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EP-4742136-A1 - METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SUBSCRIPTION TO INTERNET-BASED MULTI-USER MEMBERSHIPS FOR THE USE OF ONE OR MORE HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES, BY MEANS OF A SOFTWARE APPLICATION EXECUTABLE ON A USER'S MOBILE DEVICE AND INTERACTIONS WITH REMOTE SERVERS

EP4742136A1EP 4742136 A1EP4742136 A1EP 4742136A1EP-4742136-A1

Abstract

A method is described for subscribing to Internet-based multi-user memberships for the use of one or more household appliances, through a software application running on a user's mobile device and interactions with remote servers. The method comprises the following steps: (i) associating a plurality of users with a membership and/or subscription and with the related use of at least one household appliance associated with the membership and/or subscription; (ii) providing a software application (APP), stored in and executable by a user's mobile device, configured to allow the registration of one or more household appliances, also through the association with at least one user of the plurality of users, and further configured to allow providing information to said remote servers regarding one or more memberships and/or subscriptions and the users related to said one or more memberships and/or subscriptions; (iii) setting and managing a hierarchy of users, among the users belonging to said plurality of users, wherein said hierarchy of users comprises at least one "main user", who is the user, among said plurality of users, who activates the multi-user membership and/or subscription and provides for the related payments, and one or more further "associated users" enabled to use one or more household appliances, according to constraints defined by the main user, based on the membership of the main user, and upon registration by the main user. A system capable of implementing said method is also described.

Inventors

  • Ferrise, Andrea
  • DEL BELLO, FRANCESCO

Assignees

  • Candy S.p.A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251110

Claims (15)

  1. A method for subscribing to Internet-based multi-user memberships for the use of one or more household appliances, by means of a software application (APP) running on a user's mobile device and through interactions with remote servers, wherein the method comprises: (i) associating a plurality of users with a membership and/or subscription and with the related use of at least one household appliance associated with the membership and/or subscription; (ii) providing a software application (APP), stored in and executable by a user's mobile device, configured to allow the registration of one or more household appliances, also through the association with at least one user of said plurality of users, and further configured to allow providing information to said remote servers regarding one or more memberships and/or subscriptions and regarding the users related to said one or more memberships and/or subscriptions; (iii) setting and managing a hierarchy of users, among the users belonging to said plurality of users, said hierarchy of users comprising at least: - one "main user", who is the user, among said plurality of users, who activates the multi-user membership and/or subscription and provides for the related payments, and - one or more further "associated users" enabled to use one or more household appliances, according to constraints defined by the main user, based on the membership of the main user, and upon registration by the main user.
  2. A method according to claim 1, comprising the further step of associating a plurality of household appliances with a subscribed user, by means of a plurality of respective registration actions, and a plurality of respective subscription plans, so as to obtain a membership and/or subscription for a multi-user and multi-household appliance use.
  3. A method according to claim 2, wherein each of said subscription plans is characterized by a respective pair of "household appliance type" information and "subscription type" information.
  4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said remote servers consist of and/or comprise an "e-commerce server", and/or a "customer account management server" and/or a "billing server" configured to interoperate and interact also with the aforesaid software application (APP).
  5. A method according to claim 4, wherein said remote servers consist of and/or comprise both said "e-commerce server", and said "customer account management server" and said "billing server".
  6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said software application (APP), running on a user's mobile device, is provided by the manufacturer of the household appliance.
  7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: - providing a platform, accessible via the Internet, which acts as a gateway for all membership services and is configured to interact with the software application (APP), wherein said platform provides the user with a single interface for the entire membership service.
  8. A method according to claim 7, wherein said platform accessible via the Internet directly provides "e-commerce server" functions and interoperates with other servers to provide, in a transparent manner for the user, the aforesaid customer account management and billing functions, which are involved in the "multi-user membership".
  9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the information provided by the software application (APP) to the remote servers comprise: - initial information, comprising, for example, email address of the main user and/or email addresses of the associated users and/or identifiers (IDs) of the household appliances for which the membership is obtained, and/or list of allowed users for each household appliance, and/or type of subscription for each user; and/or - periodic information on the use of a specific household appliance by a particular user, for example, for billing purposes.
  10. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of: - allowing the use, by each user, of a household appliance for which the specific user is enabled by accessing the relevant membership by means of the software application (APP), upon carrying out a remote control to verify if the user has the right to use the appliance, before enabling the use thereof.
  11. A method according to claim 10, wherein said step of accessing the relevant membership and/or subscription by means of the software application (APP) comprises logging in by the user, using his/her identifier (ID) as initially registered.
  12. A method according to claim 4 and claim 7, wherein said "billing server" is a "recurring billing server", said platform accessible via the Internet that provides the user with a single interface for the entire membership service comprises a "usage data processing server", and wherein: - the "e-commerce server" and the "customer account management server" are configured to exchange information about orders and customer data; - the "e-commerce server" and the "recurring billing server" are configured to exchange information on generation and subscription; - the "customer account management server" and the "recurring billing server" are configured to exchange information on customer data and recurring orders; - the "customer account management server" and the "usage data processing server" are configured to exchange information on usage statistics and predictive maintenance data; - the "usage data processing server" and the "recurring billing server" are configured to exchange information on executed programs and ageing of the household appliance.
  13. A system for subscribing to Internet-based multi-user memberships for the use of one or more household appliances, comprising: - a user's mobile device, in which a software application (APP) is stored and executable, said software application (APP) being configured to allow the registration of one or more household appliances, also through association with at least one user equipped with said user's mobile device; - electronic processing means, remote from the at least one household appliance and the user's mobile device, operatively and communicatively connected to said user's mobile device, configured to: (i) associate a plurality of users with a membership and/or subscription and with the related use of at least one household appliance associated with the membership and/or subscription; (iii) set and manage a hierarchy of users, among the users belonging to said plurality of users, said hierarchy of users comprising at least: - one "main user", which is the user, among said plurality of users, who activates the multi-user membership and/or subscription and provides for the related payments, and - one or more further "associated users" enabled to use one or more household appliances, according to constraints defined by the main user, based on the membership of the main user, and upon registration by the main user; wherein said software application (APP) is further configured to allow providing information to said remote servers regarding one or more memberships and/or subscriptions and regarding the users related to said one or more memberships and/or subscriptions.
  14. A system according to claim 13, wherein said electronic processing means comprise one or more remote servers, wherein said one or more remote servers consist of and/or comprise an "e-commerce server", and/or a "customer account management server" and/or a "billing server" configured to interoperate and interact also with said software application (APP), and/or wherein said "customer account management server" comprises a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) server, and/or wherein said "billing server" comprises a billing platform with a billing engine, and/or wherein the system further comprises a platform, accessible via the Internet, which acts as a gateway for all the membership services and is configured to interact with the software application (APP), wherein said platform accessible via the Internet provides the user with a single interface for the entire membership service, and/or wherein said platform accessible via the Internet directly provides "e-commerce server" functions and interoperates with other servers to provide, in a transparent manner for the user, the aforesaid customer account management and billing functions, which are involved in the "multi-user membership".
  15. A system according to claim 14, configured to perform a method according to any one of claims 1-13.

