Mechanism for storing authenticity information about a written or printed document

• US 20060255123A1
• Filed: 05/10/2005
• Published: 11/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gilfix, Michael A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,357,333 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1447 extracting optical codes from image or text carrying said optical code
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/0813 Specific details related to card security
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/122 Online card verification

Abstract

A mechanism for storing authenticity information about a written or printed document. This authenticity information may be stored in a publicly-accessible database. When a document patterned with electronic ink is to be verified, the verifier examines the electronic ink under magnification. The verifier locates start and end pattern markers within the ink, and extracts the pattern from the ink. Once the pattern is obtained, the verifier performs a lookup of the pattern in the database. If the pattern is found, the verifier obtains information associated with the pattern from the database. The verifier may then use this information to verify the authenticity of the document.

Claims

1. A method for verifying authenticity of a physical document, the method comprising:

examining the physical document for patterned electronic ink;

extracting a pattern from the patterned electronic ink;

obtaining information associated with the extracted pattern from a database; and

verifying the authenticity of the physical document using the information obtained from the database.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

locating the pattern in the patterned electronic ink using special markers to identify a start and end of the pattern.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the pattern represents a unique identification for at least one of an entity or event.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the pattern is a bit string with a low probability of collision.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the pattern comprises binary values.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the pattern is a high resolution pattern.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the pattern is generated using a cryptographic checksum.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the information associated with the pattern comprises at least one of an entity name, an event name, and a document publish date.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the database is a publicly-accessible database.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the information associated with the pattern comprises information regarding at least one of a signer or issuer of the document.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the database comprises a plurality of pattern entries and associated information for each pattern entry.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the document is examined under magnification.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the document is marked using at least one of an electronic ink filled pen and an electronic ink filled cartridge.

14. A system for verifying authenticity of a physical document, the system comprising:

examining means for examining the physical document for patterned electronic ink;

extracting means for extracting a pattern from the patterned electronic ink;

obtaining means for obtaining information associated with the extracted pattern from a database; and

verifying means for verifying the authenticity of the physical document using the information obtained from the database.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

locating means for locating the pattern in the patterned electronic ink using special markers to identify a start and end of the pattern.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the pattern represents a unique identification for at least one of an entity or event.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the pattern is a bit string with a low probability of collision.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the pattern comprises binary values.

19. A computer program product for verifying authenticity of a physical document, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein;

computer readable program code configured to examine the physical document for patterned electronic ink;

computer readable program code configured to extract a pattern from the patterned electronic ink;

computer readable program code configured to obtain information associated with the extracted pattern from a database; and

computer readable program code configured to verify the authenticity of the physical document using the information obtained from the database.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to locate the pattern in the patterned electronic ink using special markers to identify a start and end of the pattern.