Printed matter – Method
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-10
2001-02-20
Pitts, Andrea L. (Department: 3722)
Printed matter
Method
C283S091000, C283S093000, C283S902000, C428S913000, C428S915000, C428S916000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06189934
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to anti-copy films, layers, and coatings for documents.
BACKGROUND
2. Description of Prior Art
Various entities routinely produce documents which are in need of protection from unauthorized reproduction. The current capabilities of copiers and scanners are such that documents, i.e., photographs, texts, drawings, musical scores, etc., are vulnerable to the unauthorized production of essentially true copies.
There is an unmet need for a means of preventing true-copy reproductions of documents that is effective, economical, and simple to implement while being substantially transparent during legitimate usage of said documents.
Widely available copiers and scanners are capable of reproducing original documents with true copies, in that the copies convey to a user substantially the same value and utility as the originals.
The ability to create true-copy reproductions is often used to replicate documents without authorization from the copyright owner, circumventing the legal and financial requirements of obtaining an authorized copy. Therefore, a need exists for a method by which copies made from a protected document are not true-copies, in that the copies are reduced in perceived value, quality, information content, or utility as compared to the original document.
In order to prevent the production of true copies, it is not necessary to prevent the act of copying itself. Previous examples of anti-copy layers have relied upon various means of obscuring all or part of the underlying information, thereby preventing a true copy. Holographic films as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,084 to Karney et al (1988), opaque aluminum flakes as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,280 to LaCapria (1978), and rectilinear-lined plastic screens as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,449 to Steininger et al (1998), can achieve success in preventing true-copying of treated documents. However, the expense of implementation and the viewing restrictions imposed by these methods are problematic for practical usage.
The need for an economical, effective, and practical means of protecting documents from true-copying, which is also substantially transparent during legitimate use of said documents, has not yet been met, because;
(a) The costs of production and implementation are too high.
(b) The means of application are too complex or restrictive for widespread, practical use.
(c) Photographs and certain other documents require a high level of image quality to be of value to the legitimate user. Prior methods of providing protection from true-copying unacceptably degrade the image quality of a treated document.
SUMMARY
In accordance with the present invention, an anti-copy layer comprises spectral fragments embedded within a coating, for application onto documents in order to impede true-copy reproduction of the documents.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES
It is the object of the present invention to provide a method of protection for documents from true-copy replication that is effective, economical and substantially transparent to the legitimate user of the documents.
The present invention is a method of taking advantage of the spectral properties of materials that transmit, reflect, and refract light. By suspending or affixing within an appropriate vehicle a multiplicity of small fragments of spectral material above or on the face of a document, it is possible to create a layer protecting the document from true-copy replication by copy apparatus utilizing multi-angular light sources.
One material with such spectral characteristics is diamond. Each planar surface or facet of a diamond fragment transmits, reflects, or refracts light, depending upon the angle of incidence. When a diamond fragment is illuminated from multiple angles the totality of internal and external reflections and refractions from the facets obscures any light passing through the fragment, thereby masking underlying information.
The applicant has found it possible to create an effective and practical anti-copy layer for documents utilizing diamond fragments or dust, and photographic quality lacquer. The fragments are dusted upon the surface of a document in a predetermined amount and manner, and the document is then lacquered in the usual fashion. Properly done, the resulting matrix of fragments and lacquer is substantially transparent and does not unacceptably degrade the visual quality of the document. However, when the treated document is illuminated from multiple angles by a copy apparatus, the spectral characteristics of the fragments obscure underlying areas, hindering replication.
True-copy replication is prevented because the anti-copy layer presents to the copying device a sufficient level of visual static or noise as to render a copy substantially inferior in value or utility when compared to the original. However, the same spectral characteristics of the fragments allow the legitimate user of a treated document substantially the same value as an untreated document, because legitimate usage of the document generally occurs under diffuse lighting conditions than the multi-angular lighting generated by the copying device.
There are other crystalline materials, natural and synthetic, with spectral characteristics similar to those of diamond, such as, but not limited to, cubic zirconia, sapphire, quartz, and yttrium aluminum garnet, which can substitute for diamond. Also, fragment-bearing vehicles other than lacquer, such as, but not limited to, polyesters, laminates and adhesives, and clay-based coatings can be utilized in creating an anti-copy layer.
Accordingly, this invention consists of situating spectral fragments within an appropriate vehicle, upon a document, for true-copy prevention. The wide range of possible variations of spectral fragments and vehicles, applied during document production or subsequent thereto, are claimed by this invention.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) to provide a means of anti-copy protection to documents that is substantially transparent during legitimate usage of said documents;
(b) to provide a means of anti-copy protection that is simple and inexpensive to produce;
(c) to provide a means of anti-copy protection that is adaptable to a wide range of coating and laminating methodologies and formulations;
(d) to provide a means of anti-copy protection suitable for photographs and other continuous tone documents;
(e) to provide a means of anti-copy protection suitable for texts, drawings, musical scores, currencies and other graphic documents; and
(f) to provide a means of anti-copy protection that can be utilized during production of the documents, or at some point afterwards.
Further objects and advantages are to provide a means of anti-copy protection that is simple and inexpensive to produce and apply to documents, which can be implemented by manufacturers or individual users, which is substantially transparent during legitimate use of the documents, and which prevents true-copy reproduction of the documents. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4066280 (1978-01-01), LaCapria
patent: 4786084 (1988-11-01), Karney et al.
patent: 5145212 (1992-09-01), Mallik
patent: 5169707 (1992-12-01), Faykish et al.
patent: 5728449 (1998-03-01), Steininger et al.
Henderson Mark T.
Pitts Andrea L.
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