FR2895113A1 - Products authenticating method for protecting products, involves marking each product for producing marks representative of content, and associating information medium to product, where medium has information different for each product - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves marking each product in a set of products for producing marks representative of content. An information medium e.g. bar code, alphanumeric characters or radiofrequency identification tag, is associated to the product. The information medium has information representative of the content and a key specifically allotted to the product in the set of products, where the information is different for each product. An independent claim is also included for a device for authenticating a set of products.

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR AUTHENTICATION AND / OR IDENTIFICATION

  The present invention relates to a method and an authentication and / or identification device. Elie applies, in particular, to the protection against counterfeit marks, distinctive signs and products bearing them. Coding systems are known that use steganography techniques (in English watermarking) to conceal copyright verification information in an image in order to detect illegal reproduction of the image for economic reasons. the coded information is the same for all lawful copies of the image.These copies can not be identified or individualized.It is also known on-line production marking systems, for example inkjet printers that allow to individualize and date products bearing the marks or distinctive signs to defend.In these two cases, a copy of the image or mark makes it possible to reproduce the authentication elements and thus does not protect against a counterfeit The present invention aims at remedying these drawbacks.For this purpose, the present invention aims, in a first aspect, a method of authentication of a set of the de 25 products, characterized in that it comprises, for each product: a step of marking said product to produce a mark representative of a first content and a step of association of an information carrier to said product, said information medium carrying information representative of, on the one hand, the first content and, on the other hand, of a key specifically assigned to said product in said set of products, said information representative being, accordingly, different for each product of said set. Thanks to these provisions, information, which is different for each product, makes it possible to ensure the traceability of the product whose label could have been copied, and the information medium makes information accessible even if the brand has been improved by its copy Finally, the reimportation of products licitly put on sale, in parallel of the authorized commercial network, may be detected and its origin can be determined by the traceability of the product.Thus, an additional level of security is brought by the link, or the correlation, between the content of the mark and the information supported by the information carrier authenticating the mark and rendering them indissociable According to particular characteristics, the method as briefly described above comprises a coding step preliminary to the marking step, coding step during which a message representative of the product in said first content is coded.

  By virtue of these provisions, the representative mark of the first content may be read and information may be decoded by the legitimate owners of that mark in order to determine the origin or path followed by the product (verification of authenticity and traceability). . According to particular characteristics, during the marking step, dots or contrasting features are formed on their bottom, said points being representative of the first content. Thanks to these provisions, the copy of the mark can be detected because, in the case of a copy, the dimension of the dots or lines or their contrast with the background is modified and the copy can thus be detected. According to particular characteristics, during the marking step, dots or lines are formed on a surface present on said product. Thanks to these provisions, one can access and read the mark by examining only said surface. According to particular characteristics, during the marking stage, points are formed on a line of separation of a graphic present on the product (thanks to these provisions, the points do not need to be assembled in An area which may be considered unsightly According to particular characteristics, during the association step of an information carrier, a barcode is associated with said product, thanks to these provisions, the numerous code reading devices. bars can be used to read the information medium.

  According to particular characteristics, during the association step of an information medium, alphanumeric characters are associated with said product. Thanks to these provisions, the reading of the information carrier can be carried out automatically, for example with an optical character recognition (OCR) device or with the naked eye.

  According to particular characteristics, during the association step of an information carrier, a barcode is associated in at least two dimensions to said product. Thanks to these provisions, the amount of information that can be entered in a given area is increased compared to the case of the conventional bar code in one dimension. According to particular characteristics, during the step of associating an information carrier, an electronic label is associated with said product. Thanks to these provisions, the reading of the information medium can be carried out remotely and when the medium is masked by other products or packaging. According to particular characteristics, during the association step, ink jet printing is performed. Thanks to these provisions, information carriers can be individualized and unique, for each product or group of products.

  According to particular characteristics, during the association step, laser impact printing is performed. Thanks to these provisions, the information carriers can title individualized and unique for each product or group of products and, in addition, they can title of very small size, for example less than millimeter cam. According to particular characteristics, the association step comprises a step of reading the mark produced during the marking step, and a coding step of said mark read with said coding code. Thanks to these provisions, the information on the information carrier carried by the mark can be made to depend on, even if it presents printing defects or difficulties in reading.

