System and method for logo identification and verification

• US 20090173791A1
• Filed: 01/09/2008
• Published: 07/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Novanta Corporation (Novanta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Jadak, LLC (Novanta Inc.)
• Inventors: Pine, Jeffrey A., Chen, Mo
• Granted Patent: US 8,162,219 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/454
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/90 Identification means for patients or instruments, e.g. tags
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/98 using electromagnetic means, e.g. transponders
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/00 Pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/22 by selection of a specific region containing or referencing a pattern; Locating or processing of specific regions to guide the detection or recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/09 Recognition of logos

Abstract

A system for automatically identifying a logo or trademark applied to a device and verifying that the logo or trademark is acceptably identifies a compatible device. The system uses an optical imager to capture optical images of the target device and a microcontroller interconnected to the imager for processing the optical image to extract image information and verify that the contents of the image reflect the appropriate manufacturer or supplied indicia required by a host device. The decision reached by the microcontroller may be provided externally to a host device, thereby precluding or allowing use of the device, or provided directly to a user via know means, such as a visual display or audible output.

Claims

1. An apparatus for identifying and verifying authenticity of an item, comprising:

an optical imager for capturing an optical image of said item;

a microcontroller interconnected to said imager;

a database accessible to said microcontroller; and

wherein said microcontroller is programmed to identify the presence of an indicia in said image and determine whether said indicia corresponds to at least one previously stored indicia in said database.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said indicia comprises a trademark.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said microcontroller is programmed to identify the presence of an indicia in said image by performing a normalized correlation between said image and a stored image.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said microcontroller is programmed to determine whether said indicia corresponds to a previously stored indicia in said database by comparing at least one statistical moment.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said microcontroller is programmed to determine whether said indicia corresponds to a previously stored indicia in said database by using a wavelet transform to generate a signature based on said indicia and then comparing the signature of said indicia to at least one stored signature.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said microcontroller is programmed to determine whether said indicia corresponds to a previously stored indicia in said database by computing at least one shape feature vector for said indicia and comparing said vector to at least one stored vector.

7. An apparatus for verifying the authenticity of an object, comprising:

an optical imager for capturing an optical image of said item;

a microcontroller interconnected to said imager, wherein said microcontroller is programmed to determine whether said image includes a predetermined indicia; and

means for providing a notification whether said microcontroller determines the presence of said predetermined indicia.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the means for providing notification comprises a module configured to send a command indicating the presence or absence of said indicia.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the command is send to a device connected to said apparatus.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the means for providing notification comprises a module configured to provide a user cognizable alert indicating the presence or absence of said indicia.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the user cognizable alert comprises at least one alert selected from the group consisting of an audible alarm, a light emitting device, a user display screen message, or combinations thereof.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the means for providing notification comprises a module configured to enable or disable the use of a device interconnected to said apparatus depending on whether said microcontroller determines the presence of said predetermined indicia.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the device is disabled or enabled by controlling whether the device received electrical power.

14. A method of ensuring the authenticity of a device, comprising the steps of:

capturing an optical image of a target;

recognizing whether a predetermined indicia is present in the image; and

notifying a user whether the predetermined indicia is present in the image.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of capturing an optical image comprises providing a means for trigging image capture and capturing an image in response to activation of said means for triggering image capture.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of recognizing whether a predetermined indicia is present in the image comprises the steps of extracting a target area in said image and determining whether said target area contains data corresponding to data representative of said predetermined indicia.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of determining whether said target area contains data corresponding to data representative of said predetermined indicia comprises comparing said data in said target area to said data representative of said predetermined indicia using normalized correlation.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of notifying a user whether a predetermined indicia is present in the image comprises the step of providing a user cognizable alert.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of notifying a user whether a predetermined indicia is present in the image comprises the step of enabling or disabling a device depending on whether said predetermined image is present.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of notifying a user whether a predetermined indicia is present in the image comprises the step of outputting a command indicating whether said predetermined indicia is present.