SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCT AUTHENTICATION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to the field of product originality. More specifically, the
present invention relates to systems and methods for verifying product authenticity using unique
. identification code.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Markets are flooded with products which are fraudulent imitations of original products and it is
not easy for a customer to verify the authenticity of the products while buying. For customers as
well as for the manufacturers of the original products a fake product is absolutely unwanted.
While in the traditional marketplace a customer can visit an authorized distributor or retailer to
buy a product with reasonable degree of certainty about the originality of the product, the same is
not possible when the marketplace is electronic. In an electronic marketplace, such as in the
ecommerce websites, a buyer is able to only see the product on the website and it may so happen
that the product is posted on the website for sale by an unscrupulous vendor. The same case may
happen also in the traditional market. Counterfeit products can be found in almost all the product
ranges. Counterfeit consumer goods may constitute a serious threat to public health and safety
and counterfeiting also undermines legitimate business in terms of loss of revenue for the
authorized manufacturer and the potential to damage the reputation of their brand due to poor
quality counterfeit goods.
It is extremely difficult for the consumers to distinguish between authentic and counterfeit goods.
While various methods are available at present for providing confidence to consumers that
the product on offer is attributable to an authorized source, those methods suffer from a number
of drawbacks. In some of the present day systems, a unique code is attached to the label
pasted/printed on a consumer product. The label may be validated using a variety of means

employing a web browser or SMS. However, question may remain on the authenticity of the
label itself. Also, a genuine unique code may be pasted on a counterfeit product and such codes
may be used again and again to misrepresent the authenticity of the product.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method for providing reliable and convenient means to
enable buyers to verify product originality.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for verifying the
authenticity of a consumer product.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for verifying the
authenticitv of a consumer product directly by the consumer without involving any third party
product verification method.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a platform for companies/manufacturers
to generate unique verification code without any hassle.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a secure and easy way to generate
unique product verification code through use of website and mobile application.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a secure and easy way to verify product
originality through use of website and mobile application.

A further object of the present invention is to reduce cost of consumer product verification
process.
Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, as well as additional objects, features and
advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of
the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of
carrying out the invention as presently perceived.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basib understanding of some
aspects of the disclosed invention. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not
intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to
present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is
presented later.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for verification of consumer product
authenticity. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system and
method, hereinafter referred to as "smart verify", enables creation of machine readable unique
identifiers to be attached to a product which an end user/buyer of the product can scan to verify
the originality of the product and the validity of the unique identifier. Once the unique identifier
is scanned its validity expires and this makes impossible for counterfeiters to use the same
unique identifier to present a fake product as a genuine one. Examples of unique identifier which
a seller/manufacturer/company can generate to include product details and a timestamp include,
but are not limited to, a quick response code (QR code), a bar code etc. Hereinafter, the unique
identifier is referred to, alternatively and interchangeably, as a QR code only.

Smart verify provides a platform for companies/manufacturers ,to provide the relevant
information of a consumer product through a web application and/or a mobile application and to
generate a QR code in bulk. Every company will have unique user id and, thus, every QR code
generated will have their unique key with a timestamp. The QR code, in printed form (e.g. as a
sticker), can be then added to the product package or to the product itself. An end user (i.e.
consumer) will be able to scan the QR code using a mobile application (i.e. mobile app) or
through any other optical scanner and transmit the code information to a central server which
stores the product details along with the unique keys for every QR code. Since validity of a QR
code expires after one time use, the central server will let the user know if the QR code is a fresh
one along with the product details or the validation will fail if the QR code has been used before .
for product verification. Thus, a QR code can be used for one-time verification only and it would
help in preventing duplication of the unique identifier to stop product counterfeiting.
These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood
when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred
embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of
limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments
herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such
modifications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
In order to describe the manner in which features and other aspects of the present disclosure can
be obtained, a more particular description of certain subject matter will be rendered by reference

to specific embodiments which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that
these drawings depict only typical embodiments and are not therefore, to be considered to be
limiting in scope, nor drawn to scale for all embodiments, various embodiments will be
described and. explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the
accompanying drawings in which:
FIG.l illustrates a general architecture of a system for QR code generation and product
authentication verification that operates in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention; and
FIG.2 illustrates a flowchart of the principal operations for unique identifier generation and
verification in.accordance with one embodiment of the present invention!
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the
, invention, and is provided in the context of particular applications of the invention and their
requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to
those skilled in the art and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other
embodiments and applications without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus,
the present invention.is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be
accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a
thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the

