Lost and Found Tagging and Communication System and Method

Abstract

A method and system of facilitating communication between a finder of an article and an owner of the article including providing a unique ID to the owner and allowing the owner to register an association between the ID and owner contact information, allowing the owner to associate the ID and a virtual locale with the article, and forwarding communications of the finder of the article to the owner where the finder may provide no more information to the virtual locale than the ID and the communication.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of facilitating communication between a finder of an article and an owner of the article comprising:
 providing a unique ID to the owner;   allowing the owner to register an association between the ID and a contact information of the owner;   allowing the owner to associate the ID and a virtual locale with the article;   forwarding a communication of the finder of the article to the owner wherein the finder has provided the ID and the communication to the virtual locale.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 allowing the finder to provide a contact information of the finder; and 
 forwarding an owner communication to the finder wherein the owner has provided said owner communication and unique ID to the virtual locale. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the contact information is one or more of an email address, an instant messaging handle, and a cell phone number. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 generating a unique anonymous email address for each of one or both of the finder and the owner, said email address including a domain associated with the virtual locale; and 
 anonymizing and forwarding email delivered to said email address to a contact information of the addressee. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 allowing the owner to register a plurality of contact information wherein each contact information may be one of an email address, an instant messaging handle, and a cell phone number, 
 wherein forwarding the communication further comprises forwarding the communication to each of the plurality of contact information. 
 
     
     
         6 . A computer implemented system for facilitating communication between a finder of an article and an owner of the article comprising:
 a virtual locale;   a database for storing an association between a contact information of the owner and a unique ID; and   a module for forwarding a communication of the finder of the article to the owner of the article wherein the finder provides the communication and the unique ID to the virtual locale.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6  further comprising:
 a module for generating a unique anonymous email address for each of one or both of the finder and the owner, said email address including a domain associated with the virtual locale; and 
 a module for anonymizing and forwarding email delivered to said email address to a contact information of the addressee. 
 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6  further comprising a module for forwarding the communication to an instant messaging system if the contact information comprises an instant messaging handle. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 6  wherein the database is operable to store a plurality of contact information of the owner, wherein each contact information may be one of an email address, an instant messaging handle, and a cell phone number; further wherein the module for forwarding the communication is operable to forward the communication to each of the plurality of contact information of the owner.