Patent ID: 9721260
Date: 2017-08-01
CPC Classifications: G06Q,H04L

Claim:
1. A method of marking manufactured items, comprising: providing a cryptographic key in an inactive state to a point in a supply chain for the manufactured items; providing the cryptographic key in an active state and an activation code for activating the cryptographic key in the inactive state to form the cryptographic key in the active state, to a verification centre; transmitting information relating to the received cryptographic key from the point in the supply chain to the verification centre; providing the activation code to the point in the supply chain in response to the point in the supply chain transmitting information relating to the received cryptographic key, the activation code allowing the cryptographic key in the inactive state at the point in the supply chain to be activated to form the cryptographic key in the active state; wherein the step of providing the activation code to the point in the supply chain comprises sending the activation code from the verification centre to the point in the supply chain; generating, at the point in the supply chain, an identification (ID) code for each manufactured item, the ID code being derived from the combination of the cryptographic key in the active state and a dynamic key generated for each batch of manufactured items by employing a serialized code included in the cryptographic key; providing the dynamic key for each batch of manufactured items to the verification centre; marking each manufactured item with the ID code; and counting the number of ID codes marked on the manufactured items, wherein the verification centre encrypts the activation code with a public key of an asymmetric key pair associated with a certificate of the cryptographic key such that the activation code can be decrypted by the point in the supply chain using a private key of the asymmetric key pair associated with the certificate of the cryptographic key.