Product Authentication Label With Random Flecks and Serialization Code
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Solution Overview
Problem
The growing concern of counterfeit goods and gray market diversion in the global market, where sophisticated counterfeiting technologies make it difficult to authenticate products, posing risks to consumer safety and undermining legitimate businesses.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using a label with a substrate, serialization code, and randomly distributed flecks that form a unique signature, which can be captured and verified using an imaging device to authenticate products, providing multiple levels of protection against counterfeiting and enabling tracking and tracing of products through the supply chain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional authentication methods are used, then the authentication process is simple, but the reliability of authentication is insufficient against sophisticated counterfeiting
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication system is segmented into multiple independent components: a static serialization code for basic identification and a dynamic unique signature composed of randomly distributed flecks with varying positions, sizes, and orientations. This segmentation allows the system to maintain high reliability through multi-factor verification while managing complexity by separating the authentication into distinct, manageable elements that can be processed independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimension of authentication by adding spatial and geometric characteristics to the verification process. The unique signature uses flecks positioned at different coordinates with varying sizes and orientations, creating a multi-dimensional authentication space that goes beyond traditional single-factor verification. This dimensional expansion significantly increases counterfeiting difficulty while the modular processing keeps system complexity manageable.
2Measurement precision
If multiple authentication elements are added to products, then the ability to detect and measure authenticity improves, but the ease of operation for consumers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary authentication system that bridges the gap between complex verification requirements and consumer ease of use. The system automatically captures images of both the serialization code and unique signature, processes the multi-dimensional authentication data, and provides clear verification results. This intermediary layer handles the complexity of measuring authenticity precision while presenting a simple interface to consumers, effectively resolving the contradiction between verification precision and operational ease.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If random flecks with unique signatures are implemented, then the resistance to counterfeiting increases, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-defining the parameters and distribution patterns of flecks during the label manufacturing process. The system establishes predetermined criteria for fleck positions, sizes, and orientations before the actual authentication occurs. This preliminary setup allows for controlled randomness that achieves high counterfeiting resistance while maintaining manageable manufacturing precision requirements, as the randomness is constrained within predefined parameters rather than being completely uncontrolled.
Data Source
AI summary
An authentication method includes receiving, at a processor, a signal representing an image of a serialization code and multiple flecks of a label, the flecks having a random distribution. The processor detects the serialization code and applies a modification to the image to produce a modified image. A subset of flecks of the modified image is detected, and metrics associated with each fleck from the subset of flecks are identified. The identified metrics are compared with metrics associated with a unique signature, and a message is displayed, via a user interface, indicating an authenticity of the label based on the comparison.