Patent ID: 9569907
Date: 2017-02-14
CPC Classifications: G06F,G06Q,G07B,G07C,G07D,H04L

Claim:
1. A method comprising: sensing at least one physical characteristic of a physical object by a sensing device associated with a service bureau while the physical object is in the possession of a sender of the physical object, the physical object deliverable through a delivery service; storing data representing the at least one sensed characteristic at the service bureau in a storage remote, accessed through a network, from the sender and a receiver; authenticating, by a computer with at least one processor at the service bureau, the identity of the sender; subsequent to authenticating the identity of the sender, generating an identifier that uniquely identifies the physical object and the sender, wherein the identifier is at least based on the at least one sensed characteristic of the physical object, and wherein the identifier is stored in the remote storage; collocating the generated identifier with the physical object; sending the physical object to the receiver through the delivery service, wherein the physical object is received at the receiver through the delivery service, and wherein the receiver is the addressed recipient of the sent physical object; requesting scanning of the collocated identifier, using an electromagnetic spectrum, corresponding to the physical object at the receiver; receiving, at the service bureau at a computer having at least one processor and being in data communication with at least the remote storage, first data representing the identifier from the receiver; requesting sensing of the at least one characteristic of the physical object at the receiver; receiving, at the service bureau with at least the remote storage, second data representing the at least one characteristic of the physical object from the receiver; comparing, at the service bureau, the second received data with the stored data and the first received data representing the identifier with the collocated identifier; generating an authentication signal, upon a successful comparison, indicative of a confirmation to the receiver that the sender was in possession of the physical object; and generating an authentication signal, upon an unsuccessful comparison, indicative of a confirmation to the receiver that the sender was not in possession of the physical object.