Tracking and verifying authenticity of items

• US 10,102,532 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2014
• Issued: 10/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rivlin, Yair, Constantin, Catalin Mihai, Hall, VI, Samuel Pike, Herrington, Douglas James, Ren, Huinan
• Primary Examiner(s): McAtee, Patrick
• Application Number:
  US14/543,285
• Publication Number:
  US 20160140570A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,429 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for tracking and verifying the authenticity of items. Public and private unique identifiers are generated for an item, and an identifier label is printed and affixed to the item. The public identifier is visible, but the private identifier is not visible unless a tamper-evident action is performed. Events involving scans of the public identifier are recorded. The private identifier is scanned by a client, and in response, authenticity information for the item is sent to the client. The authenticity information is determined based at least in part on the events relative to the public identifier.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an item bearing a multi-layer identifier label, the multi-layer identifier label comprising an upper layer and a lower layer, a public identifier and a private identifier being printed on the lower layer, the public identifier being initially visible through a transparent window of the upper layer, the private identifier being initially non-visible through the upper layer unless a tamper-evident action is performed, wherein the tamper-evident action comprises peeling the upper layer from the lower layer, and the peeling removes the public identifier from the lower layer;

at least one computing device; and

an item tracking application executable in the at least one computing device, wherein when executed the item tracking application causes the at least one computing device to at least;

receive an authentication request for the item, the authentication request specifying the private identifier for the item;

in response to receiving the authentication request, determine whether the item is authentic based at least in part on at least one item history event in an item history record, the item history record corresponding to the private identifier, the at least one item history event being recorded in association with the public identifier for the item; and

send information identifying whether the item is authentic to a client device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein when executed the item tracking application further causes the at least one computing device to at least:

determine a number of times that the private identifier has been received; and

wherein the information identifying whether the item is authentic is sent in response to determining that the number of times that the private identifier has been received does not meet a maximum threshold.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein when executed the item tracking application further causes the at least one computing device to at least:

receive at least one security credential from the client device; and

authenticate the client device as being associated with a user account based at least in part on the at least one security credential prior to receiving the private identifier for the item.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein when executed the item tracking application further causes the at least one computing device to at least:

generate a hashed value of the private identifier received from the authentication request; and

compare the hashed value with a stored hashed value of the private identifier.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein when executed the item tracking application further causes the at least one computing device to at least:

receive an item history event in association with the public identifier; and

update the item history record in response to receiving the item history event in association with the public identifier.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the authentication request further comprises receiving data corresponding to an optical scan by the client device of the private identifier on the lower layer of the multi-layer identifier label affixed to the item.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein when executed the item tracking application further causes the at least one computing device to at least send information corresponding to the at least one item history event to the client device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one item history event comprises a plurality of item history events that include at least one of:

an item label printed event, an item label revoked event, an item labeled event, an item shipped event, or an item verified event.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein both the public identifier and the private identifier are unique to the item.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the public identifier adheres to an underside of the upper layer.

11. A method, comprising:

receiving, by at least one computing device, an authentication request for an item to which a multi-layer identifier label has been affixed, the multi-layer identifier label comprising an upper layer and a lower layer, a public identifier and a private identifier being printed on the lower layer, the public identifier being initially visible through a transparent window of the upper layer, the private identifier being initially non-visible through the upper layer unless a tamper-evident action is performed, the authentication request specifying the private identifier for the item, wherein the tamper-evident action comprises peeling the upper layer from the lower layer, and the peeling removes the public identifier from the lower layer;

in response to receiving the authentication request, determining, by the at least one computing device, whether the item is authentic based at least in part on at least one item history event in an item history record, the item history record corresponding to the private identifier, the at least one item history event being recorded in association with the public identifier for the item; and

sending, by the at least one computing device, information identifying whether the item is authentic to a client device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining, by the at least one computing device, a number of times that the private identifier has been received; and

wherein the information identifying whether the item is authentic is sent in response to determining that the number of times that the private identifier has been received does not meet a maximum threshold.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device, at least one security credential from the client device; and

authenticating, by the at least one computing device, the client device as being associated with a user account based at least in part on the at least one security credential prior to receiving the private identifier for the item.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

generating, by the at least one computing device, a hashed value of the private identifier received from the authentication request; and

comparing, by the at least one computing device, the hashed value with a stored hashed value of the private identifier.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device, an item history event in association with the public identifier; and

updating, by the at least one computing device, the item history record in response to receiving the item history event in association with the public identifier.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the authentication request further comprises receiving, by the at least one computing device, data corresponding to an optical scan by the client device of the private identifier on the lower layer of the multi-layer identifier label affixed to the item.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising sending, by the at least one computing device, information corresponding to the at least one item history event to the client device.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one item history event comprises a plurality of item history events that include at least one of:

an item label printed event, an item label revoked event, an item labeled event, an item shipped event, or an item verified event.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable by at least one computing device, wherein when executed the program causes the at least one computing device to at least:

receive an authentication request for an item to which a multi-layer identifier label has been affixed, the multi-layer identifier label comprising an upper layer and a lower layer, a public identifier and a private identifier being printed on the lower layer, the public identifier being initially visible through a transparent window of the upper layer, the private identifier being initially non-visible through the upper layer unless a tamper-evident action is performed, the authentication request specifying the private identifier for the item, wherein the tamper-evident action comprises peeling the upper layer from the lower layer, and the peeling removes the public identifier from the lower layer;

in response to receiving the authentication request, determine whether the item is authentic based at least in part on at least one item history event in an item history record, the item history record corresponding to the private identifier, the at least one item history event being recorded in association with the public identifier for the item; and

send information identifying whether the item is authentic to a client device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein when executed the program further causes the at least one computing device to at least:

determine a number of times that the private identifier has been received; and

wherein the information identifying whether the item is authentic is sent in response to determining that the number of times that the private identifier has been received does not meet a maximum threshold.