Abstract:
The present invention is a system and method to detect counterfeiting goods. In this invention, the user initiates the counterfeiting check by using a wireless device equipped with camera in his possession to take a picture of the anti-counterfeiting code pattern of a product item; and send the digital image to a host computer for checking. This invention further includes a second anti-counterfeiting code for user to examine so as to further ensure the authenticity of the product item.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application having Ser. No. 60/744,200 filed Apr. 4, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates an anti-counterfeiting solution so that the users or law-enforcement agents can verify whether the goods that they are examining are genuine and not counterfeit. 
       BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0003]    Counterfeiting goods have been present for centuries and are a major concern that affects not only the producers but also the consumers. Many industries suffer heavily from cheap and low-quality counterfeits. Consumers are often cheated, as they do not know that they have purchased low-quality counterfeits. This is particularly serious in the pharmaceutical industry. Patients&#39; lives are at risk if they are administered with counterfeit drugs. 
         [0004]    Yet despise concerted effort from the government agents, manufacturers and the retailers to combat counterfeits, there is no signs that they are abating. While manufacturers have adopted various methods to combat counterfeit goods, they have not been very effective so far. In general, the existing methods fall into two categories: (1) authentication technologies and (2) track and trace technologies. The former typically incorporates some sort of hard-to-duplicate materials in the product package so that the consumer can distinguish the genuine product against the faked ones. However, some of these anti-counterfeiting technologies can also be acquired even by the counterfeit producers, rendering them ineffective. As for the track and trace technologies, the purpose is to ensure that counterfeiting goods can not enter the supply chain as the products moves from the manufacturer, through the distributor, and eventually arrives at the retail shops. This can be done by either the paper or electronic pedigree to track the product shipment along the supply chain. However, maintaining an accurate shipment record or the pedigree requires major commitment and collaboration among all the parties in the supply chain and is not easily achieved. Hence both approaches have drawbacks. 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0005]    In the light of the foregoing background, it is an object of the present invention to provide an alternate anti-counterfeiting solution. 
         [0006]    Accordingly, the present invention, in one aspect, is a system that detects counterfeiting products for a user. The whole system comprises (a) a product item affixed with an exterior label. That exterior label further comprises a first region that provides information about the product item and its manufacturer, and a second region that comprises an anti-counterfeiting code pattern; (b) a portable device subsystem that is possessed and trusted by the user; the subsystem further comprising a digital camera that generates a digital image when taking a picture; and a wireless communication system that is configured to receive the digital image from the digital camera and transmit the digital image to a host computer via wireless means through a digital communication network; and (c) a host computer that is trusted by the user, further configured to connect to the digital communication network to receive the digital image. The host computer is adapted to execute an image recognition software module that is configured to recognize the anti-counterfeiting code pattern within the second region of the exterior label in the product item; and a genuine product verification software module to check the anti-counterfeiting code and to verify the authenticity of the product. 
         [0007]    In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the user can initiate the checking of the authenticity of a product item by performing the steps of: (a) taking a picture of the product label using the portable device subsystem that the user possesses and trusts; (b) sending the digital image to a host computer that the user trusts via the wireless communication system for the host computer to analyze and to report back a message to the portable device subsystem about its findings; and (c) reading the message to decide the authenticity of the product item. 
         [0008]    In one preferred embodiment of this invention, the portable device subsystem is a cellular mobile phone equipped with digital camera. In another embodiment, this subsystem consists of a digital camera and a cellular mobile phone. The digital camera and the cellular mobile phone are equipped with a second wireless means so that the former can send the digital image to the latter using that second wireless means. 
         [0009]    In one embodiment of the present invention, the anti-counterfeiting code pattern comprises printed characters and symbols, and the image recognition software module in the host computer is adapted to extract the anti-counterfeiting code by performing the following tasks on the digital image: (a) locating the area in the second region that contains the anti-counterfeiting code pattern; (b) segmenting each individual character pattern from the anti-counterfeiting code pattern; (c) submitting the individual character pattern to a character recognizer to recognize the character; the character recognizer outputting a character code for the character pattern; (d) concatenating the character code together to form the anti-counterfeiting code string; and (e) applying post-processing module to the anti-counterfeiting code string to verify the correctness of the anti-counterfeiting code; the post-processing module further outputting the anti-counterfeiting code to the genuine product verification software module. 
