System and method for determining and reporting whether a mail piece has been opened by a recipient

US7156290B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Pitney Bowes Inc. · US

Inventors

• Denis J. Stemmle · Webster, US
• Jacques E. Hasbani · Easton, US
• Judith D. Auslander · Westport, US
• Douglas B. Quine · Bethel, US
• David Wittenberg · Prescott, US
• Pushpavadan S. Nagarsheth · Danbury, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 15, 2003
• Grant date: Jan 2, 2007
• Expiry date: Aug 3, 2024

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G07B2017/00629
• WIPO field: Control
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A system for determining whether a mail piece has been opened including mail pieces that have the ability indicate a previously opened and never opened state, such as with a state change element, an interrogator unit, such as an RFID reader, for receiving state information, and a data center that receives the state information from the interrogator unit. Also, a method for determining whether a mail piece has been opened including receiving mail pieces at a recipient location, receiving at an interrogator unit, such as an RFID reader, state information from the mail pieces, and transmitting the state information from the interrogator unit to a data center. In either the system or method, each mail piece may have an RFID tag that communicates with the state change element and transmits the state information to the RFID reader. Bar code or other technologies may be substituted for RFID technology.