Patent ID: 7646885

Claim:
A method for checking a postage indicium applied onto a mailpiece, comprising (a) checking the postage indicium to determine whether a prescribed security feature is expected and, if the security feature is expected, (b) checking the postage indicium to determine whether the postage indicium contains the prescribed security feature and, if the prescribed security feature is not expected, (c) checking the postage indicium with at least one of a plurality of symbol recognition units to determine whether at least one selected reading area of the mailpiece contains a prescribed graphic representation of a postage indicium, (d) comparing the graphic representation with representations of postage indicia stored in a data processing unit connected with at least one of the symbol recognition units, (e) marking mailpieces including the prescribed security feature or including the prescribed graphic representation as being genuine, (f) irradiating the postage indicium with light in order to check whether the postage indicium contains the prescribed security feature and where the prescribed security feature is placed, (g) checking whether the irradiation with light has caused fluorescence, and (h) checking whether the fluorescence is super fluorescence.