DESC:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970

(39 of 1970)

&

THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

[See Section 10 and Rule 13]

TITLE:

“AN IMPROVED DATA AUTHENTICATION SYSTEM THROUGH ENCRYPTED MACHINE READABLE CODE AND METHOD THEREOF”

APPLICANT:

MANIPAL TECHNOLOGIES LTD.
A company incorporated under Indian Companies Act, 1956 having address at
PRESS CORNER, MANIPAL-576104, KARNATAKA, INDIA

PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION:
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an advanced and improved process for data authentication as an anti-counterfeiting measure to be incorporated onto products from the group of, but not limiting to branded commodities, pharmaceuticals, packaging of valuable materials, secured documents and fiduciary papers etc. More particularly, the invention relates to authentication process comprising plurality of checks to authenticate and confirm data encrypted in machine readable two dimensional bar code.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

To address the issue of counterfeiting especially in pharmaceuticals, branded and/or valuable items and security documents there is a need for incorporating such security features which make it difficult to forge the packaging and/or documents as far as possible. Security and/or value documents are currently provided with transmissive security elements which can be checked when viewed in a trans-illumination mode and which afford a particularly high level of security against imitation by means of a colour copier.

Problems with known counterfeit protection measures include the increased cost, easy imitations by alternate methods, like digital or laser printing, scanning, photography and xerography. Another problem is the difficulty in raising public awareness of some of the measures, especially in relation to counterfeit protection and authenticating means.

A typical barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached. A two dimensional bar code uses four standardized encoding modes namely, numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji, to efficiently store data; extensions may also be used.

This two dimensional QR bar code system became popular outside the automotive industry due to its fast readability and greater storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. Applications include product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, and general marketing.

A typical two dimensional QR code consists of black modules (square dots) arranged in a square grid on a white background, which can be read by an imaging device (such as a camera, scanner, etc.) and processed using Reed–Solomon error correction until the image can be appropriately interpreted. The required data are then extracted from patterns that are present in both horizontal and vertical components of the image.

For variable data printing standard barcodes are used for open public information and these barcodes can be photocopied in standard printer. Now, such visual codes can be imitated easily by means such as high quality photocopiers and are thus highly vulnerable to be misused.

Standard barcode generation software are easily accessible to counterfeiters. Considering this many product manufacturing companies adopted proprietary barcodes & mobile applications to authenticate the products hoping to avoid mass counterfeit. Brand owners find this inconvenient as they are locked in with the proprietary barcode providers and it is cumbersome to maintain multiple applications to authenticate the product during the life cycle of the product.

Such systems are described for instance in US20160267369A1, wherein the steps involved in creating a 2D barcode includes: embedding primary information that can be read by a 2D-barcode-reader in a primary information pattern, and embedding secondary information that is made difficult to reproduce without alteration in a visible pattern.
US20050109846A1 discloses systems comprising a computer program that provides an image and a bar code symbol and combines the bar code symbol with the image such that the bar code symbol is readable by the bar code scanner device and the image and bar code symbol are processed by comparing the properties corresponding to the image, the bar code symbol and properties corresponding to the bar code scanner sensitivity values associated with the bar code scanner device.

US20050199723A1 teaches systems wherein the methods are provided for identifying and authenticating goods and a code or checksum based information or an image relating to a good is derived and associated with a barcode to include on a label. This label is scanned by a recipient to authenticate the goods and the scanable code is provided based on an image by distilling an image into its hue components and using a grid to create a pattern.
All the state of the art disclosures have certain drawbacks. There are some restrictions, like the artwork design is introduced only in the black portion of the QR code, so the physical nature of the QR code is changed visibly. They use multiple layers of laminating films which is an expensive option; and above all, visual representation of the QR code can be modified easily.
Therefore, there is a requirement for authentication systems and means to check upon the menace of counterfeiting. There is a need to address authentication limitations at the end of consumer and to ensure genuineness of the product purchased by them.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an object of the invention to provide an improved and advanced alternative to the state of the art authentication features.