  According to particular features, the association step includes a step of encoding the first content with a unique one of said product, each information associated during an association step being, accordingly, different. Thanks to these provisions, each product can be identified and recognized. According to particular characteristics, during the marking step, the produced mark includes error correction codes. Thanks to these provisions, it is possible to measure the consumption of error correction codes necessary to read the mark, which is an indicator of the number of copies made, while being able to access the information initially contained by said mark. According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a device for authenticating a set of products, characterized in that it comprises: a means for marking each product to produce a mark representative of a first content and - a means for associating an information carrier with each product, said information medium supporting information representative, on the one hand, of the first content and, on the other hand, a key specifically assigned to said product in said set of products, said representative information being, accordingly, different for each product of said set.

  Since the advantages, aims and features of the method and devices of the second to fourth aspects of the present invention are similar to those of the method of the first aspect, they are not repeated here. Other advantages, aims and features of the present invention will emerge from the description which follows, made for an explanatory and non-limiting purpose with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 schematically represents a first embodiment. An authentication device object of the present invention, Figure 2 schematically represents a product package obtained by the implementation of a particular embodiment of the method object of the present invention and - Figure 3 represents , in the form of a logic diagram, a particular embodiment of the method object of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a code generation server 100, a computer network 105, a rights holder server 110, a local production server 115, a client production server 120 and an information reader device 125 The computer network 105 is a network for secure, long-distance communication between servers equipped with the necessary security tools. For example, the computer network 105 is the Internet network and the protocols implemented include the https protocol (acronym for hypertext transfer protocol secured for secure protocol of hypertext transfer), using cryptography. The generation server 100 is adapted to generate codes whose complexity makes them invulnerable to decoding. For example, these codes implement PKI compliant bi-keys (for public key infrastructure). These codes are provided on demand to the subscriber rights servers such as the server 110. The codes provided represent a first content, at least a portion of which is preferentially supplied by the server 110. For example, a code may represent the name of the owner of the rights, a product reference to mark and / or a code generation date.

  Preferentially, the product codes comprise error correction codes, for example of the type known as CRC D. The rights holder server 110 is adapted to generate, from the codes provided by the server 100, trademarks representative of these codes whose copy is detectable. For example, these marks are incorporated in a geometric form, for example a rectangle, in the form of dots or contrasting lines and small dimensions, for example white on a black background, whose position is representative of the first content. According to another example, these marks are points positioned at the edge of a separation line of a graphic, for example a logo, the positions of the points being representative of the first content. In another example, these marks are dots or streaks on the surface of the packaging or product label, the positions of the dots or lines being representative of the first content.

  Preferentially, the marks produced comprise error correction codes, for example of the type known as CRC D. The local production server 115 is adapted to receive the mark representative of the first content on the part of the server of the owner of the rights 110. The local production server is suitable to integrate this brand in the model of manufacture of a product, a packaging or a label. For example, graphic designers use the local production server or a computer system providing access thereto, with a computer-assisted design or computer-assisted design software, to produce a model of a product, a label or a computer. of a product package. The local production server 115 is also adapted to provide variable information to be printed or marked on said products, packages or labels. This variable information is intended to identify a product or batch of products and associated with the product being manufactured. This variable information represents, on the one hand, the first content and, on the other hand, a coding code provided either by the server 100, or by the server 110, or by the server 115.

  The client production server 120 is adapted to receive this model and to control a chain of production labels and / or packaging comprising means for printing the brand representative of the first content and means for associating a support of representative information of the variable information. Preferentially, the server 120 implements additional information representative of the place of production, the order of manufacture and / or the date of production. The client production server 120 is thus adapted to perform, for each product of a set of products: a step of marking said product to produce a mark representative of a first content and a step of associating a support of information to said product, said information medium supporting information representative of, on the one hand, the first content and, on the other hand, a key specifically attributed to said product in said set of products, said information representative being, in consequence, different for each product of that set.

  It can be observed that the information medium can take several forms. According to a first example, the information medium is a barcode associated with the product. According to a second example, the information medium is a set of alphanumeric characters associated with the product. According to a third example, the information medium is a bar code in at least two dimensions or a data matrix, known as datamatrix, associated with the product. According to a fourth example, the information medium is an electronic label, for example of the RFID (acronym for Radio Frequency Identification) associated with the product. According to other examples, the information carrier supports biological tracers and / or nanometric tracers. The information medium may be printed by an inkjet printer or may be in the product or packaging, by impact of a pulse laser beam, for example a laser beam.