art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,
well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to
obscure the present invention.
Embodiments of the present invention are described herein in the. context of a system for
consumer product authenticity verification, also referred to as a smart verify system. Those of
ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description of the present
invention is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of
the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit
of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present
invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be
used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like
parts.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein
are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the' development of any such
actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to
achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related
constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from
one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might
be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering
for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. In an embodiment of the present invention, a unique identifier can be assigned to or associated
with a particular product which, when scanned by a scanning device such as a mobile phone or
any other optical scanner, can be used to verify the authenticity of the product. The unique
identifier is machine-readable and may be recognizable in any of the frequencies which lie

within the electromagnetic spectrum including radio frequency, light, heat, etc. For example^ in a
preferred embodiment, the unique identifier 105, as shown in FIG.l, can be an optical machine-
readable code lying in the visible range, such as a barcode or a quick response code (QR code),
to which a product specific data can be associated with. Similarly, the unique identifier may be a
code lying in the ultra violet frequency range recognizable by an ultra violet scanner or it may be
. a code lying in the infra red. frequency range recognizable by infrared scanners. The unique
identifier, such as the QR code, can be a factory printed .one or it can be generated by a'user at
home using any commonly known barcode generation device such as a home computer and
printer or by using any common manufacturing methods.
FIG.l illustrates the general architecture of a smart verify system 100 that operates in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention. The smart verify system; 100 comprises a unique
identifier 105, a client device 110, a mobile computing device 120 ixid a smart verify system
server 130. The client device 110 and the mobile computing device 120 are shown connected to
the smart verify system server 130 via a network 115. Although, only one client device 110 and
one mobile computing device 120 are illustrated in FIG.l, it is to be understood that there can be
a plurality of client devices or mobile computing devices connected to the smart verify system
. server 130. The smart verify system server 130 communicates with the client device 110 and
mobile computing device 120 over the network 115 to present a user interface for the smart
verify system of the present invention. The user interface of the smart verify system 100 of the
present invention can be presented on the client device and on the mobile computing device
through a web browser or through a native mobile application communicating with the smart
verify system server 130 and is used for displaying, entering and/or managing data. As used
herein, the term "network" generally refers to any collection of distinct networks working
together to appear as a single network to a user. The term also refers to the so-called world wide
"network of networks" or Internet which is connected to each other using the Internet protocol
(IP) and other similar protocols. As described herein, the exemplary public network 115 of FIG.l
is for descriptive purposes only and it may be wired or wireless. Although, the description may
refer to terms commonly used in describing particular public networks such as the Internet, the

description and concepts equally apply to other public and private computer networks, including
systems having architectures dissimilar to that shown in FIG.l. The inve!ntive idea of the present
invention is applicable for all existing cellular network topologies or respective communication
standards, in particular GSM, UMTS/HSPA, LTE and future standards. -
With respect to the present description, the smart verify system server 130 may include any
service that relies on a database system that is accessible over a network, in which various
elements of hardware and software of the database system, may be shared by one or more users
of the system 100. The graphical user interface (GUI) or user interface provided by the smart
verify system server 130 on client device 110 or on the mobile computing device 120 through a
web browser or mobile app may be utilized by the users for signing up, logging in and for
submitting and retrieving data etc.
The components appearing in the smart verify system server 130 refer to an exemplary
combination of those components that would need to be assembled to create the infrastructure in
order to provide the tools and services contemplated by the present invention. The smart verify
system server 130 includes an application server or executing unit 132, a unique identifier
module 137 and a data store 139. The application server.or executing unit 132 comprises a web
server 134 and a computer server 136 that serves as the application layer of the present
invention.
The Web server 134 is a system that sends out Web pages containing electronic data files in
response to Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requests from remote-browsers (i.e. browsers
installed in the mobile computing device 120) or in response to similar requests made through a
mobile app or mobile application of the present invention installed on a mobile computing device
120. The web server 134 can communicate with the mobile app of the present invention and/or

