Method and system for protecting against unauthorized modification of products
First Claim
1. A method for protecting against unauthorized modification of a product, comprising:
- operating the product by a version of firmware specifically configured for the product;
reading product information data;
determining whether the product information data is valid; and
configuring at least one feature of the product, based on the determining step.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for protecting against unauthorized modification of a product to enhance its performance or function are disclosed. Low end products that are part of an electronic product family can be safeguarded against unauthorized enhancement of the product by hardware, software, and firmware bypasses. The operating software of the products can detect the unauthorized modification of the product or input/output device connecting to the product by reading the unique product group ID code and determining the validity of the code. Other background measures including hardware and firmware safeguards can be used to hinder or prevent the unauthorized modification. Other product specific information data can also be used to verify that the product group ID code has not been modified in an attempt to bypass the software safeguard.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. A method for protecting against unauthorized modification of a product, comprising:
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operating the product by a version of firmware specifically configured for the product;
reading product information data;
determining whether the product information data is valid; and
configuring at least one feature of the product, based on the determining step. - 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)
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35. A method for protecting against unauthorized modification of a product, comprising:
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reading a product group identification code;
reading product specific information data;
determining whether the product group identification code is valid;
determining whether the product specific information data is valid based on the product group identification code; and
configuring at least one feature of the product based on the determining steps. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
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38. A method for protecting against connection of an unauthorized device to a product, comprising:
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operating the product by a version of firmware specifically configured for the product;
receiving device identification data from the device;
determining whether the device identification data is valid to permit connection of the device to the product; and
configuring at least one feature of the product based on the determining step. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41)
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42. A system providing protection against unauthorized modification, comprising:
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a firmware component to operate the system and configured specifically for the system; and
a software component to enable and/or disable at least one feature of the product based upon the validity of a product group identification code. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification