Patent ID: 8249350

Claim:
A method for the protection of products or the identification of their validity, expiration date or origin comprising the steps of: (a) generating identification information m for a product to be protected, including generating audio representations in the form of audio data y A , wherein generating audio representations in the form of audio data y A includes generating a codeword c based on information m and a secret key K, and generating a watermark sequence w, the watermark sequence w being combined with the codeword c to generate an encoded and/or encrypted data y, then modulating the encoded and/or encrypted data y to form audio data y A ; (b) storing the generated identification information m in a product identification number (PIN) database; (c) reproducing the generated identification information m on the product or attached reproduction means; (d) acquiring, at any time when authenticity of said products is to be verified by a consumer, identification information {circumflex over (m)} from the product or from said reproduction means using a portable device; (e) communicating the acquired identification information {circumflex over (m)} over a communication channel to an entity having access to said PIN database, by formulating a request for authentication; (f) verifying the acquired identification information {circumflex over (m)} by comparison to the generated identification information m stored in the PIN database and generating a message certifying their match or mismatch; (g) updating the PIN database with a result of the authentication verification; (h) informing the consumer of the result; and y A ; wherein said codeword c may contain any selected waveforms or objects from a predefined database of hosts, uncoded random waveforms or coded waveforms according to selected information m 1 and a secret key K 1 associated with the product and representing audible data, while information m 2 associated with the same product in the PIN database is considered to be embedded into the codeword c as the watermark sequence w based on a secret key K 2 using any suitable form of watermark coding based on Gel'fand-Pinsker or binning, information m 1 and information m 2 being information extracted from information m.