Abstract:
A method of securely duplicating in a copying machine a document which includes a readable security device. A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: reading the readable security device to determine contents of the readable security device; copying the document; generating a copy of the readable security device that includes data which is determined from the contents of the readable security device; and attaching the copy of the readable security device to the copy of the document before the copy of the document exits the copying machine to generate a secure duplicate of the document.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention is directed to the area of secure or confidential documentation, and more particularly to a method and system for duplicating and tracking copies of secure documents.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     There are many environments where it is necessary to duplicate confidential documents. For example, patient files may need to be duplicated from one doctor to another doctor. In addition, in an office environment there are often documents relating to new projects, new products, etc., which may well be confidential to the company.  
         [0003]     Without adequate security measures it is very easy for a confidential document of this type to be sent to people who should not be receiving the information contained therein. This is often done by people copying the confidential document and then putting it in an envelope and sending it as mail. The mail is not always opened by the person for whom it was intended, sometimes being opened by a secretary or other member of staff. This means that very often confidential documents are read or fall into the hands of people who should not see them or should not have them.  
         [0004]     In addition, the document may be copied many times and the person who owns the document may not know how many copies are in circulation. It would obviously be better for the owner of the document to have an indication of how many documents are in circulation in order to control and retrieve the document should the need arise.  
         [0005]     A certain number of proposals exist on the subject of copying and securing confidential documents. In several of these proposals, the suggestions of including a tag with the document are described. In one the tag serves to enable or disable a copier from authorizing or not the printing of a copy. This can be overcome by removing the tag or just using a different copier. This system is not generally sufficient to overcome the known problems in this field.  
         [0006]     In another example the tags allow the identification of a relevant tray in a copier to be used. The tray includes a pre-tagged sheets of paper which enable a tagged and confidential document to be copied onto another tagged and confidential document.  
         [0007]     A disadvantage of the second example is that the pre-tagged pages do not have any indication of the type of document that is being copied and do not include any information relating particularly to that document. All tagged documents are therefore the same, merely indicating that the document is confidential and nothing more. There is no way of knowing (without looking at the copied documents) which documents have been copied and how many times.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The present invention overcomes at least some of the problems of the prior art. In addition, the invention seeks to provide a means of copying a document in such a way that insures that all information relating to this document and security level etc., are captured.  
         [0009]     The present invention provides a method of securely duplicating in a copying machine a document that includes a readable security device, the method comprising:  
         [0010]     reading the readable security device to determine contents of the readable security device;  
         [0011]     copying the document;  
         [0012]     generating a copy of the readable security device that includes data which is determined from the contents of the readable security device; and  
         [0013]     attaching the copy of the readable security device to the copy of the document before the copy of the document exits the copying machine to generate a secure duplicate of the document.  
         [0014]     The present invention provides a dynamic document copying system for confidential documents in which tags are used. This includes the level of confidentiality and all other information on the tag associated with the original document. It also permits the ability to trace all documents and confidential copies of the documents with a minimum amount of effort. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]     Reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is diagram showing a tag incorporated into a sheet of paper.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing how a confidentially tagged document can be copied to produce a secured duplicate of the original document.  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a method in accordance with the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     Referring initially to  FIG. 1 , a tag  100  is shown. This tag  100  is intended to be fixed to a confidential document or a copy of a confidential document. The tag  100  is a radio frequency identification (RFID) device which includes a number of elements  120 ,  120 ′,  120 ″, etc. The elements  120 ,  120 ′,  120 ″, etc., are connected by connections  140 ,  140 ′,  140 ″, etc., which join the elements  120 ,  120 ′,  120 ″, etc., together to form a chain. The tag  100  is readable by any RFID reader which is close to the tag  100 . This will enable reading of any information stored on the tag  100  and provide location information regarding the document. If there are any breaks in the chain formed by the elements  120 ,  120 ′,  120 ″, etc., and connections  140 ,  140 ′,  140 ″, etc., for example, if someone has tampered with the tag  100 , an alarm will be triggered when the document is carried past a point of control. Further details of this will be described in greater detail below.  
         [0020]     If some/all of the elements  120 ,  120 ′,  120 ″, etc., of the tag  100  are broken or damaged, the document may become illegible. Due to its position on the paper on which the document is printed, removing the tag  100  will destroy the paper and the document will thus become unreadable.  
         [0021]     The tag  100  is fixed to a piece of paper or other suitable media onto which a confidential document is to be printed. The tag  100  can be surface mounted or located internally between layers of the paper. The tag  100  can be placed at any location on or in the surface of the paper. Accordingly, the tag  100  includes fixing means (not shown) which can be of any nature depending on the circumstances and requirements of the user fixing the tag  100  to the paper. Examples include glue or other adhesives.  
         [0022]     It should be noted that any other type of tag  100  may be used. In this example the tag  100  is a radio frequency identification device (RFID) tag, although any other tag may be used that has the same functionality.  
         [0023]     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , an original confidential document  200  is shown with a confidentiality marking  202  and a confidentiality tag  204 . The tag  204  can be the same as that shown in  FIG. 1  or any other appropriate type of tag. In one embodiment of the present invention the tag  204  is an RFID tag. Once the document  200  with the associated tag  204  is in existence it can be passed from one person to another, but there will normally remain only one copy. When the tag  204  in an RFID tag, the location of the document  200  can be identified using the RFID tag  204  and associated RFID readers in the environment where the document  200  is located. Any attempt to remove the document  200  from an area from which it is not allowed to be removed will generate an alarm, thereby preventing users from taking the document  200  from one place to another place that is not permitted. Also, anyone tampering with the RFID tag  204  or trying to remove the RFID tag  204  from the document  200  will generally damage the chain of elements  120 ,  120 ′,  120 ″, etc., ( FIG. 1 ) of the RFID tag  204 . This will affect the manner in which a reader reads the RFID tag  204  and can then be used to produce an alarm.  
