Patent ID: 8712856

Claim:
A method for determining a serial number structure when such information is missing or incomplete, the method comprising: (a) providing a non-transitory computer readable storage location storing at least one serial number mask, each said serial number mask having an associated length; (b) receiving a serial number for a product, the serial number having an associated length; (c) creating a new serial number mask and storing the new serial number mask to the non-transitory computer readable storage location via at least one processor when the length of the serial number does not equal the lengths of any existing masks stored in the non-transitory computer readable storage location as determined via the at least one processor; (d) altering, via the at least one processor, the existing mask as minimally as possible to allow the serial number to match the existing mask when the new serial number otherwise would not match the existing mask, when the length of the new serial number equals a length of an existing mask stored in the non-transitory computer readable storage location as determined via the at least one processor; and (e) repeating (b)-(d) until a stable serial number mask is identified via the at least one processor.