What the filing covers
A parking attendant can leave a payment notice on an unpaid car without enforcement cameras. Before any notice issues, the system checks a photo of the lot's posted pay sign against the code the platform issued for that lot. A counterfeit or swapped QR sticker blocks the notice. Notices also issue only where a jurisdiction-specific release record approves the notice wording and fee limit. I filed this because the sign a driver sees belongs in the payment-notice decision. A posted code directs the driver to pay. If someone swaps that code, the notice process must stop rather than treat the altered sign as the lot's own payment instruction.
The check starts with a photo of the posted pay sign. The system compares it with the code the platform issued for that lot. A counterfeit or swapped QR sticker blocks the notice. This check comes before issuance, not after a driver receives the notice and has to explain what happened.
The filing also covers a jurisdiction-specific release record. That record approves the notice wording and fee limit. The notice issues only where that approval exists. I treat the sign check and the release record as separate requirements. The posted code must match, and the wording and fee limit must be approved for the jurisdiction.
Why it matters now
QR code parking scams are rising. A fake sticker can divert a driver's payment away from the lot. I want the notice process to catch that altered sign before it produces a real-looking notice. Local rules also matter, so the wording and fee limit need their own approval.
A real-world example
An attendant finds an unpaid car and prepares a payment notice. Someone has placed a different QR sticker over the lot's pay code. The photo check compares the posted sign with the code issued for that lot. The mismatch blocks the notice.
A matching sign does not replace the release-record check. The system also needs approval for the wording and fee limit in that jurisdiction. An attendant can use this process without enforcement cameras. The decision depends on the posted sign and the release record rather than assuming every unpaid car should receive a notice.
Where it applies
This filing covers technology in Park Graph, Wins Parking's parking payment platform. I am addressing a task an attendant performs at a parking lot: leaving a payment notice on an unpaid car. The process ties that notice to the lot's actual sign code and to the approved local wording and fee limit.
Used in: Park Graph
Status
U.S. provisional patent application, filed October 25, 2026, application 64/183,864; Status: Patent pending; Sole inventor: Ross D. Blankenship; Assignee: Wins Parking, LLC.
Provisional applications establish a priority date; they are not examined.