Printed matter – Having revealable concealed information – fraud preventer or... – By removeable material
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-16
2001-05-15
Wellington, A. L. (Department: 3722)
Printed matter
Having revealable concealed information, fraud preventer or...
By removeable material
C283S072000, C283S094000, C283S099000, C283S111000, C283S103000, C283S107000, C283S081000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06231082
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a tamper-evident form for securely carrying information.
BACKGROUND ART
There is often the need to transmit confidential information through the mail or other channels such as courier, document exchange, hand delivery etc. For example, banks and other financial institutions often mail out Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) associated with customer's credit or debit cards.
Forms are known which carry such information in a secure manner, ie. the information cannot be viewed without first breaching some form of security associated with the form. An example of such a form is a lottery ticket known as a “scratchy” in which a coating must be scratched away to reveal the underlying information.
Necessarily, these forms for securely carrying information are tamper-evident, ie. the act of breaching the security of the information causes some irreversible indication that a breach of security has occurred.
Most tamper-evident forms are constructed such that further processing of the form, such as coating (eg. “scratchy”) or folding and sealing, is required to secure the information after the information has been printed on the form. This is a significant inconvenience and often requires special equipment which is prohibitive to many users.
One known tamper-evident form which does not require further processing after the confidential information has been received involves a two-ply arrangement which is sealed together around its perimeter. With this form, an impact printer strikes the upper surface of the upper ply thereby leaving a “carbon” imprint on the upper surface of the lower ply. To access the information on the lower ply, the two plies must be peeled or torn apart.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a tamper-evident form for securely carrying information in which the information can be printed on the form by passing the form through a conventional printer and in which the printed form does not require further processing to render the information secure.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The invention broadly resides in the selective use of scrambling means to render printed information unreadable. The negation or disablement of the scrambling means renders the printed information readable, however, the negation or disablement of the scrambling means is tamper-evident thereby indicating that the security of the information has been compromised.
This invention in one aspect resides in a tamper-evident form for securely carrying information, the form including scrambling means adapted to have the information superimposed thereover or thereon such that the overlying information cannot be ascertained until the overlying information and underlying scrambling means are separated, or until the underlying scrambling means is otherwise negated or disabled.
In one embodiment, a transparent or translucent release layer is superimposed on the scrambling means and the information is printed directly onto the release layer. The information can then be removed from the release layer by, for example, placing an adhesive tape over the print on the release layer and then removing the printed information from the release layer with the tape.
In another more preferred embodiment, the information is printed on a transparent or translucent lamina which overlies the scrambling means.
The scrambling means may be printed on a substrate or the scrambling means may be a coating or masking which can be scratched or peeled away from beneath the lamina.
Desirably, any separation of the printed lamina and the underlying scrambling means causes an irreversible indication that the security of the information on the lamina has been breached.
The printed lamina can be removed from the underlying scrambling means or, alternatively, the underlying scrambling means can be removed from the printed lamina.
In one embodiment, a portion of the lamina is die cut from the remainder of the lamina. The die cut may be incomplete and the portion of the lamina may remain attached to the remainder of the lamina by ties which must be broken to remove the portion of the lamina. In this case the broken ties provide an indication that the security of the information has been breached. The die cut may also be of a saw-tooth or other profile to prevent easy replacement of the portion of the lamina and to provide a further visual indication that the security of the information has been breached. Any form of known tamper indication may be used.
In another embodiment, the substrate is die cut and the portion of the substrate underlying the information may be removed. Again, removal of the portion of the substrate is tamper-evident by virtue of broken ties or other known tamper indication means.
In other embodiments the underlying scrambling means can be negated or disabled via, for example, the application of heat, pressure or light. For example, the scrambling means may be constituted by an ink which irreversibly clarifies at, say, 75 degrees Celcius. With such an arrangement, the end user might apply a warm clothes iron to disable the scrambling means thereby revealing the printed information.
In another aspect this invention resides in a tamper-evident form for securely carrying information, the form including a transparent or translucent lamina overlying scrambling means such that information printed on the transparent or translucent lamina cannot be ascertained until the printed lamina and underlying scrambling means are separated, or until the the underlying scrambling means is otherwise negated or disabled.
In another aspect the invention resides in a method of rendering printed information secure, the method including:
printing the information over scrambling means such that the printed information cannot be ascertained until the information and the underlying scrambling means are separated, or the underlying scrambling means is otherwise negated or disabled.
In preferred embodiments the information is printed on a transparent or translucent lamina.
In another aspect the invention resides in a method of producing a tamper-evident form for securely carrying information, the method including:
providing scrambling means adapted to have the information superimposed thereover or thereon such that the overlying information cannot be ascertained until the overlying information and underlying scrambling means are separated, or until the underlying scrambling means is otherwise negated or disabled.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1996288 (1935-04-01), Galt
patent: 2952080 (1960-09-01), Avakian et al.
patent: 3001886 (1961-09-01), Schrewsbuty
patent: 3279826 (1966-10-01), Rudershausen et al.
patent: 3315386 (1967-04-01), Kest et al.
patent: 3520757 (1970-07-01), Heaney et al.
patent: 3675948 (1972-07-01), Wicker
patent: 4109047 (1978-08-01), Fredrickson
patent: 4174857 (1979-11-01), Koza
patent: 4299637 (1981-11-01), Oberdeck et al.
patent: 4379573 (1983-04-01), Lomeli et al.
patent: 4551373 (1985-11-01), Conlon
patent: 4668597 (1987-05-01), Merchant
patent: 4778153 (1988-10-01), Bachman et al.
patent: 4790565 (1988-12-01), Steed
patent: 4889365 (1989-12-01), Chouiard
patent: 5238272 (1993-08-01), Taylor
patent: 5253899 (1993-10-01), Greenwood
patent: 5286061 (1994-02-01), Behm
patent: 5288977 (1994-02-01), Amendolia et al.
patent: 5346258 (1994-09-01), Behm et al.
patent: 5618112 (1997-04-01), Lovell
patent: 5839763 (1998-11-01), McCannel
patent: 5863075 (1999-01-01), Rich et al.
patent: 5893587 (1999-04-01), Wong
patent: 6022051 (2000-02-01), Casgrande
patent: 6113150 (2000-09-01), Kinberg
patent: 6114077 (2000-09-01), Voets et al.
patent: 0 271 673 (1988-06-01), None
patent: 1259277 (1961-03-01), None
patent: 851749 (1960-10-01), None
patent: 894081 (1962-04-01), None
patent: 12356941 (1971-06-01), None
patent: 1590274 (1981-05-01), None
patent: WO 91/18376 (1991-11-01), None
Casagrande Chuck
Scheggetman Bernard Willem
Van Boom Joel Bryan
Documotion Research Inc.
St. Onge Steward Johnston & Reens LLC
Thurston Alisa L
Wellington A. L.
LandOfFree
Tamper-evident form for securely carrying information does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Tamper-evident form for securely carrying information, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Tamper-evident form for securely carrying information will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2562957