Substrate Marking Using Embossed Calibration for Anti-Counterfeiting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current anti-counterfeiting technologies for high-value items are often expensive and not suitable for inexpensive items like foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals, and existing digital watermarking methods require spatial calibration signals that are costly to implement and align perfectly with the payload, making them impractical for large-scale, cost-effective serialization.
Innovation Solution
Adapting material processing for packaging to incorporate a steganographic digital watermark without spatial calibration, using embossing to provide the calibration signal, and varying the spatial offset between watermark patterns to achieve serialization, allowing for inexpensive anti-counterfeiting and serialization of products without additional cost or complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional digital watermarking with spatial calibration signals is used, then watermark accuracy is improved, but manufacturing cost and process complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the spatial calibration signal from the digital watermark payload and applies it separately through embossing. This separation allows the watermark to be applied using conventional printing processes without requiring complex spatial calibration, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining alignment accuracy through the dedicated embossing calibration pattern.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines conventional printing and embossing processes to apply both the watermark payload and spatial calibration signal in an integrated manufacturing flow. The printing process applies the visual artwork and watermark, while the embossing process simultaneously or subsequently applies the calibration pattern, merging multiple functions into a unified production process that reduces overall complexity.
2Reliability
If expensive anti-counterfeiting technologies are used, then security level is improved, but cost increases making them unsuitable for inexpensive items
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs conventional printing and embossing technologies that are already widely deployed in packaging manufacturing. These inexpensive, readily available processes replace expensive specialized anti-counterfeiting technologies, enabling cost-effective implementation for inexpensive items like food and pharmaceutical packaging while maintaining security through the integration of watermark and calibration signal.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes conventional printing and embossing equipment perform multiple functions: producing the visual packaging artwork, embedding the digital watermark for authentication, and applying the spatial calibration signal for precise alignment. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for expensive dedicated anti-counterfeiting equipment, reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining security effectiveness.
3Loss of information
If serialization is implemented using conventional methods, then product identification capability is improved, but additional cost and complexity are incurred
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the spatial calibration signal through embossing during the initial packaging manufacturing process, before the products are distributed. This preliminary application of the calibration pattern ensures that all serialized items have the correct reference framework in place, enabling accurate authentication and traceability without requiring additional complexity during later handling or inspection stages.
Solution Approach 2:
The embossed calibration pattern serves multiple purposes automatically: it provides spatial reference for watermark alignment, enables serialization identification, and facilitates authentication. The calibration signal embedded in the packaging structure itself performs the calibration function without requiring external calibration equipment or processes, reducing system complexity while improving product identification capability.
Data Source
AI summary
First and second patterns are formed on a substrate. A spatial offset between the patterns is determined, and stored for later use in authenticating the substrate. (One or both of the patterns may convey steganographic information. One pattern may be printed, while the other may be embossed.) A smartphone can sense these patterns, determine the spatial offset, and check whether the determined offset matches the earlier-stored offset, to judge whether the substrate is authentic. Another arrangement effects serialization of product packaging by use of paired patterns (at least one of which is typically a watermark pattern) applied in a manner causing a spatial offset between the patterns to progressively vary along a length of a printed web. Still other arrangements involve substrates conveying patterns that degrade over time, e.g., indicating freshness or pressurization condition. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.