with a web browser installed on a mobile computing device 120 to provide the user interface
required for the smart verify system 100.
Although, the description of the smart verify system 100 may refer to terms commonly used in
describing particular computer servers, the description and concepts,equally apply to other
processing systems, including systems having architectures dissimilar to that shown in FIG.l.
The mobile application or "mobile app" is a computer program that may be downloaded and
installed in mobile computing device 120 using methods known in the art. Hereinafter, the
mobile app of the present invention is referred to as smart verify app. The smart verify app
enables one or more persons to do various tasks related to the smart verify system of the present
. invention. Examples of mobile computing device 120 may include, but not limited to, mobile
devices, tablets, hand-held or laptop devices, smart phones, personal digital assistants or any
similar devices.
The client device 110 and the mobile computing device 120, both collectively referred to as a
client device, may include various electronic components known in the art for these types of
devices. In this embodiment, the mobile computing device 120 may include a scanner, user input
device (e.g., touch screen, keyboard and/or other form of input device known in the art), a device
transceiver for communication, a computer readable device memory and the smart verify app
operably installed in the computer readable memory (not shown in figure). For purposes of this
application, the term "transceiver", is defined to include any form of transmitter and/or receiver
known in the art, for cellular, WIFI, radio, and/or other form of wireless or wired communication
known in the art. Obviously, these elements may vary, or may include alternatives known in the
art, and.such alternative embodiments should be considered within the scope of the claimed
invention.

Examples of client device (i.e. client device 110 and the mobile computing device 120) may
include, but not limited to mobile devices, tablets, hand-held or laptop devices, smart phones,
personal digital assistants, desktop computers or any similar devices.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of a non-limitative
example and with reference to the accompanying drawings. For example, a company or a
manufacturer wants to make authenticity/originality of a product 104 (shown in FIG.2).verifiable
at the consumer end. The manufacturer can submit necessary details, for user identity creation
through the user interface presented on the client device 110 as in step 212 of FIG.2 against
which the smart verify system server 130 creates unique user identities for each user as in step
216. The system may ask for verification of the submitted data to authenticate the user.
Hereinafter, an authentic user representing a manufacturer or company is referred to as a
company user. A registered company user, having a unique user id, is,able to submit a plurality
of product information related to a consumer product, for example for product 104, after logging
in, through the user interface presented on the client device 110 as in step 214. The product
information may include product name, product description, product type, product image etc.
Reference to FIG.l and FIG.2, the unique identifier module 137 uses various algorithms such as
quick response code algorithms, timestamp algorithms to create a unique identifier (e.g. a QR
code) 105, as in step 218, which includes the product information, user/manufacturer information
and a timestamp to uniquely define the identifier. In the context of the present invention, a
timestamp is the current time of an event that is recorded by a computer. Through mechanisms
such as the Network • Time Protocol (NTP), a computer maintains accurate current' time,
>
calibrated to minute fractions of a second. The data store 139 maintains a database for every
unique identifier along with a manufacturer database, product database and user id database. A
company user can request the smart verify system server to create as many unique identifiers as

required. Once a unique identifier is created, the smart verify system server 130 sends the unique
identifier in printable format as in step 219 and the company user fcan receive the unique
identifier through the user interface on client device 110 as in step 215 of FIG.2
In an exemplary embodiment, the unique identifier 105 is received by the company user in
printable document format which is then printed to add the unique identifier to the product 104
as a label or the unique identifier 105 can be printed on the product itself.
Reference to FIG.l, in an exemplary embodiment, a consumer/buyer uses a smartphone, which is
a mobile computing device 120, with the smart verify app installed pii the smartphone 120 to
verify the authenticity of the product 104 (shown in FIG. 2) which the co.nsumer has bought from
the market. Reference to FIG.l and FIG.2, in a preferred embodiment,;after opening the smart
verify app as in step 228, the graphical user interface (GUI) or simply the user interface provided
by the smart verify app on the device display 122 enables the user to activate the camera (i.e. the
scanner) of the smartphone 120 to scan the unique identifier 105 associated with the product 104
as in step 230. With the help of the processor available inside the smartphone 120, the smart
verify app decodes the unique identifier 105 as in step 232.
In a preferred embodiment, the smart verify app instructs the processor of the smartphone 120 to
send the unique identifier information to the smart verify system server 130 over the network
115 as in step 234 of FIG.2. The smart verify system server 130, on receiving the unique identity
of the unique identifier 105, queries the server data store 139 to see if. the unique identifier 105
recorded in the data store is valid or not as in step 224. The smart verify system server 13.0 marks
a unique identifier as expired or invalid once it receives a query for its validity. Accordingly, in
the present instance, if the unique identifier 105 associated with the iplpduct 104 was checked
before for product authenticity, then the smart verify system server 130 informs the consumer
through the user interface on the mobile computing device 120, as in step 236, that the uriique.