It is further an object of the invention to provide a process of generating an authentication feature to be implied on a product that renders the product unable to be duplicated.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a process of encapsulating an authentication feature into two dimensional code having multiple levels of authenticating elements to detect counterfeit.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a process of authentication having secure and durable authenticating elements.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a process of authentication that comprises at least three options of authentications including offline authentication, online authentication and local authentication using smart phone.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a process of encryption of data including the steps of base64 conversion, hidden unique number, data shuffling, triple DES encryption, AES encryption, stegnography.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a programmed application for reading the encrypted data in the two dimensional code.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a process of authentication to obviate the disadvantages of the present state of the art measures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention relates to an advanced and improved process for data authentication as an anti-counterfeiting measure to be incorporated onto products from the group of, but not limiting to branded commodities, pharmaceuticals, packaging of valuable materials, secured documents and fiduciary papers etc. More particularly, the invention relates to authentication process comprising plurality of checks to authenticate and confirm data encrypted in machine readable two dimensional bar code.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a system for an encrypted machine readable code based product authentication comprises: a means for authenticating the product, said means further comprising at least one covert layer which further comprises at least one secure document data and at least one secure document image which is encrypted in it; a means for capturing and processing the code; and a means for decrypting the encrypted information; wherein: the secure document data and the secure document image which is further converted into a cipher text are encrypted together, resulting into a encrypted machine readable code.

In yet another embodiment, a method for an encrypted machine readable code based product authentication comprising the steps: capturing the encrypted machine readable code; processing the encrypted machine readable code; verifying the encrypted machine readable code; sending the authenticated result; wherein: the steps of processing the encrypted machine readable code further comprises: sending the captured encrypted machine readable code to a remote server for authentication purpose; processing the encrypted machine readable code by decoding software; fetching the secure document data and secure document image using decoding software which is then decrypted; separating the secure document data and secure document image; regenerating the secure document image; comparing decrypted information with pre-determined information pre-stored in the server; and sending the verified and authenticated result.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, present invention is a graphic representation through security graphic elements i.e. barcode technology of an integrity process consisting of ciphered fixed, variable, image and random data that generate a chain of interconnected signatures which is then printed on the physical document.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention is proposed data encapsulation process for secure document. Encapsulated data is stored in a two dimensional code. This code holds the encrypted information with the image of secure document holder. This stored information acts as covert data set and this feature prevents data modification and prevents the identity theft because of the image storage capacity of image code thus generated. This solution works on both online and offline system for instant authentication of secure document.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A complete understanding of the system and method of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the following drawings:

Fig. 1 shows flow chart depicting generation & implying authentication of security feature according to the invention.
Fig. 2 shows flow chart depicting process of authenticating and verifying at server level.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

In the current scenario of authentication of secure document is done manually verifying the secure document with respect to the stored data or stored file which is handled by a particular Bureau. This includes lots of procedures and constraints and is also time consuming procedure for end user.

But in the case of present invention authentication process starts with end user by uploading scanned copy of physical document, which is then verified in the server by decoding the machine readable code, which has all the key data and image which needs to be authenticated with the secure document in the form of cipher text.

Core distinct feature of proposed code is that, it can store image associated with the physical document in the form of string which is then encoded as machine readable code. While decoding, string converts into image which adds the additional layer of authenticity of the physical document.

The main advantage of present invention is that it prevents modification of machine readable code. If any modification is made to the proposed code, it will be detected by decoding software which will indicate the end user about the modification. This invention proposes a new way of representation of data in barcodes, by encrypting information in the secure document with image into the barcode. This prevents the data modification and thus cannot be mass generated. The proposed code can be used for instant authentication of the secure document because of its capacity to store large number of data. This eases the end user for authenticating the secure document.

The present invention is an advanced and improved process for data authentication as an anti-counterfeiting measure to be incorporated onto products from the group of, but not limiting to branded commodities, pharmaceuticals, packaging of valuable materials, secured documents and fiduciary papers etc. More particularly, the invention relates to authentication process comprising plurality of checks to authenticate and confirm data encrypted in machine readable two dimensional bar code.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, present invention is a graphic representation through security graphic elements i.e. barcode technology of an integrity process consisting of ciphered fixed, variable, image and random data that generate a chain of interconnected signatures which is then printed on the physical document.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention is proposed data encapsulation process for secure document. Encapsulated data is stored in a two dimensional code. This code holds the encrypted information with the image of secure document holder. This stored information acts as covert data set and this feature prevents data modification and prevents the identity theft because of the image storage capacity of image code thus generated. This solution works on both online and offline system for instant authentication of secure document.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention is proposed a system for an encrypted machine readable code based product authentication comprising: a means for authenticating the product, said means further comprising at least one covert layer which further comprises at least one secure document data and at least one secure document image which is encrypted in it; a means for capturing and processing the code ; and a means for decrypting the encrypted information; wherein: the secure document data and the secure document image which is further converted into a cipher text are encrypted together, resulting into a encrypted machine readable code.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention is proposed a method for an encrypted machine readable code based product authentication comprising the steps of: capturing the encrypted machine readable code; processing the encrypted machine readable code; verifying the encrypted machine readable code; sending the authenticated result; wherein: the steps of processing the encrypted machine readable code further comprises: sending the captured encrypted machine readable code to a remote server for authentication purpose; processing the encrypted machine readable code by decoding software; fetching the secure document data and secure document image using decoding software which is then decrypted; separating the secure document data and secure document image; regenerating the secure document image; comparing decrypted information with pre-determined information pre-stored in the server; and sending the verified and authenticated result.

