Patent ID: 8117455

Claim:
A method of authenticating an object in a computer system, the method including the steps of: receiving indicating data from a sensing device, the sensing device generating the indicating data in response to sensing one of a plurality of tags provided on a surface associated with the object, each tag encoding an identity unique to the object, the position of the respective tag on the surface and a part of a signature, the signature being a digital signature of at least the identity and comprising a plurality of signature parts, the indicating data including: the identity of the object; and the signature part encoded in the sensed tag; determining, using the position, a received identity, a received signature part and a received signature part identifier identifying the received signature part; determining, using the received identity, a determined signature; determining, using the determined signature and the received signature part identifier, a determined signature part corresponding to the received signature part; comparing the determined signature part to the received signature part; and authenticating the object using a result of the comparison.