Coating processes – Fraud or tamper detecting
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-01
2001-10-30
Beck, Shrive (Department: 1762)
Coating processes
Fraud or tamper detecting
C427S256000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06309690
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the marking of articles for retrospective identification or authentication and more particularly to systems and methods for marking an article with coded material, storing information regarding the coded material and the item on which it is affixed for later retrieval to verify the authenticity of or to identify the article.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Authentication and identification of articles is of particular concern in the industry of sports and celebrity memorabilia. The value of a piece of memorabilia is enhanced if the prospective purchaser can be assured that the article is genuine and/or that an autograph is authentic.
Methods exist to mark items for retrospective identification. For example an authentication system, method and article are known wherein a first image-bearing medium is affixed to the article with a tamper-proof adhesive. A unique code number is imprinted on the medium. A certificate of authenticity is provided for the article and includes a second image-bearing medium with an identical unique code number. A list of unique code numbers is maintained to enable a purchaser of the article to register that article such that the purchaser or a subsequent purchaser can verify the authenticity of the authenticated article. An example of such a system, method and article is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,047 to Molee et al.
What has been needed has been an authentication system with additional protections against counterfeiting and with greater ease of use and access for purchasers of memorabilia to verify the authenticity of articles they are purchasing. The system and method should be useful to verify the authenticity of the article the first time it is sold. The system and method should also be useful for purchasers in the secondary market to verify the identification or authenticity of articles for purchase. The system and method should allow the user several different methods to authenticate or identify an item.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a preferred method according to the present invention, an adhesive or epoxic droplet with microparticles entrained therein is applied to an article or item for which retrospective identification is desired. When the adhesive dries or cures, the microparticles form a pattern. Preferably, the pattern is rendered by the shapes and sizes of the particles in the mark, the orientation of each particle in space, the concentration of the particles and the spatial relationship of the particles to one another.
In this manner, a unique mark is formed on the article that is virtually incapable of being counterfeited and which cannot be removed from the article without destroying or altering the pattern of the microparticles.
In a preferred implementation of the present invention, an image of the pattern as affixed to the article is stored in a storage medium, such as computer memory. Preferably, the image is digitized. A database links or associates a description or identification of the article to the image of the mark. The database is accessible to users through networked computers and/or via the Internet or world wide web. Preferably, the database stores information about the purchaser of an authenticated article. A subsequent purchaser is then able to access the database to confirm the identity or authenticity of an article he/she wishes to purchase. Additionally, the database records the original purchaser of the article and is updated to record subsequent purchasers as new owners.
The system and method of the present invention can be used in conjunction with an autograph session to provide authentication for the autograph as well as the article. For example, the microcoded mark can be applied at the time of the signing, and information regarding the signing, such as the date and place, can be added to the database in association with the article. Additionally, an image of the signature itself is taken and is stored in the database in association with a description of the article. Alternatively, the signature can be made with ink having microparticles embedded therein. In this manner, the signature itself may form the unique microcoded mark. The coded signature may be used in addition to or instead of the mark applied in an adhesive drop.
Additional features and steps may be incorporated into the system and method of the present invention to offer advantage.
For example, a locator mark or stamp visible to the naked eye may be placed on the article. The unique microcoded mark is then placed in proximity to the stamp. The stamp aids in placing the mark and later in locating the mark. When the image of the mark is made, the article itself is visible in the background of the image. This further aids is verifying the identity and authenticity of the article.
In another preferred embodiment, the system includes the generation of a certificate of authenticity that bears a replicate of the image of the mark. Preferably this replicate is enlarged so that it is easily discernable to the naked eye.
In yet another preferred embodiment, an image-bearing medium or “label” can be generated to be affixed to the article. Preferably, two identical labels are generated, and one is affixed to the article and the other is affixed to the certificate of authenticity. By comparing the labels on the article and the certificate with the naked eye, the user obtains some degree of assurance that the article and certificate are related and that the article is authentic. Preferably, the labels are tamper proof or tamper evident. The labels may be of any type. A preferred label has a metal layer disposed underneath a top transparent layer. The metal layer may be selectively ablated with a laser to form a“window” (spaces where metal is dispersed), with the windows being shaped or oriented to form one or more images, such as an indicia, patterns, bar codes, or holograms, in the metal layer. Additional labels can be generated and used on packaging, the purchaser's receipt and in a variety of other ways.
In still another preferred embodiment, the system includes the assignation of an unique indice (which may be numeric, alphabetic, alpha-numeric, or of any other type) to the article and the storing of the indice in the database in association with the article. The indice can be printed on, imaged within, or otherwise applied to a label that is adhered or attached to the article at the time of authentication or signing. The indice can also be printed directly onto the certificate of authenticity. Alternatively, or in addition, the indice-bearing label may be attached to a certificate of authenticity and/or to the packaging for the article. The unique indice can be used to search the database to retrieve information regarding the associated article. The indices can be serialized or not serialized.
In still another preferred embodiment, an image is made of the celebrity's signature on the article. This image is printed or replicated on a transparent or opaque window on or associated with the certificate of authenticity. The user can align this replicated signature with the signature on the article, to get a preliminary indication as to whether the signatures match.
In another preferred embodiment, the microparticles have distinctly colored layers and the sequence of the colored layers forms a code that is assigned to a particular meaning, such as the source or identity of goods marked with the particles. The colors of the microparticles may be selected advantageously to have some common association to the article. For example, a football used in a game played by the Minnesota Vikings® or autographed by a Vikings' player might be marked with microparticles that are purple and gold, the Vikings' colors. Each particle may contain the purple and gold layers; or a mixture of purple particles and gold particles can be used.
In another preferred embodiment, an outer layer of the microparticles bears characters. Preferably these characters are microscopic and repeating and are select
Brogger Brian
Kerns William J.
Beck Shrive
Beck & Tysver, P.L.L.
Crockford Kirsten A.
Microtrace, Inc.
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