US US8131597

Analysis of U.S. Patent US8131597

Washington, D.C. - An analysis of United States Patent US8131597 reveals a method for linking physical products to online resources, a foundational concept in the integration of physical and digital commerce. The patent, which has been the subject of significant licensing and litigation activity over the years, is currently assigned to NM LLC.

The patent, titled "System and method for using an ordinary article of commerce to access a remote computer," was filed on June 30, 2010, and issued on March 6, 2012. The inventors listed are Frank C. Hudetz and Peter R. Hudetz.

The core innovation described in the patent is a system where a user can utilize a product's existing identification code, such as a UPC barcode, to access a related online resource. According to the abstract, a user can input the code, for instance by scanning a barcode, into a computing system. This system then uses a database to look up a corresponding network address, such as a URL, and directs the user's device to the relevant online location.

A review of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) dockets for 2026 did not reveal any pending cases specifically naming US Patent US8131597. However, this does not preclude the possibility of ongoing district court litigation or cases filed under different identifiers.

Overview of Independent Claims:

The patent includes several independent claims, which define the broadest scope of the invention. In plain language, these are:

• Claim 1: This claim outlines a method for a user's computer to communicate with a remote information server. The user's device "machine-reads" a data carrier (like a barcode) to get an index number. This index is sent to a server, which uses a database to find a corresponding "pointer" (like a URL). The server sends this pointer back to the user's device, which then uses it to directly connect to the targeted information computer.

• Claim 12: This claim describes the user's computing system itself. It is configured with an input device (like a barcode scanner) to read an index from a data carrier. The system is programmed to send this index to a remote server, receive a pointer back from the server, and then use that pointer to connect to the specific remote information computer.

• Claim 22: This claim focuses on the actions of the remote server. It details a method where the server receives an index from a user's device, the index having been obtained by machine-reading a data carrier. The server then uses this index to look up a corresponding pointer in its database and sends that pointer back to the user's device.

• Claim 27: This claim describes the remote server system. The server stores a database linking indices to pointers. It is programmed to receive an index from a user's computer, retrieve the associated pointer from the database, and transmit that pointer back to the user's computer.

In essence, the independent claims collectively protect the entire ecosystem of using a physical product's identifier to seamlessly bridge a user to an online experience, covering the actions of the user's device and the intermediary server that facilitates this connection.