Resolving item returns of an electronic marketplace

US9697548B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC. · US

Inventors

• Kosar Jaff · Redmond, US
• Shivkumar Shankaran · Issaquah, US
• Nitin Bhat · Seattle, US
• Kimberly Lee Daniels · Seattle, US
• Samuel P. Hall, VI · Seattle, US
• Nicholas John Morren · Seattle, US
• Raja Shekhar Goli · Hyderabad, IN
• Prashant D. Agrawal · Kirkland, US
• Sebastian Jorge Gunningham · Fall City, US
• Brian J. Saltzman · Seattle, US
• Tiana Osbourne Symmonds · Atlanta, US
• Debby Wing Yin Man · New York, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 20, 2014
• Grant date: Jul 4, 2017
• Expiry date: Sep 5, 2034

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06Q30/016
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Techniques for managing a return request may be provided. For example, a user may want to return an item that the user received from an item provider via an electronic marketplace. The user can take a picture of the item and transmit the image to a computer that determines that the user would like to return the item. The computer may also determine that the item is returnable (e.g., was provided to the user within an allowable timeframe, satisfies a constraint for returning the item). The computer can initiate a return of the item. In some examples, the computer can also determine a convenient return location or the reason that the user is returning the item to the item provider.