System and method for production and authentication of original documents

• US 7,080,041 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2004
• Issued: 07/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Esecuredocs Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Esecuredocs Incorporated
• Inventors: Nagel, Robert H.
• Primary Examiner(s): ELISCA, PIERRE E
• Application Number:
  US10/894,766
• Publication Number:
  US 20050038756A1
• Time in Patent Office: 728 Days
• Field of Search: 705/57, 705/58, 705/50, 705/51, 705/76, 380/200, 380/201, 380/202
• US Class Current: 705/51
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/29 Securities; Bank notes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/086 with markings consisting of randomly placed or oriented elements, the randomness of the elements being useable for generating a unique identifying signature of the record carrier, e.g. randomly placed magnetic fibers or magnetic particles in the body of a credit card
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials

Abstract

A system and method for authenticating documents and content thereof. A counterfeit resistant document recording medium is provided, having thereon a predefined unique document identifier and at least one security feature. The recording medium is thereafter imprinted with document content, which typically varies between documents. The document content is stored in a database, indexed by an associated document identifier. The document may then be authenticated by checking the security feature and comparing the stored document content with a perceived document content. The system provides a number of opportunities for commercial exploitation, including sales of identified recording media, recording of information in a database, on-line authentication transactions, differential accounting for document validations and counterfeit identifications, imprinting devices, authentication devices, and the like. The system prevents counterfeiting of valuable documents through casual means by providing both physical and logical security.

Claims

1. A system for authentication of a counterfeit-resistant document, comprising:

(a) means for receiving an apparently non-deterministic characteristic of a recording medium of the document;

(b) means for receiving a document content of the document;

(c) means for storing the apparently non-deterministic characteristic and document content in association with each other; and

(d) means for comparing the stored description of the apparently non-deterministic characteristic and document content with an observed apparently non-deterministic characteristic and document characteristic;

wherein said document includes a unique identifier and the apparently non-deterministic characteristic comprises a pseudorandom copy-resistant printed marking, wherein an algorithm defines a mapping between the unique identifier and a pattern of the pseudorandom copy-resistant printed marking;

wherein said system further comprises means for executing said algorithm; and

wherein said comparing means includes means for comparing an observed characteristic of a document to be authenticated to an output of said executing means.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the said non-deterministic characteristic comprises a feature that is incompletely represented in a tri-color representation.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said apparently non-deterministic characteristic comprises a steganographic code.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said description of said apparently non-deterministic characteristic is imprinted on the document.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein said description of said apparently non-deterministic characteristic and said document content are imprinted as encrypted data on said document.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein said encryption comprises a public key-private key algorithm.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein said document comprises a digital notary signature to identify alterations.

8. The system according to claim 1, further comprising network print driver software, transmitting an identification of said recording medium and a description of the document content to a remote server prior to printing of said document content on said medium.

9. The system according to claim 1, further comprising network print driver software, for transmitting an identifier of said recording medium to a remote server, receiving a description of said apparently non-deterministic characteristic from the remote server, and imprinting an encrypted message on said medium comprising a description of said apparently non-deterministic characteristic and said document content or a digital signature thereof.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein said automatic description means comprises an optical imaging system.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the automatic document content receiving means comprises means for receiving an electronic page description language file.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein said comparing means comprises an optical imager.

13. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a financial accounting record, to account for at least a portion of a verification procedure.

14. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a financial accounting record, to account for a database lookup process.

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein said comparing means is adapted to compare at least two descriptions of apparently non-deterministic characteristics of the same recording medium having differing degrees of complexity.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein an accounting system selectively accounts for a different fee for comparing each of said at least two descriptions of apparently non-deterministic characteristics.

17. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a financial accounting record, selectively and differentially accounting for comparing operations based on a decision dependent thereon.

18. The system according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic is integral with said recording medium.

19. The system according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic is provided as an imprinted feature of the recording medium, generated in a distinct process from the recording of the document content.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein the indicia is imprinted on the recording medium in a consolidated process with an imprinting of the document content.

21. The system according to claim 1, wherein the document further comprises an identifier, and wherein the apparently non-deterministic characteristic and document content are stored in reference to said identifier.

22. The system according to claim 21, wherein said identifier is a serial number.

23. The system according to claim 21, further comprising a human user interface for manually entering the identifier.

24. The system according to claim 21, wherein said identifier is a machine readable code, further comprising an identifier reading system.

25. The system according to claim 1, wherein said means for receiving a document description comprises an optical scanner.

26. The system according to claim 1, wherein said automatic describing means and said receiving means employ a common imaging subsystem.

27. The system according to claim 1, wherein said means for automatic describing means comprises an optical spectrographic analyzer, selectively analyzing narrowband spectral characteristics.

28. The system according to claim 1, wherein said apparently non-deterministic characteristic comprises at least one region having a selectively defined magnetic property.

29. The system according to claim 1, wherein said an apparently non-deterministic characteristic is an indicia printed with MICR toner.

30. The system according to claim 1, wherein said comparing means provides an adaptive threshold comparison for authenticating.

31. The system according to claim 1, wherein said comparing means applies fuzzy logic for authentication.

32. The system according to claim 1, wherein said comparing means applies a transform to a scanned image of the document and performs a comparison in a transformed domain or in a normalized space.

33. The system according to claim 32, wherein said transform is rotationally invariant two dimensional transform.

34. The system according to claim 1, wherein said comparing means applies a transform to an image of the document to normalize for a characteristic selected from the group consisting of rotation, skew, stretch, and fade.

35. The system according to claim 1, wherein said storing means stores the document content in encrypted form.

36. The system according to claim 1, wherein said apparently non-deterministic characteristic indicia and said document content are stored in separate fields of a database.

37. The system according to claim 1, wherein said document has a plaintext decryption key imprinted thereon, said document content being stored remotely, further comprising means for transmitting in encrypted form the description of the apparently non-deterministic characteristic and document content, for decryption by the decryption key.

38. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a reader device, comprising a document scanner for acquiring a document content, and a characteristic reader for determining the apparently non deterministic characteristic.

39. The system according to claim 38, wherein said reader device is remote from a storage medium repository associated with said storing means, wherein said reader device further comprises a telecommunication subsystem for communicating with said storing means.

40. The system according to claim 1, wherein said document comprises self-authenticating features.

41. The system according to claim 1, wherein said document comprises a self-authenticating digital signature.

42. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a reader device, comprising a characteristic reader for determining the characteristic, and a self-contained authentication processor operating on data derived directly and concurrently from the document.

43. The system according to claim 1, wherein the document further comprises self-authenticating features comprising an encrypted representation of the content, said system further comprising a secure cryptographic processor associated with said means for comparing.

44. The system according to claim 43, wherein the cryptographic processor decrypts representations of both said document content and said apparently non-deterministic characteristic.

45. The system according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic comprises a stochastic characteristic integral with the recording media, wherein the characteristic is analyzed to provide an encryption key necessary for an authentication process.

46. The system according to claim 45, wherein the extracted characteristic is processed in a local authentication device for self-authentication of said document.

47. The system according to claim 45, wherein said characteristic corresponds to a private key of a public key-private key cryptographic algorithm.

48. The system according to claim 47, wherein a unique identifier of said document is transmitted to a remote processor, a representation of the document content encrypted using a public key-private key algorithm and information defining an appropriate public key is transmitted to a local cryptographic processor, and said local cryptographic processor decrypts the document based on the encrypted document content, public key and private key.

49. The system according to claim 1, wherein the unique identifier is a serial number.

50. The system according to claim 1, wherein said algorithm is maintained in secrecy.