  In particular embodiments, the representative mark of the first content is read, for example by means of a camera, and, depending on the information read, is modified, for example by coding, information carried by the information carrier associated with the product Preferably, to generate information held by the information carrier associated with the product, the first content is coded with a unique product-specific, each information associated with the course The reader device 125 is adapted to read, on the one hand, the mark carried by a product and, on the other hand, the information carrier. it includes a camera and a lens making it possible to take an image of a portion of the product or its packaging bearing the mark considered, independently or in cooperation with the server 100, the reading device is adapted to extract the content image to provide a first content. The reading device 125 is also adapted to read information supported by an information medium associated with said product, via a camera and / or an electronic label reader, independently or in cooperation with one another. with the server 115, the reading device 125 decodes the information supported by the information carrier to provide a second content Finally, the reading device 125 performs a detection of inconsistency between the first content and the second content. to determine whether the product is genuine, for authentication purposes, or to determine its path, for traceability purposes In Figure 2, there are three forms of marks 205, 225 and 245. In the mark 205 , white dots 210 are positioned in a black rectangle 215 and their positions depend on the first content, including possibly error correction codes.

  In the mark 225, black dots 230 are positioned on the edge of a graphic 235, here a logo, in positions which depend on the first content, including possibly error correction codes.

  In the mark 245, white dots 250 are positioned in a black rectangle 255 and their positions depend on the first content, including possibly error correction codes. Rectangle 255 is further surrounded by a matrix code 260, known as datamatrix.

  It is observed that, in the objective of having the matrix code and an authenticator, it is interesting to have additional bytes (creel- an additional field) in the datamatrix code in order to store a control code generated from the content of the central mark and, if necessary, to add a variable code to individualise the product.

  It is observed that, in accordance with the present invention, it is possible to use lines or combinations of points and lines to constitute the associated mark or information carrier. FIG. 3 shows a step 305 for generating a code whose complexity makes it invulnerable to decoding. For example, this code implements a PKI key (for public key infrastructure), for example, a code may represent the name of the owner of the rights, a product reference. a mark and a code generation date Preferably, the product codes include error correction codes, for example of type known as CRC D.

  During a step 310, from the code provided in step 305, a representative mark of this code whose copy is detectable is generated. Preferably, the produced mark includes error correction codes, for example of the type known as CRC D. In a step 315, this mark is incorporated into the model of manufacture of a package or of a label. In step 320, variable information is provided for printing on said labels or packages. This variable information is intended to identify a product or batch of products and to be associated with the product being manufactured. This variable information represents, on the one hand, the first content and, on the other hand, a coding key. In step 325, additional information representative of the place of production, the order of manufacture and / or the date of production is determined. During a step 330, the production of the labels and / or packaging is carried out, by printing the representative mark of the first content and by associating an information medium representative of the variable information.

  In a variant, the mark is rendered invisible by the choice of a particular manufacturing method, for example locally modifying the reflection coefficient of the label or packaging or using an invisible ink of known type. the mark is copied in several parts of the package.

Claims (10)

  1 - A method for authenticating a set of products, characterized in that it comprises, for each product of said set: a step (330) for marking said product to produce a mark (205, 225, 245) representative of a first content and - a step (330) for associating an information carrier with said product, [edit medium of information supporting a representative information, on the one hand, of the first content and, on the other hand, a key specifically assigned to said product in a set of products, said representative information being, accordingly, different for each product of said set. 2 - Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a preliminary coding step (305) at the marking step (330), coding step during which a message representative of the product is encoded in (edit first content. 3. Process according to any of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that, during the step (330) of marking, points (210, 230, 250) are formed or lines in contrast on their bottom, said points or traits being representative of the first content. 4. Process according to claim 3, characterized in that, during the step (330) of marking, points (210, 250) or lines are formed on a surface present on (edit product. 5. Process according to any one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that, during the marking step (330), points (230) are formed on a separation line of a graphic present on (edit product . 6. Process according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that during the step (330) of associating an information carrier, a bar code is associated with said product. 7 - Process according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, during the step (330) of association of an information carrier, alphanumeric characters are associated with said product. 8 - Process according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, in the step (330) of association of an information medium, a barcode (260) is associated in at least two dimensions to this product. 9 - Process according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, in the step (330) of association of an information carrier, an electronic label is associated with said product. 10. Process according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, during the step (330) of association, an inkjet printing is carried out.11 Method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 9, characterized in that, during the association step (330), laser impact printing is performed. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the step (330) of association comprises a step of reading the mark produced during the marking step, and a step of coding said mark read with said coding. 13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the association step (330) comprises a coding step of the first content with a unique key specific to said product, each associated information during a step. association is therefore different. 14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, during the marking step (330), the produced mark comprises error correction codes. Device for authenticating a set of products, characterized in that it comprises: a means for marking each product to produce a mark representing a first content and a means for associating a support each information product, said information medium supporting information representative, on the one hand, of the first content and, on the other hand, a key specifically assigned to said product in said set of products, said information representative being accordingly, different for each product of said set.