Patent ID: 7228433

Claim:
An electronic identification system including: at least one transponder encoder for writing data to a transponder; said encoder comprising means for providing an identification code characteristic of an entity externally of the transponder; a plurality of transponders each adapted to receive data from the at least one encoder and to store the data received in a respective memory arrangement of the transponder; at least one verifier for interrogating a selected transponder and to read data stored in the memory arrangement of the selected transponder via a radio frequency link; wherein said encoder further comprises an encryption device for utilizing an algorithm and input data characteristic of the encoder to generate encrypted data to form at least part of the data written to the transponder; the at least one verifier comprises computing means for extracting and deciphering the encrypted data from the data read thereby; a comparator for comparing the deciphered data to authorized data and an indicator for providing an indication of an outcome of the comparison.