Patent ID: 8542871
Filing Date: 2013-09-24
Classification: G07D

Abstract:
1. A method for the protection of products or the identification of their validity, expiration date or origin comprising the steps of: (a) generating identification information m for a product to be protected, wherein generating said identification information m comprises generating visual representations in the form of visual data y (b) storing the generated identification information m in a product identification number (PIN) database; (c) mapping the identification information m and a key K into a codeword c comprising a regular part c (d) communicating said regular part c (e) modulating said regular part c (f) reproducing the generated identification information m, including visual data y (g) acquiring, at any time when authenticity of said products is to be verified by a consumer, the identification information {circumflex over (m)} from the product or from said reproduction means using a portable device; (h) communicating the acquired identification information {circumflex over (m)} over a communications channel to an entity having access to said PIN database, by formulating a request for authentication; (i) verifying the acquired identification information {circumflex over (m)} by comparison to the generated identification information m stored in the PIN database and generating a message certifying their match or mismatch; (k) updating the PIN database with the result of the authentication verification; and (l) informing a consumer of the result, and wherein said visual data y i) acquiring the open part of said visual data y P by a portable device and obtaining the result of the authentication verification based on the verification procedure of steps g to i; ii) registering the request in a database of requests forming part of said PIN database and confirming or rejecting the product authenticity within a restricted shopping or authentication area; iii) in the case of a predefined number of negative attempts of authenticity verification from a same identified portable device, informing the consumer about the repetitive failures to authenticate the product and asking the consumer to avoid buying, opening and/or consuming the good, product or brand from a given place or series while denying all further authentication services for a defined period of time to protect the authentication server against exhaustive search, guessing or overload attacks; iv) in the case of positive confirmation, informing the consumer of a possibility of proceeding with buying, opening and/or consuming an authentic product, while the final authentication is to be performed based on the hidden part of said visual data y P using acquisition by the portable device and the verification procedure of steps g to i; v) confirming or rejecting product authenticity based on the verification of the decoded hidden part of said visual data y P by comparing it with said data stored in the PIN database and registering the request for authentication in the request database; vi) communicating the authentication results to the requesting portable device using any available communication means; vii marking a PIN that passed successful authentication after above steps iv) and v) as a bought one and updating the PIN database accordingly.