         [0010]    In another aspect of the present invention, the product item further comprises a container with a removable cover means and a second label residing inside the container with a second anti-counterfeiting code printed on it. The removable covering means is used to seal the container to protect the content of the product item. In operation, when the host computer reports the findings to the user after examining the exterior label, it further sends a message containing the second anti-counterfeiting code to the portable device subsystem. The user can further perform steps of: (a) opening the removable cover that seals a container; (b) retrieving the second label that contains a printed copy of the second anti-counterfeiting code; and (c) comparing the anti-counterfeiting code sent by the host computer against the second label and check if they are identical. 
         [0011]    There are many advantages to the present invention. First of all, this invention offers a new system and method in which it is the user who initiates the anti-counterfeiting examination on the product that he is examining. The user uses a wireless portable device that he trusts to submit a request to a host computer that he trusts in order to check the genuineness of the product. This eliminates potential loopholes that the retailer conspires with the counterfeit manufacturers in supplying faked anti-counterfeiting equipment to fool the user. 
         [0012]    Another important advantage of this invention is that it can provide a simple and yet effective procedure to protect both the manufacturers and the users. When the product item is equipped with both the exterior label and the second label inside a sealed container, only the manufacturer knows the secret of the two anti-counterfeiting codes that are associated with the product item. Even if the counterfeiter gets hold of the anti-counterfeiting code for the exterior label, he can&#39;t acquire the other code unless he opens up the sealed container. 
         [0013]    A further advantage of this inventive scheme is that it makes use of the existing computing and telecommunicating infrastructure as much as possible so as to avoid the costly and lengthy IT infrastructure build-up before the anti-counterfeiting service can be launched. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is an architecture diagram of the system that detects counterfeiting products according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  show the detailed arrangement of the second region in the exterior label that includes the anchor markers, the special symbols and the anti-counterfeiting code pattern. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  shows the software flow chart of the image recognition software module. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of a typical product with product label affixed onto it. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  shows one possible way to adhere the second label to the interior of the container of the product item. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , the first embodiment of the present invention is a system and method of offering anti-counterfeiting service to the user. The user here refers not only to consumer but also a professional such as law-enforcement officers. A user (not shown in the figure) wants to examine if product item  22  is actually made by manufacturer  20 . He uses a video mobile phone  40  that is equipped with a camera to take a picture of the label  24  of the product item  22 . The label contains an anti-counterfeiting code pattern that will be described later. The video mobile phone  40  then sends the digital image of the label to an Anti-Counterfeiting Server (ACS)  50  via the mobile operator  34  and through the Internet  80 . The ACS  50  will invoke an image recognition software module to recognize the anti-counterfeiting code pattern; and submit the anti-counterfeiting code to a genuine product verification (GPV) software module. The later uses the anti-counterfeiting code to verify the genuineness of the product item; and send its report back to the video mobile phone  40  to inform the user. The GPV module may, through the Internet  80 , query the manufacturer  20 , the distributor  32 , or the retailer  30  along the product delivery supply chain to reach its conclusion. To further ensure that the information provided by the manufacture  20 , the distributor  32  and the retailer  30  is genuine, the GPV module may require that the information they provided is digitally signed by the certificate authorities (CA)  36  via the Internet. ACS may enquire the CAs  36  via the Internet to retrieve the relevant digital certificates to verify the digital signatures of the messages. 
         [0020]    In another embodiment, the user can use a camera  42  equipped with a second wireless means to send a digital image to a mobile phone  44 . The later forwards the digital image to ACS  50  via the mobile operator  34  and the Internet  80 . The second wireless means can either be based on radio frequency (RF) such as Bluetooth or Wireless LAN, Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology, WiMAX, or infrared or ultra-sound. 
