Registers – Records – Conductive
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-19
2002-06-04
Le, Thien M. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Records
Conductive
C235S380000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06398115
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is generally concerned with authenticity verification systems for use with transaction cards and is specifically concerned with transaction cards which are operable for self-enabling and self-disabling in response to authenticity procedures and methods. Cards such as “smart” cards, credit cards, debit cards, access, et cetera, are common forms of a general group known as transaction cards.
Certain transaction between unfamiliar persons or transaction between person and machines sometimes require security measures which provide verification of the authority of the person making the transaction. Examples of such transactions may include but are not limited to: access to restricted locations, financial of “point-of-sale”, simple personal identification, and document authentication.
Secured areas may have access restrictions which limit admission to certain persons having access authority. Sophisticated systems which interrogate biometric features such as cornea patterns or fingerprints have been used to identify authorized persons for access. Similarly, valuable documents sensitive to counterfeit may incorporate security measures which provide for authenticity. A drivers license has a photograph to associate the document with a particular person and to prevent use of the document by others. Passports may include photographs and further use of official seals or holograms to provide for authenticating documents. Each of the described situations have the requirement that an authorized person be properly identified. Whereas security for access to restricted locations typically require extremely sophisticated verification means, and whereas driver's license documents may be sufficiently authenticated by simple photographs, point-of-sale (POS) transactions have features associated therewith which are particularly suitable for certain other security and authentication systems.
Features of POS transactions systems include: the requirement that the system be quick and easy to use; does not require salespersons attention or time; supports a huge number of transactions; tamper resistant; and compatibility with common devices presently in place, for example credit cards, debit cards and others. Indeed, as is illustrated by recent activity in development of various systems, great attention has been directed to POS authentication devices and methods.
Cash has the inconvenience of being: usable if found by others (non-criminal use); improperly counted; mislaid; stolen (criminal use); or other misuse. It is therefore desirable to reduce exposure to loss resulting from the use of cash by employing another means of money transfer. Credit cards are commonly used, but fraudulent use of credit cards is an expensive problem. Debit cards which typically require low level identification such as entry of a personal identification number PIN in addition to presentation of a card with corresponding data reduces fraud but still suffers from compromise. By watching the legitimate user enter a PIN, a thief can acquire that code and other account information necessary to later steal from the account. Elaborate schemes involving fake ATM machines have also been used to obtain account information and PIN codes. As all of these unauthorized uses are very expensive to card issuers and ultimately to consumers, it is desirable to increase the security of the systems. To that end several attempts have been made to introduce new systems to POS transactions which reduce the fraudulent use of transaction cards.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,901 inventor Hiramatsu teaches of a pressure sensor for inputting finger characteristic data. An authorized user having particular finger characteristics could activate the card but others could not. Inventors Butterworth teach of a keypad which receives a code and responds with a light signal to indicate authenticity in U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,455. An elaborate scheme worked out by Muehlberger in U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,382 yields a method for processing credit and debit cards for valid use. There is no shortage of good inventions in the field and the demand for security is very high.
Notwithstanding, new techniques have now been discovered which provide very novel uses of transaction cards, particularly with respect to point-of-sale type transactions. In contrast to the good and useful inventions mentioned, each having certain useful features, the instant invention is concerned with the enablement and disablement of a transaction card via writing and erasing data to a magnetic stripe on the card in response to a user input.
Systems of the invention are distinguished from those of the prior art in that they provide a very high level of compatibility with present standard systems in use yet provide a higher level of security than is attainable by devices and methods of the art. In particular, the invention provides a card which is operable for receiving a user input, validating that input and responding to valid input by enabling a standard format magnetic stripe, and further operable for disabling same magnetic stripe after use thereby preventing further use by unauthorized persons.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides for a transaction card having a magnetic stripe which can be enabled and disabled via a transducer incorporated into the card where the transducer is driven by a microprocessor in response to a user input. The user input, generally a code, serves to associate the card with its authorized user.
Although “transaction card” generally refers to a credit or debit type card, a transaction card of the invention can be any document or object which benefits from a security system which prevents unauthorized use thereof. The “magnetic stripe” is meant to be a magnetic medium which is operable for maintaining recorded data where the data can be written to and erased from the medium. The “transducer” is a device which is driven by electrical signals and provides a magnetic field or fields effective for writing data to and erasing data from the magnetic stripe. use of the terms “enabled” and “disabled” refer to the condition of the data on the magnetic stripe. An “enabled” magnetic stripe has data recorded thereon which can be read by a magnetic media scanner. A “disabled” magnetic stripe is one having data scrambled or erased such that a scanner cannot properly read information from the stripe. It is important to note that “disabled” essentially refers to the data on the stripe and not to recording mechanisms of the stripe. “User input” refers to a code, or sequence, or personal identification number PIN entered by way of a keypad or other user input means. “Driven” refers to activation of the transducer to operate on the magnetic stripe. “Response” means that the system acts in accordance with the particular user input.
Since it is highly desirable to create a system which has minimal or no compatibility problems with existing systems and equipment, but one which increases the security possible therein, the invention has been developed without the requirement of new complicated equipment. Standard card readers presently installed in many thousands of retail locations require data in a certain format or formats. These formats are set forth in ISO standards and are useful for some preferred embodiments. Some cards of the invention are arranged to work with the presently installed card readers. It is also desirable to provide a system without complicated steps or steps which involve input from retailers. Methods of the invention therefore are directed to simple operations which quickly authenticate the card.
A transaction card user enters via a keypad integrated therein, a code which is compared by a microprocessor to a previously stored reference for coincidence. Detection of coincidence results in enablement of the data on the magnetic stripe, and lack of coincidence results in disablement of the data on the magnetic stripe.
While the invention provides particular benefits to transactions such as point-of-sale type financial transactio
Lambert Dennis H.
Le Thien M.
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