Nested conditions for blockchain-enforced contracts

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11295359-B1
Application number	US-201815992121-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 29, 2018
Priority date	May 29, 2018
Publication date	Apr 5, 2022
Grant date	Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving one or more selected options for one or more of multiple contract conditions generated based on transaction information associated with a request to create a blockchain-related invoice and generating instructions for a blockchain-enforced contract based on the transaction information and the one or more selected options. The instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract correspond to a first nested contract including a first contract condition required for a transfer of a value and a second nested contract including a second contract condition required for at least a partial reversal of the transfer of the value. The method also includes, in response to receiving an input regarding the second contract condition, cause the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract to be executed on a blockchain network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media coupled to one or more of the processors and comprising instructions operable when executed by one or more of the processors to cause the system to:
receive, from a merchant client system associated with a merchant, a request to create a blockchain-enforced contract corresponding to a transaction between the merchant and a customer, the request comprising information about the transaction;
generate a plurality of contract conditions associated with the transaction to be populated on a user interface associated with the merchant client system, wherein each of the plurality of contract conditions includes one or more selectable options;
receive, from the merchant client system and via an application executing on the merchant client system, one or more selected options for one or more of the plurality of contract conditions;
generate instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract corresponding to the transaction between the merchant and the customer wherein the instructions are deployed to a blockchain network, and wherein the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract comprise a first contract condition required for transferring a value from a customer account associated with the customer to a merchant account associated with the merchant, wherein the first contract condition includes one of the one or more selected options received from the merchant client system;
contemporaneously with generating the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract, generate instructions for a nested blockchain-enforced contract corresponding to the transaction between the merchant and the customer, wherein the instructions are deployed to the blockchain network contemporaneously with the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract, and wherein the instructions for the nested blockchain-enforced contract comprise a plurality of contract conditions required for transferring at least a portion of the value from the merchant account to the customer account, wherein the plurality of contract conditions comprise a second contract condition including one of the one or more selected options received from the merchant client system and a verification of execution of the blockchain-enforced contract;
subsequent to generating the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract, provide, to the application executing on the merchant client system or a customer client system associated with the customer in response to a request from the merchant client system or the customer client system, a status of the blockchain-enforced contract or the nested blockchain-enforced contract, wherein the status of the blockchain-enforced contract or the nested blockchain-enforced contract is based on contract conditions comprising the blockchain-enforced contract or the nested blockchain-enforced contract, respectively;
subsequent to generating the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract, in response to receiving a first input related to the first contract condition, cause the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract to be executed on the blockchain network to transfer the value from the customer account to the merchant account;
subsequent to generating the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract, receive a second input related to the second contract condition, wherein the second input is received from the merchant client system, the customer client system, or a system associated with a third party related to the transaction;
verify, in response to receiving the second input, execution of the blockchain-enforced contract;
generate, based on the second input, an assessment regarding whether the second contract condition has been satisfied; and
cause, based on the assessment and the verification of execution of the blockchain-enforced contract, the instructions for the nested blockchain-enforced contract to be executed on the blockchain network to transfer at least a portion of the value from the merchant account to the customer account.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more selectable options are generated based at least in part on a transaction history associated with the merchant or a transaction history associated with the customer.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the information about the transaction comprises:
information about the value as represented in a selected cryptocurrency;
information about goods associated with the transaction;
information about one or more terms associated with the transaction;
information about a return policy associated with the transaction;
information about the customer account; or
information about the merchant account.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the first contract condition is related to delivery of goods associated with the transaction; and
the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to cause the system to receive a confirmation of delivery of the goods from the merchant client system, the customer client system, or a system associated with a shipping agent.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the second contract condition is related to return of goods associated with the transaction; and
the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to cause the system to:
receive a request for return of the goods from the customer client system, and
determine whether the request for return of the goods is received within a predetermined period.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the assessment comprises:
a determination that the second contract condition has been satisfied;
a determination that the second contract condition has not been satisfied; or
a determination that the assessment cannot be finalized.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the execution of the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract comprises transferring the value from the customer account to an escrow account.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the execution of the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract comprises transferring the value from the customer account directly to the merchant account.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processors are further operable when executing the instructions to:
determine one or more characteristics of a refund;
initiate a blockchain transaction on a blockchain associated with a selected cryptocurrency;
update a ledger to deduct at least part of the value from the merchant account and add the at least part of the value to the customer account; or
generate an amendment to the blockchain-enforced contract.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions for the blockchain-enforced contract are executed based further on one or more other assessments, each regarding whether a third contract condition of the one or more of the plurality of contract conditions has been satisfied.

11. A method comprising:
by a computing device, receiving, from a merchant client system associated with a merchant, a request to create a blockchain-enforced contract corresponding to a transaction between the merchant and a customer, the request comprising information about the transaction;
by the computing device, generating a plurality of contract conditions associated with the transaction to be populated on a user interface associated with the merchant client system, wherein each of the plurality of contract conditions includes one or more selectable options;
by the computing device, receiving, from the merchant client system and via an application executing on the merchant client system, one or more selected options for on

Assignees

• Block Inc

Inventors

• Mullins Brian John
• Feker Kay Sueru
• Chavez Steffano Santiago
• Tomkins Michael Andrew
• Maulino Nicole Antonio
• Tai Ryan Yi-Lin

Classifications

• G06Q20/407

  Cancellation of a transaction · CPC title

• G06Q20/027

  involving a payment switch or gateway · CPC title

• G06Q20/065

  using e-cash · CPC title

• G06Q20/102

  Bill distribution or payments · CPC title

• G06Q20/405

  Establishing or using transaction specific rules · CPC title