Method and system for authentication
First Claim
1. A method of authenticating a lottery ticket, comprising:
- prior to issuance of a lottery ticket to a player, providing both a public identifier and a first public decryption key, to be included on a lottery ticket that is to be issued;
after the lottery ticket has been issued, as part of a request to authenticate the lottery ticket, receiving, with a lottery ticket authentication system, a the public identifier and the first public decryption key read from the lottery ticket;
decrypting, with the lottery ticket authentication system, the public identifier using the first public decryption key to generate a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is maintained separately in a lottery ticket authentication database of the lottery ticket authentication system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket;
searching the contents of a lottery ticket authentication database containing entries associated with authentic lottery tickets to find a match for the second identifier; and
responsive to finding a match for the second identifier in the lottery ticket authentication database, confirming, with the lottery ticket authentication system, that the lottery ticket is an authentic lottery ticket.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system for authentication. In one embodiment, a first identifier associated with an item to be authenticated may be received. A first decryption key associated with the item may also be received. The first identifier may be decrypted using the first decryption key to generate a second identifier. The contents of an authentication database may be searched to find a match for the second identifier. If a match for the second identifier is found in the authentication database, the item may be confirmed as authentic. In embodiments of the present invention, the item may be a lottery ticket, a document, a receipt, a ticket, a credit card, etc.
61 Citations
74 Claims
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1. A method of authenticating a lottery ticket, comprising:
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prior to issuance of a lottery ticket to a player, providing both a public identifier and a first public decryption key, to be included on a lottery ticket that is to be issued; after the lottery ticket has been issued, as part of a request to authenticate the lottery ticket, receiving, with a lottery ticket authentication system, a the public identifier and the first public decryption key read from the lottery ticket; decrypting, with the lottery ticket authentication system, the public identifier using the first public decryption key to generate a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is maintained separately in a lottery ticket authentication database of the lottery ticket authentication system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket; searching the contents of a lottery ticket authentication database containing entries associated with authentic lottery tickets to find a match for the second identifier; and responsive to finding a match for the second identifier in the lottery ticket authentication database, confirming, with the lottery ticket authentication system, that the lottery ticket is an authentic lottery ticket. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of authenticating tickets, comprising:
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prior to distribution of a ticket, providing both a public identifier and a first public decryption key, to be included on the ticket that is to be distributed; after the ticket has been distributed, as part of a request to authenticate the ticket, receiving, with an authentication system, the public identifier and the first public decryption key read from the ticket; decrypting, with the authentication system, the public identifier using the first public decryption key to generate a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is maintained separately in an authentication database of the authentication system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket; searching the contents of the authentication database to find a match for the second identifier; and responsive to finding a match for the second identifier in the authentication database, confirming, with the authentication system, that the ticket is authentic. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of authenticating tickets, comprising:
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prior to distribution of a ticket, encrypting a private item identifier using a first encryption key to generate a public identifier, wherein the private item identifier is associated with the ticket; after distribution of the ticket, as part of a request to authenticate the ticket, receiving, with an authentication system, the public identifier associated with the ticket to be authenticated, wherein the public identifier is printed on the ticket prior to issuance of the ticket; receiving, with the authentication system, a first public decryption key associated with the ticket, wherein the first public decryption key is printed on the ticket prior to issuance of the ticket; responsive to receiving the public identifier and the first public decryption key, decrypting, with the authentication system, the public identifier using the first public decryption key to generate a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is maintained separately in an authentication database of the authentication system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket; responsive to the decrypting, searching the contents of the authentication database to find a match for the second identifier; and responsive to a match for the second identifier being found in the authentication database, confirming, with the authentication system, that the ticket is authentic.
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27. A method of generating authentication information for a lottery ticket, comprising:
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receiving a private identifier, wherein the private identifier is associated with the lottery ticket; encrypting the private identifier using a first encryption key to generate a public identifier; generating a first public decryption key to decrypt the public identifier; outputting the public identifier and the first public decryption key; maintaining the private identifier separately in a lottery ticket authentication database of a lottery ticket authentication system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket; and prior to the lottery ticket being provided to a player, providing the public identifier and the first public decryption key on the lottery ticket so that the public identifier and the first public decryption key are readable from the lottery ticket. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method of generating authentication information for tickets, comprising:
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receiving a private identifier, wherein the private identifier is associated with a ticket; encrypting the private identifier using a first encryption key to generate a public identifier; generating a first public decryption key to decrypt the private identifier;
outputting the public identifier and the first public decryption key;maintaining the private identifier separately in a ticket authentication database of a ticket authentication system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket; and prior to the ticket being provided to a consumer, providing the public identifier and the first public decryption key on the ticket so that the public identifier and the first public decryption key are readable from the ticket. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. An apparatus comprising:
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an interface to receive a public identifier and a first public decryption key both readable from a ticket and provided on the ticket prior to the distribution of the ticket; a decryption device to decrypt the public identifier using the first public decryption key to generate a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is maintained separately in an authentication database of an authentication system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket; a comparator to search the contents of the authentication database to find a match for the second identifier, wherein the interface is configured to confirm that the ticket is authentic, responsive to finding a match for the second identifier in the authentication database. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of executable instructions to be executed by a processor to implement a method of authenticating a lottery ticket, the method comprising:
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receiving a public identifier read from the lottery ticket to be authenticated; receiving a first public decryption key read from the lottery ticket, where both the public identifier and the first public decryption key are provided on the lottery ticket prior to the issuance of the ticket to a player; decrypting the public identifier using the first public decryption key to generate a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is maintained separately in a lottery ticket authentication database of a lottery ticket authentication system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket; searching the contents of the lottery ticket authentication database containing entries associated with authentic lottery tickets to find a match for the second identifier; and responsive to finding a match for the second identifier in the lottery ticket authentication database, confirming that the lottery ticket is an authentic lottery ticket. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A lottery ticket, comprising:
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a public encrypted ticket identifier readable from the lottery ticket; and a public decryption key readable from the lottery ticket, the public decryption key configured to decrypt the encrypted ticket identifier; wherein both the public encrypted ticket identifier and the public decryption key are provided on the lottery ticket prior to the lottery ticket being distributed to a player and the public decryption key is configured to decrypt the encrypted ticket identifier to generate an authentication identifier and the authentication identifier is maintained separately in a lottery ticket authentication database of a lottery ticket authentication system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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67. A method of generating lottery tickets, comprising:
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encrypting a private identifier using a first encrypting key to generate an intermediate identifier; encrypting the intermediate identifier using a second encrypting key to generate a public identifier; generating a first decrypting key configured to decrypt the intermediate identifier and a second decrypting key configured to decrypt the public identifier to generate a first result; and prior to providing a lottery ticket to a player, printing on the lottery ticket the public identifier, the first decrypting key and the second decrypting key, wherein the first result is maintained separately in a database of a system to prevent an insider from determining the public identifier for the ticket. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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Specification