USPTO Patent Grant US12586031B2 for Pallet Tag Text Recognition

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Business Methods (G06Q)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 25th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted patent US12586031B2 to Walmart Apollo, LLC for a system that improves pallet tag text recognition accuracy. The patented technology classifies pallet tags and extracts attribute data to enhance pallet location identification in retail facilities.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent US12586031B2, titled 'Pallet tag classification for improved text recognition accuracy,' to Walmart Apollo, LLC. The patent describes a system that classifies pallet tags, selects qualified lines of text based on classification type, and associates attribute values (like pallet ID, item ID, or creation date) with location data. This technology aims to improve the accuracy and efficiency of identifying pallet locations within a retail facility.

While this is a patent grant and not a direct regulatory mandate, companies developing or utilizing similar text recognition and inventory management systems, particularly in the retail sector, should be aware of this intellectual property. Compliance officers should ensure that any internal systems or third-party solutions do not infringe upon this patent. No immediate compliance actions are required for most entities, but legal counsel may need to review if similar technologies are in development or deployment.

Source document (simplified)

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Pallet tag classification for improved text recognition accuracy

Grant US12586031B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

Walmart Apollo, LLC

Inventors

Yilun Chen, Zhaoliang Duan, Lingfeng Zhang, Mingquan Yuan, William Craig Robinson, Ishan Arora, Benjamin Ellison, Eric W. Rader, Elizabeth Ann Siler, Han Zhang, Abhinav Pachauri, Siddhartha Chakraborty, Raghava Balusu, Ashlin Ghosh, Avinash Madhusudanrao Jade, Subhash Anand, Aadarsh Gupta, Paul Lobo, Ketan Shah, Zhiwei Huang, Jing Wang, Rongdong Chai

Abstract

Examples provide for pallet classification and pallet tag text recognition. The system includes a pallet text manager that classifies a type of pallet tag based on detected lines of text in the pallet tag using a classification model. Qualified lines of text are selected from the detected lines of text based on the classification type and corresponding format of the text. Each qualified line of text is associated with a pallet attribute, such as a pallet identifier (ID), an item ID, or a date of creation of the pallet tag. Attribute values from the set of qualified lines of text are paired with location data for the current location of the pallet. The attribute values and the paired location data are saved in a pallet attribute table. The pallet attributes are used to identify the location of pallets in a retail facility with improved accuracy and efficiency.