Method for verifying the authenticity of articles
First Claim
1. A method for verifying authenticity of articles, wherein an article number is affixed to each article, comprising the steps of providing a database with information for each article, said database storing, for each article, the corresponding article number and a geographical area attributed to the article, electronically receiving through an electronic communication network an article number from an enquirer, determining a geographical location of the enquirer, looking up, in the database, the article corresponding to the article number and comparing the geographical location of the enquirer to the geographical area of the looked up article and generating an alert if the geographical location of the enquirer and the geographical area of the looked up article do not correspond.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for verifying ownership of articles is based on attributing a unique article number, an ownership certificate and a geographical area to each article. The ownership certificate carries an individual certification number different from the article number. A central computer with a database contains a list of the geographical area, article number and certification number of each article. The system can be queried by entering the article and certification numbers as well as the geographical location of the enquirer. The geographical location can be retrieved automatically from the technical information accompanying the enquirer'"'"'s phone call. The system then indicates if the two numbers match or if the do not match. It also checks if the enquirer is located within the geographical area of the article and issues an alert if this is not the case.
16 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A method for verifying authenticity of articles, wherein an article number is affixed to each article, comprising the steps of
providing a database with information for each article, said database storing, for each article, the corresponding article number and a geographical area attributed to the article, electronically receiving through an electronic communication network an article number from an enquirer, determining a geographical location of the enquirer, looking up, in the database, the article corresponding to the article number and comparing the geographical location of the enquirer to the geographical area of the looked up article and generating an alert if the geographical location of the enquirer and the geographical area of the looked up article do not correspond.
Specification