Write accessibility for electronic paper

• US 7,865,734 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2005
• Issued: 01/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Levien, Royce A., Jung, Edward K. Y., Malamud, Mark A., Rinaldo, John D. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Arani; Taghi T
• Assistant Examiner(s): LANE, GREGORY A
• Application Number:
  US11/129,680
• Publication Number:
  US 20060265744A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,063 Days
• Field of Search: 713/161, 713/170, 713/176, 713/180, 726 28- 30, 340/691.6, 358/474
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/4076 printing on rewritable, bistable "electronic paper" by a focused electric or magnetic field
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/30 Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals

Abstract

A system and method to control the writing on electronic paper (e-paper). An e-paper device may incorporate authentication indicia as part of informational data written on e-paper material. The informational data is protected by a security methodology that is accessible to authorized entities. A reader device may be used to help make a verification determination of whether encrypted or encoded data has been altered. In some instances an output alert operably coupled to the reader device serves as a verification status indicator.

Claims

1. An electronic paper device, comprising:

electronic paper material capable of storing informational data regarding one or more related items associatable with the electronic paper material, the electronic paper material composed of one or more thin sheets of material with one or more electrophoretic particles disposed in one or more regions between one or more opposing electrodes; and

informational data written onto one or more data portions of the electronic paper material, the informational data including encrypted and/or encoded informational data written by and/or on behalf of one or more authorized entities, the encrypted and/or encoded informational data intended to be non-alterable and readable only by one or more approved persons or one or more approved entities with access to one or more appropriate security methodologies,

wherein the electronic paper material includes authentication indicia to identify the electronic paper material, the informational data, and/or one or more related items as having originated from one or more providers of one or more related items and/or from one or more authorized entities, and

wherein the electronic paper material includes one or more coupling links to couple with one or more related items and/or one or more containers or packages of one or more related items and to provide confirmation of substantially sustained coupling with one or more related items and/or one or more containers or packages of one or more related items.

2. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the encrypted and/or encoded informational data is written by and/or on behalf of one or more of the following:

one or more providers, one or more makers, one or more manufacturers, one or more distributors, and/or one or more sellers of one or more related items.

3. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the informational data includes one or more of the following types of informational data:

document authentication, data authentication, item authentication, product authentication, packaging authentication, container authentication, item information, product information, service information, usage instruction, product ingredient, product component, service requirement, receipt acknowledgement, billing term, invoice data, certification, testing, endorsement, warranty, legal notification, government approval, destination, delivery, document origination date, item origination date, product origination date, tracking, history, tracking history, modification history, access history, verification history, validation, corporate approval, and/or ownership.

4. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the electronic paper material includes one or more label portions.

5. The electronic paper device of claim 4, wherein the one or more label portions includes one or more of the one or more data portions of the electronic paper material.

6. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the authentication indicia includes one or more of:

alphanumeric symbol, geometric design, monochrome scheme, color scheme, background, repeated pattern, random pattern, boundary cross-over representation, legend, image, bar code, visible representation, and/or hidden representation.

7. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the authentication indicia includes one or more of:

authentication indicia at least partially included in one or more of the one or more data portions;

authentication indicia separated from one or more of the one or more data portions;

authentication indicia intermixed with the informational data;

authentication indicia separated from the information data;

authentication indicia detectable on one or more surfaces of the electronic paper material, and/or authentication indicia on two or more surfaces of the electronic paper material.

8. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the authentication indicia is scanably detectable under one or more of the following conditions:

normal ambient light, infrared light, ultraviolet light, filtered light, specific environmental condition, specific time period, placement in electromagnetic field, and/or customized image processing.

9. The electronic paper device of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more status indicators for providing output based on verification confirmation with respect to the authentication indicia.

10. The electronic paper device of claim 9, wherein the one or more status indicators for providing an output based on verification confirmation with respect to the authentication indicia comprises:

one or more status indicators for providing an output based on verification confirmation regarding authenticity of the electronic paper material.

11. The electronic paper device of claim 9, wherein the one or more status indicators for providing an output based on verification confirmation with respect to the authentication indicia comprises:

one or more status indicators for providing an output based on verification confirmation regarding authenticity of the informational data.

12. The electronic paper device of claim 9, wherein the one or more status indicators provides output based on one or more of the following types of verification schemes:

code, cipher, key, checksum, hash, algorithm, and/or digital signature.

13. The electronic paper device of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more status indicators for providing output based on verification confirmation with respect to one or more of the one or more coupling links.

14. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein one or more of the one or more coupling links includes one or more circuit links

15. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein one or more of the one or more coupling links includes one or more encrypted and/or encoded symbolic representations that correlates with one or more other symbolic representations.