Customizing objects and materials with digital identifiers
First Claim
1. A method of tracking a rough mined object, comprising:
- storing data relating to a history of the rough mined object to a data store;
encoding the history data in the data store into a unique digital identifier; and
marking the rough mined object with the encoded unique digital identifier.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for marking, identifying, customizing, and tracking objects and mined materials such as gemstones and precious metals. An initial digital identifier, such as a matrix (100), is encoded with source data. The initial digital identifier is decoded, and the source data is recorded to a database (1520). The gemstone passes from between parties through one or more transactions. Transactional data is also written to the database. After a series of transactions, the rough gemstone (1600) is cut into one or more finished gemstones (1610, 1620). The quality attributes of the polished gemstones are analyzed and recorded to the database. Based on the database information, a unique identifier is generated for each polished gemstone. The unique identifier and the database data are encoded into a digital identifier such as a matrix. Additionally, an owner may input data which is encoded into the same or a separate matrix. The matrix is then applied to the gemstone. With a matrix decoder, an owner may retrieve various types of information from the matrix, such as gemstone source data, the transaction history, quality attributes, and owner-specific data such as video, audio, photographs, images, and text.
56 Citations
88 Claims
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1. A method of tracking a rough mined object, comprising:
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storing data relating to a history of the rough mined object to a data store;
encoding the history data in the data store into a unique digital identifier; and
marking the rough mined object with the encoded unique digital identifier. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 52, 53, 54, 64, 65)
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35. A method of tracking a finished mined object, comprising the steps of:
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processing a rough mined object into one or more finished mined objects;
for each of the finished mined objects, storing data relating to a history of the rough mined object from which the finished mined object was cut to a data store;
encoding the history data in the data store into a unique digital identifier, and marking the finished mined object with the unique digital identifier. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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63. The method of claim 63, wherein the database comprises a secure database.
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74. A method of associating owner-specific information with a finished gemstone cut from a rough gemstone, comprising the steps of:
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processing the rough gemstone into one or more finished gemstones;
for each of the finished gemstones, storing owner-specific data to a data store;
encoding the owner-specific data in the data store into a unique digital identifier; and
marking the finished gemstone with the encoded unique digital identifier. - View Dependent Claims (75)
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76. A method of identifying an object extracted by mining, comprising the steps of:
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encoding source and transaction data relating to the mined object data into a data matrix with a data matrix encoder, wherein the data matrix encoder converts a set of data related to the mined object into a digital file, and converts the digital file into data represented by the data matrix;
applying the data matrix to the mined object; and
decoding the data matrix with a data matrix reader, wherein the data matrix reader converts the data matrix data into a digital file, and converts the digital file into the data relating to the mined object. - View Dependent Claims (77)
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78. A system for reading data encoded in a mined object, comprising:
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a database network configured to store data relating to the mined object;
an encoder configured to represent the mined object data stored in the database network as a matrix;
a marking device configured to apply the matrix generated by the encoded to the mined object; and
a decoder configured to read the matrix which references the mined object data in the database network. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80, 81, 82)
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83. A database network for managing data relating to mined objects, comprising:
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a central database configured to store data relating to the mined object, wherein the central database allocates a unique identifier to the stored data, the unique identifier and the data relating to the mined object being encoded into a matrix, and the matrix being applied to the mined object. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
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Specification