Crunchfish receives Notice of Allowance of a Swedish patent for automated individual pricing based on individual product information

2020-06-23|

Digital Cash

Crunchfish AB (“Crunchfish”) has received a Notice of Allowance from the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV) that patent application 1950539-5 will be granted, concerning an automated method for individual pricing of a product based on the individual characteristics of the product, such as best-before-date, or batch number. The patent has a broad scope of protection that applies to all in-store payments, not just when Crunchfish’s proximity-based technology is used. The patent right in Sweden is valid until May 2039. A corresponding patent application has also been filed internationally and deemed patentable by PRV.

Consumers typically choose the goods on the store shelf that has the longest shelf life. This means that when fresher goods are unpacked, the older goods will remain and eventually be discarded. With modern product labelling according to the new GS1 Digital Link standard, an individual package can be labelled with information about where, when and how it was manufactured. This patent uses the individual product information in the GS1 Digital Link to offer the consumer a pre-programmed dynamic discount which, for example, can be bigger the closer to a product’s best-before date. Alternatively, the discount can only be offered for goods manufactured in a certain batch. In addition, the patent contains protection to include personal information about the customer, which can easily be sent to the cash register using Crunchfish’s proximity-based technology, in order to influence the price of the product.

GS1 Digital Link is a further development of the traditional EAN product code that enables traceability and better sustainability management, but also new opportunities in marketing and sales. GS1 develops common standards to give products, services and locations around the world a unique identity, collect data on them and then share the information within and between business systems. GS1 standards are used by over 1.5 million companies in over 100 countries. In Sweden alone, over 12,000 companies use GS1’s standards in their daily operations.

“This is an exciting patent for Crunchfish with general applicability in the retail sector and in particular for the grocery trade. The patent creates opportunities for suppliers and merchants to get consumers to choose goods that, although there is nothing wrong with them, risk being passed over if there are fresher goods or a better production batch available. This is important from an environmental, logistics and cost perspective”, says Joachim Samuelsson, CEO at Crunchfish.

Crunchfish’s patent portfolio
Crunchfish has, nationally and internationally, 69 active patents and patent applications in two technology areas – proximity-based technology and gesture control. Within proximity-based technology, there are 25 unique inventions, 17 of which have been granted patents in any market. Within the gesture control business, 11 of 12 inventions have been granted patents. The company owns all its patents and patent applications without restrictions.

Crunchfish’s strategy is to protect the company’s technology in all geographic markets that are deemed to be of importance. Crunchfish intends to continuously expand its patent portfolio to selected markets and through new inventions in both gesture control and augmented reality.

For more information, contact:
Joachim Samuelsson, CEO at Crunchfish
+46 708 46 47 88
joachim.samuelsson@crunchfish.com

Ulf Rogius Svensson, IR & Marketing Manager
+46 733 26 81 05
ir@crunchfish.com

Västra Hamnen Corporate Finance AB is the Certified Adviser. Email: ca@vhcorp.se. Telephone +46 40 200 250.

Link to the original press release in Swedish