embodiments, a wearable device can facilitate management of user account data, e.g., by aiding the user in making the data available when it is needed. For example, a wearable device that is being worn can establish a verified communication session with a host device. During the verified communication session, the wearable device can receive user account data from the host device during the verified communication session and can store the received user account data in a local storage medium. The host device can provide the account data in an encrypted form (e.g., using a session key that is specific to the verified communication session). The wearable device can continue to store the user account data until the wearable device ceases to be worn, at which point the data can be deleted from the wearable device’s local storage. While the data is stored, the wearable device can, upon request, provide a selected subset of the received user account data to a checkpoint device (which can be any electronic device capable of reading account data provided by the wearable device). In some instances, the selection can be based on input from the user; for instance, the user can operate a user interface of the wearable device to select an account for which data is to be provided at a checkpoint. In some instances, the selection can be based on information received from a particular checkpoint device, and the wearable device can automatically select an account, e.g., based on the identity of the checkpoint device.

“Various types of account data can be managed. Examples include identifying information for any of the user’s financial accounts, membership accounts (e.g., gyms, libraries), health insurance accounts, accounts maintained with a service provider (e.g., a doctor’s office), public transit passes or debit-based transit accounts, security credentials that may grant the user access to restricted areas of a facility (e.g., an office building), and so on. Examples of checkpoint devices capable of receiving account data can include a point-of-sale terminal at a store, a security barrier in a facility, a check-in desk (e.g., at a gym, doctor’s office, or the like), and so on.

“The following detailed description together with the accompanying drawings will provide a better understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method of managing user account data performed by a wearable device in communication with a host device, the method comprising: determining, by the wearable device, whether the wearable device is in a trusted state, the trusted state comprising the wearable device being worn and the host device being within a threshold distance from the wearable device at a time correlated with a sign-in event; in accordance with a determination that the wearable device is in the trusted state, establishing, by the wearable device, a verified communication session with the host device, the verified communication session being established while the wearable device is being worn and while the host device is within the threshold distance of the wearable device; receiving, by the wearable device, user account data from the host device during the verified communication session; storing, by the wearable device, the received user account data in a storage medium of the wearable device; providing, by the wearable device, a subset of the stored user account data to a checkpoint terminal; and in the event that the wearable device ceases to be worn, deleting, by the wearable device, the stored user account data from the storage medium.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user account data comprises identifying information of a user.

“3. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying information is usable to perform a transaction on behalf of the user.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the verified communication session comprises establishing a session key and wherein the user account data is received in an encrypted form, and the method further comprising: decrypting, by the wearable device, the received user account data using the session key.

“5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: subsequently to storing the received user account data, receiving, by the wearable device, a request from a checkpoint terminal for account data; and selecting the subset of the stored account data to be transmitted to a checkpoint terminal based at least in part on the request.

“6. The method of claim 5, wherein the checkpoint terminal comprises a point of sale terminal and the account data comprises account identifying information that is usable by the point of sale terminal to perform a purchase transaction with a payment processor.

“7. The method of claim 5, wherein the checkpoint terminal comprises a security barrier and the account data comprises an authorization credential of the user.

“8. The method of claim 5, wherein the wearable device transmits account data to the checkpoint terminal using a near-field communication channel.

“9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: subsequently to storing the received user account data, receiving, by the wearable device, a user selection of an account for which account data is to be sent to the checkpoint terminal; and selecting the subset of the stored account data to be transmitted to the checkpoint terminal based at least in part on the user selection.

“10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the wearable device, a user request to load account data onto the wearable device; and transmitting, by the wearable device, a request for user account data to the host device in response to the user request, wherein the wearable device transmits the request during the verified communication session.

“11. A system comprising: a communication interface; a storage medium; a sensor to detect whether a wearable device is being worn; and a processor coupled to the communication interface, the storage medium, and the sensor, the processor configured to: determine whether the wearable device is in a trusted state, the trusted state comprising the wearable device being worn and the host device being within a threshold distance from the wearable device at a time correlated with a sign-in event; in accordance with a determination that the wearable device is in the trusted state, establish a verified communication session with the host device, the verified communication session being established while the wearable device is being worn and while the host device is within the threshold distance of the wearable device; receive user account data from the host device during the verified communication session; store the received user account data in a storage medium of the wearable device; provide a subset of the stored user account data to a checkpoint terminal; and in the event that the wearable device ceases to be worn, delete the stored user account data from the storage medium.

“12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a user interface, wherein the processor is further configured to select a subset of the stored account data to be transmitted to a checkpoint terminal based at least in part on user input received at the user interface.

“13. The system of claim 11, wherein establishing the verified communication session comprises establishing a session key and wherein the user account data is received in an encrypted form, and wherein the processor is further configured to: decrypt the received user account data using the session key.

“14. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: subsequently to storing the received user account data, receive a request from a checkpoint terminal for account data; and select the subset of the stored account data to be transmitted to a checkpoint terminal based at least in part on the request.

“15. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive a user request to load account data onto the wearable device; and transmit a request for user account data to the host device in response to the user request, wherein the wearable device transmits the request during the verified communication session.

“16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon program instructions that, when executed by a processor in a wearable device, cause the processor in the wearable device to perform operations comprising: determining whether the wearable device is in a trusted state, the trusted state comprising the wearable device being worn and the host device being within a threshold distance from the wearable device at a time correlated with a sign-in event; in accordance with a determination that the wearable device is in the trusted state, establishing a verified communication session with the host device, the verified communication session being established while the wearable device is being worn and while the host device is within the threshold distance of the wearable device; receiving user account data from the host device during the verified communication session; storing the received user account data in a storage medium of the wearable device; providing a subset of the stored user account data to a checkpoint terminal; and in the event that the wearable device ceases to be worn, deleting the stored user account data from the storage medium.

“17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein establishing the verified communication session comprises establishing a session key and wherein the user account data is received in an encrypted form, and the operations further comprise: decrypting the received user account data using the session key.

“18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise: subsequently to storing the received user account data, receiving a request from a checkpoint terminal for the user account data; and selecting the subset of the stored user account data to be transmitted to the checkpoint terminal based at least in part on the request.

“19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise: subsequently to storing the received user account data, receiving a user selection of an account for which the user account data is to be sent to a checkpoint terminal; and selecting the subset of the stored user account data to be transmitted to the checkpoint terminal based at least in part on the user selection.

“20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving, by the processor of the wearable device, a user request to load account data onto the wearable device; and transmitting, by the processor in the wearable device, a request for the user account data to the host device in response to the user request, wherein the wearable device transmits the request during the verified communication session.”

For additional information on this patent application, see: Maragoudakis, Zachary. Facilitating Transactions With A User Account Using A Wireless Device. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230014371, filed September 23, 2022 and posted January 19, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230014371)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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