identifier 105 is invalid i.e. the authenticity or originality of the product 104 cannot be verified.
Otherwise, if the smart verify system server 130 never received a verification request for the
unique identifier 105 before, then the unique identifier 105 would remain marked as valid, and,
accordingly, the smart verify system server 130 would inform the,consumer on the mobile
computing device 120, as in step 238, through the user interface, that the product 104 is
authentic/original and product information/details would also be provided on the user interface.
Simultaneously, the smart verify system server 130 would also mark the unique identifier 105 as
invalid or make the unique identifier 105 expired, as in step 226, so that, for future queries, the
unique identifier 105 is found as invalid.
Thus, as it has been described above, a company/manufacturer can create as many, unique
identifiers as required and associate those unique identifiers with the company's products. An
end user of the product i.e. a consumer can easily verify the product originality by scanning the
unique identifier with a mobile computing device if the smart verify app is installed on the
mobile computing device and a network connection is available to communicate with the smart
verify system server. Since, a unique identifier gets expired once a query is made for verification
of the unique identifier, no unique identifier can be duplicated or be used more than once which
makes it impossible to present a product as original using the same unique identifier more than
once.
When introducing elements or features of the present disclosure and the- exemplary
embodiments, the articles "a", "an", "the" and "said" are intended to mean that there are one or
more of such elements or features. The terms "comprising", "including" and "having" are
intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements or features other than
those specifically noted. It is further to be understood that the method steps, processes, and-
operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in

the. particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of
performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
References to "a processor" or "the processor," can be understood, to include one or more
microprocessors that can communicate in a stand-alone and/or a distributed environment(s), and
. can thus be configured to communicate via wired or wireless communications with other
processors, where such one or more processor can be configured tc operate on one or more
processor-controlled devices that can be similar or different devices. Furthermore, references to
data store, unless otherwise specified, can include one or more processor-readable and accessible
memory elements and/or components that can be internal to the processor-controlled device,
external to the processor-controlled device, and can be accessed via a wired or wireless network.
Flowchart is used to describe the steps of the present invention. While the various steps in
the flowchart are presented and described sequentially, some or all of the steps may be executed
in different orders, may be combined or omitted, and some or all of the steps may be executed in
parallel. Further, in one or more of the embodiments of the invention, one or more of the steps
described above may be omitted, repeated, and/or performed in a different order. In addition,
additional steps, omitted in the flowchart may be included in performing this method.
Accordingly, the specific arrangement of steps shown in FIG.2 should not be construed as
. limiting the scope of the invention.
Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein. Variations of those preferred
embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the
foregoing description. The inventor expects skilled artisans to employ such variations as
appropriate, and the inventor intends for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as
specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes: all modifications and
equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable

law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations
thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated hef,ein or otherwise clearly
. contradicted by context.

We Claim:
1. A system for product authentication, said system comprising:
a smart verify system server configured to present a user interface on one or more
client devices; and
a unique identifier generated by said smart verify system server based on a plurality of
product information related to a product and a user identity details submitted fhrpugh
said user interface and a timestamp, wherein validity of said unique identifier
configured to expire after a validity check on said unique identifier is carried out by
said smart verify system server;
wherein on receiving a request for verification of said product through said user
interface, said smart verify system server carries out said validity check on said unique
identifier associated with said product and provides a confirmation through said user
interface on authenticity of said product if said unique identifier is found valid.
2. The system for product authentication as claimed in claim 1, wherein said unique
identifier is generated in multiple numbers.
3. The system for product authentication as claimed in claim 1, wherein said unique
identifier is provided through said user interface in printable format.
4. The system for product authentication as claimed in claim 1, wherein said unique
identifier is an optical machine readable code.
5. The system for product authentication as claimed in claim 1, wherein said unique
identifier is a quick response code.
6. The system for product authentication as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of
product information, said user identity details and said timestamp are stored in a data
store.

7. A method for product authentication, said method comprising the steps of:
presenting a user interface by a smart verify system server on one or more client
devices;
receiving a plurality of product information related to a product and a user identity
details through said user interface;
generating a unique identifier based on said plurality of product information and said
user identity details and a timestamp, wherein validity of said unique identifier
configured to expire after a validity check on said unique identifier is carried out by
said smart verify system server; and
receiving a request for verification of said product through said user interface;
wherein said smart verify system server carries out said validity check on said unique
identifier associated with said product and provides a confirmation through said user
interface on authenticity of said product if said unique identifier is found valid.
8. The method for product authentication as claimed in claim 7, wherein said user interface
is presented through a mobile application.
9. The method for product authentication as claimed in claim 8, wherein said mobile
application facilitates scanning of said unique identifier.
10. The method for product authentication as claimed in claim 7, wherein said confirmation
on authenticity of said product is accompanied by said plurality of product information.