Description

TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of application. The present invention relates to the general technical field of subscription to memberships by means of digital tools, Internet-based, for the use of one or more products or services. In particular, the invention refers to a method, and to a related system, for subscribing to Internet-based multi-user memberships for the use of one or more household appliances, through a software application executable on a user's mobile device and interactions with remote servers. Description of the prior art. In the above-mentioned technical field, within the context of the growing digitalisation of the use of services of all types, solutions for subscribing to memberships for the use and/or access to products and services through the use of APPs and via the Internet are rapidly spreading. In particular, such solutions are also emerging in the field of household appliances, to allow payment proportional to the actual use of a household appliance, exploiting the now widespread availability of APPs for mobile devices with functions for managing the use of household appliances. In this regard, solutions are known that allow associating a user with a membership for the use of a specific household appliance. Such solutions have the drawback of a certain lack of flexibility, and there is a need for more flexible solutions allowing effective subscription and management of multi-appliance and multi-user memberships (which are very useful, for example, for different family members or for a plurality of co-tenants). This need, strongly felt in the considered technical field, is not fully met by known and/or commercially available solutions. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for subscribing to Internet-based multi-user memberships for the use of one or more household appliances, which allows to at least partially overcome the drawbacks mentioned above with reference to the prior art, and to respond to the aforementioned needs particularly felt in the considered technical field. This object is achieved by a method for subscribing to Internet-based multi-user memberships for the use of one or more household appliances, through a software application running on a user's mobile device and through interactions with remote servers, in accordance with claim 1. Further embodiments of such method are defined in claims 2-12. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system for subscribing to Internet-based multi-user memberships for the use of one or more household appliances, capable of implementing the aforementioned method. This object is achieved by a system in accordance with claim 13. Further embodiments of the system are defined in claims 14 and 15. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS. Further features and advantages of the method and system for subscribing to multi-user memberships, according to the invention, will emerge from the following description of preferred embodiments, given by way of example and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying figure: Figure 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an architecture of a system (and related method) for subscribing to multi-user memberships, according to an embodiment of the present invention;Figure 2 illustrates an example of interaction between groups of software modules (software platforms, software applications) employed in an embodiment of the method according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION. Described in more detail below, with reference to figures 1-2, is a method for subscribing to Internet-based multi-user memberships for the use of one or more household appliances, through a software application running on a user's mobile device and interactions with remote servers. The method comprises the following steps: (i) associating a plurality of users with a membership and/or subscription and with the related use of at least one household appliance associated with the membership and/or subscription;(ii) providing a software application (APP), stored in and executable by a user's mobile device, configured to allow the registration of one or more household appliances, also through the association with at least one user of said plurality of users; the software application (APP) is further configured to allow providing information to said remote servers regarding one or more memberships and/or subscriptions and the users related to said one or more memberships and/or subscriptions;(iii) setting and managing a hierarchy of users among the users belonging to said plurality of users. Said hierarchy of users comprises at least one "main user" and one or more additional "associated users". The at least one "main user" (who can also be referred to as owner user, or payer) is the user, among said plurality of users, who activates the multi-user membership and/or subscription and provides for the related payments. The one or more addition