As depicted in Fig. 1, raw certified data is encoded in raw image of secure document holder. The secure document data is encrypted with the image and a two dimensional QR code is generated and printed on secure document. The purpose of this invention is to provide a robust security feature for brand protection and instant verification to address Covert data authentication methods. This feature further consists of a variable covert encrypted data that holds the secure document information with the capacity to store secure document holder image. This invention has high resistance to reproducibility of stored data while in the meantime it will also allow for the instant authentication of the secure document. Following standards are used for encryption:
? Base64 conversion
? Hidden unique number
? Data shuffling
? Triple DES Encryption
? AES Encryption
? Steganography

Thus the resulting cipher text consists of both secure document data and image of secure document holder. By using this data, QR code is generated for printing on the secure document.

As described in Fig. 2, the variable data encoded into dual code is authenticated by scanning the QR Code and machine readable covert data. The captured image with covert data is decrypted to obtain string value. The image detail is separated from that of secure document data to regenerate the image. The image thus obtained is displayed as results. Authentication can be done in three different ways namely online authentication, offline authentication, smart phone authentication.
1. Online authentication: Online Verification is done by uploading the scanned copy of secure document through the end user web portal. This scanned copy will be sent to server for authentication where the software will process the document, initially checks for the barcode followed by fetching all the data stored in barcode which is then decrypted, and compares the decrypted data with stored data in the database and sends back relevant result to the local system.

2. Offline verification: It is carried out using machine readable code reader and standalone application in the connected device. Reader is used to read the data from the secure document, data read is decrypted by the software and relevant information stored in the barcode is displayed on the display, then manual verification is done by the end user.

3. Smartphone authentication: In this process, mobile camera is used as the machine readable device. In-built app decrypts the code and generate stored information, through cellular connection, app connects with the server for fetching more information regarding physical document.

It is further provided that the authentication solution based on the standard two dimensional barcode has incremental benefit by way of creation of a covert secondary layer of data which is encrypted via a custom key as security element for copy protection.

In standard barcode printing technology, data used to generate the barcode is always plain text. By doing so any third party can generate the barcode for counterfeiting the secure document. Such barcode holds minimum data fields to reference the stored data. But in present invention, all the stored data in the barcode is encrypted with proprietary encryption type. Hence, any third party cannot generate the barcode to replicate it.

As the present invention code has capacity to hold larger data, it stores all the information regarding the secure document in which it is printed. This stored data facilitates in the instant data authentication so that it eliminates the server communication to fetch further data for authentication. ,CLAIMS:CLAIMS
We claim:
1. A system for an encrypted machine readable code based product authentication said system comprising:
a) a means for authenticating the product, said means further comprising at least one covert layer which further comprises at least one secure encoded document data and at least one secure document image which is encrypted in it;
b) a means for capturing the code;
c) a means for processing the captured code; and
d) a means for decrypting the encrypted information;
wherein:
the secure encoded document data and the secure document image which is further converted into a cipher text are encrypted together, resulting into a encrypted machine readable code.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for capturing the code sends the captured encrypted machine readable code to a remote server for authentication.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for processing the captured code processes the encrypted machine readable code using a decoding software application.

4. The system as claimed in claims 1 and 3, wherein the decoding software application decrypts the encoded document data and secure document image from the captured code.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the decrypted information is compared with pre-determined information pre-stored in the server for authentication.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the authentication is done through online, offline or using a smart phone.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the encrypted machine readable code is a two dimensional QR code.