         [0024]     Accordingly, there can be a number of RFID readers in the environment where a confidential document  200  according to the present invention is located. In the event that a user wishes to copy such a confidential document  200 , it will be necessary to use a photocopier  206  or equivalent device. The photocopier  206  or equivalent device can be equipped with an RFID reader which can read the RFID tag  204  associated with the document  200 .  
         [0025]     When a user wishes to duplicate or otherwise copy a confidential document  200  equipped with a RFID tag  204  in accordance with the present invention, the user will bring the document  200  to a photocopier  206  or equivalent device.  
         [0026]     The photocopier  206  can read the RFID tag  204  (e.g., using a suitable RFID reader) in order to facilitate copying of the document  200 . The photocopier  206  can request the introduction or insertion of a password. If the password is accepted the process of copying can continue. One step of the copying process includes reading the full details of the RFID tag  204  and writing the contents of the RFID tag  204  to a new RFID tag  210 . The original document  200  is then copied and the new RFID tag  210  is pasted or fixed in some other manner onto the copy  208  of the original document  200 . The result is an identical copy  208  of the original document  200  including an RFID tag  210  as in the original. A trace of the copy (including document type and security level, hour tag, copier number, user login, etc.) is recorded in a central database  209 .  
         [0027]     The new RFID tag  210  can include identical information to the original RFID tag  204  or may include slightly different information. For example, the new RFID tag  210  can include an identification number to indicate the copy number of the document  200 . For instance, the original document  200  can be called document 0, the first copy can be called document 1, the second copy document 2, and so on.  
         [0028]     The process of attaching the new RFID tag  210  to the copy  208  of the document  200  can be carried out in number of different ways:  
         [0029]     The new RFID tag  210  can be attached to the paper onto which the document  200  is copied during the copying process.  
         [0030]     The new RFID tag  210  can be attached to the copy  208  of the document  200  as the copy  208  exits the photocopier  206 .  
         [0031]     The paper onto which the document  200  is copied can include a blank RFID tag  210  which is subsequently programmed using an RFID writer (not shown) associated with the photocopier  206 .  
         [0032]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a illustrative flow chart of a process of the present invention is shown. First, a new confidential document is generated ( 300 ). This document is then printed ( 302 ). A security tag of the type shown in  FIG. 1  is applied to the document ( 304 ). It will be appreciated that this type of tag is only one example of the type of tag that may be attached at this stage. At regular locations around the environment in which the document is found there may be RFID readers. If the document is carried passed or in the environment of a RFID reader, the RFID reader will identify the existence of the RFID tag and read the tag ( 306 ). The reader will interrogate the tag and determine if the tag has been tampered with in any way. At the point of identification ( 308 ) as to whether the tag has been tampered with, a yes or no will be determined. If the tag has been tampered with (yes) an alarm will be generated ( 310 ). The document can then be checked with regard to its security. If there is no tampering of the tag there would be no action taken until the next time the document passes a tag reader ( 312 ).  
         [0033]     At a later time, the user of a document may wish to copy, scan or otherwise make duplicates of the original document. The document is taken to the appropriate machine for effecting this duplication. For example, in a case of a copier the document is taken to a copier, the copier includes a RFID tag reader (or read/writer) incorporated within the body thereof. The RFID reader in the copier reads the tag at the copier ( 314 ).  
         [0034]     The user may be asked to input a password to confirm that they have the authority to make copies of the relevant document ( 316 ). The password may be determined from the contents of the tag or by any other appropriate means. If the password is authenticated ( 318 ), the document will continue to the next stage ( 320 ). However if the password is not authenticated ( 322 ), the user will be invited to reenter the password ( 324 ). If the second entry of the password is not authenticated an alarm may be generated ( 326 ). The addition of the passwords may be only one way in which authentication of a permission to make copies is made. Others may include taking fingerprints or other known devices and methods for authenticating the right of a user to carry out certain acts. In addition, the authentication process is an optional process and may not be included at all.  
         [0035]     The copier copies the document ( 328 ) and makes a paper copy of the original page or pages of the document. Further, for each page of the document that is copied, the copier makes a copy of the RFID tag for the corresponding original page ( 330 ), and affixes the copy of the RFID tag to the copy of that page ( 340 ). To trace all the copies made (even copies of a copy), a central database will record all the copying of a certain tagged document ( 341 ). Once this is completed the process stops ( 342 ).  
         [0036]     This invention may be relevant to other fields other than in domain of confidential documentation. For example, the invention may be relevant in the environment of videos and DVDs where copies may be made and the technology of applying a tag or some sort may be also relevant.  
         [0037]     Because the copy of the document is now equipped with an RFID tag similar to the original document, any attempt to remove the document from a designated area in which the document is to be kept will be identified by the generation of an alarm as previously described. In addition, when the paper is in an envelope and is to be sent to someone, the alarm will similarly be generated. Then, without opening the envelope, a security team will be able to check whether this document is allowed to be forwarded or posted to the address indicated on the envelope. In this way the confidential information would be maintained within the envelope and will not need to be read by people other than the intended recipient.  
         [0038]     The particular nature of the RFID tag size, shape and type (read only), will be design in such a way that if an attempt to remove the tag the paper copy is made, the paper copy will be physically destroyed.  
         [0039]     While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit, and scope of the invention.