         [0021]    Product label  24  may comprise a plurality of regions as shown in  FIG. 2A . One of which contains the manufacturing information  71  that includes, but not limited to, the product name, manufacturer logo, product description, ingredient, manufacturing and expiration dates, . . . , etc. Product label  24  also contains an Anti-Counterfeiting Code Region (ACCR)  72 . In a preferred embodiment, the ACCR  72  further comprises a plurality of anchor markers (hereto referred as ACCR markers)  74 ; a plurality of ACCR special symbols  75 ; and the anti-counterfeiting code pattern  73 . The ACCR markers  74  are printed symbols to facilitate the image recognition software module to easily locate the ACCR  72 . These markers  74  can be placed at the boundary of the ACCR  72  as shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B . The ACCR special symbol  75  is another printed symbol placed next to the anti-counterfeiting code pattern  73 . When the image recognition software module locates this symbol, it can find the code pattern  73  by searching the neighborhood of this symbol. In a preferred embodiment, the anti-counterfeiting code pattern comprises a string of one or more printed alphanumeric characters. In an even preferred embodiment, it is a hexadecimal character string. This code comprises an ID code that can unique identify the product item  22 . For example, this can be the EPC (Electronic Product Code). It can further contain other relevant information such as error detection or error correction codes, the Internet address of the manufacturer and also the digital signature of the above. 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  shows the flow chart of the image recognition software module in one specific implementation of the present invention. It first performs image pre-processing step  62  on the digital image that it receives. This can include noise filtering, edge enhancement, histogram equalization or other image processing techniques. Next control is passed to the ‘ACCR Identification’ step  63  to locate the ACCR within the digital image. This can be done by first locating the ACCR markers. Once located, the software module can perform a search of the ACCR special symbol  75  in step  64 . After detecting the special symbol  75 , then the anti-counterfeiting code pattern  73  can be located. Notice that the ACCR marker  74  and the ACCR special symbol  75  are used to facilitate the image recognition module to quickly locate the anti-counterfeiting code pattern  73 . Afterwards, the individual character pattern can be segmented out in step  65 ; and this character pattern is passed to a character recognizer  66 . The output of step  66  is a character code that is fed to the post-processing step  67 . This step is to concatenate the individual characters together to form a character string. If the anti-counterfeiting code contains check-sum characters, this step can perform the check-sum calculation for error detection. In another preferred embodiment, it can also perform error correction if the anti-counterfeiting code incorporates forward-error correction coding. Afterwards, the post-processing step  67  package the anti-counterfeiting code together and send to the GPV module. 
         [0023]    Based on the anti-counterfeiting code, the GPV module performs the verification in a variety ways. In one embodiment where the ACS  50  contains a database of anti-counterfeiting code and product status from the manufacturer  20 , this module can verify that the code exists in such database, and the product item  22  hasn&#39;t been purchased before. In another embodiment, where the anti-counterfeiting code contains the Internet address of the manufacturer, this module can submit the anti-counterfeiting code to the manufacturer, and request the manufacturer to verify the genuineness of the product item. In another preferred embodiment, the anti-counterfeiting code includes the digital signature of the manufacturer supplied information. The GPV module can use the manufacturer&#39;s digital certificate from the CA  36  to verify the digital signature in the anti-counterfeiting code and hence ensure that manufacturer supplied information is genuine. 
         [0024]    In another embodiment, the GPV module can also obtain the pedigree of the product item by tracing the product shipment route from the manufacture through the distributor to the retailer. This can be done by first asking the manufacture to supply information on where the product item is shipped to, and then ask the first recipient for the next recipient address and so on. 
         [0025]    In one aspect of the present invention, the product item  22  has a container  23  with a removable cover  26  that seals the content of the product item as shown in  FIG. 4 . The label  24  is affixed to the container  23 . A more sophisticated verification scheme using addition secret can be employed to make this invention more counterfeit-proof. As shown in  FIG. 5 , a second label  28  that contains a second anti-counterfeiting code is affixed at the back of the removable cover  26 . When ACS  50  finds that the first anti-counterfeiting code is genuine, it further sends the second anti-counterfeiting code to the video mobile phone  40  or the mobile phone  44  to request the user to open up the removable cover  26  and read up the second anti-counterfeiting code  28 ; and compare with the one that is sent by ACS  50  to further verify the genuineness of the product item. 
         [0026]    The preferred embodiments of the present invention are thus fully described. Although the description referred to particular embodiments, it will be clear to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced with variation of these specific details. Hence this invention should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. For example, the anti-counterfeiting code pattern can be a two-dimensional bar-code pattern with the anti-counterfeiting code encoded in it. The image recognition software module is then adapted to recognize the two-dimensional bar-code pattern. Moreover, it is not absolutely necessary to have either the ACCR marker  74  or the ACCR special symbol  75 , or both of them in the ACCR  72  as long as the image recognition software module is capable to locate the anti-counterfeiting code pattern reliably and quickly. As the video mobile phone  40  becomes more and more advanced, many of the image processing steps in  FIG. 3  can be performed by this device. For example, the ACCR identification step  63  can be done by the video mobile phone  40 , so that only the ACCR  72  is sent over to ACS  50 . This will reduce the data transmission time and also the cost associated with it. Lastly, the entire image processing steps may be done at the video mobile phone  40 ; and only the recognized anti-counterfeiting code is sent to ACS  50 .