Patent ID: 7278571

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: at least one storage device storing at least one dynamic identifier associated with at least one item, the at least one dynamic identifier configured to include a variable portion, the variable portion being comprised of one or more bits which were previously fixed and used to represent information identifying an item and not to represent any detectable environmental or physical condition, wherein the variable portion has at least one of a variable content and a variable length and represents, at least in part, at least one detectable environmental or physical condition associated with the at least one item; wherein the at least one dynamic identifier includes at least one dynamic electronic product code (EPC); and wherein the at least one dynamic EPC further includes a fixed portion including a first identifier related to a source of the at least one item, a second identifier related to a product type of the at least one item, and a third identifier related to a serial number of the at least one item.