.

Inventor: Robert H Nagel

US patent number: 7,080,041 B2

US patent application date: July 20, 2004
US patent issue date: July 18, 2006

SYNOPSIS OF THE INVENTION

The application for this patent was submitted as a single invention and has issued in other countries as a single patent. However, the United States Patent Office has decided that the application contains three separate inventions. This is the first of the US-issued patents. The third potential invention may issue in the future as the third patent.

This patent shows a system and method for producing and authenticating printed documents. It provides counterfeit resistance in a document comparable to that found in paper currency.

The system uses several security features. The document content is hashed and then digitally signed. Identification and verification information is printed on the bottom of the document. Each printed page is indexed by a document identifier. This system is ideal for ballot receipts, producing authentic paper records that could be used for a tamper-proof recount.

The document may be authenticated at any time by checking the security features and digital signatures. The system prevents counterfeiting of valuable documents by providing both physical and logical security.

The system provides a number of opportunities for commercial exploitation including document validation, counterfeit identification, imprinting devices, on-line authentication devices, and stand-alone off-line authentication devices. Applications include ballot receipts, contracts, treaties, theater tickets, drivers' licenses, titles, deeds, stock certificates, and any document requiring legal certification.

The system has been developed under guidelines provided by the American Bar Association and the International Chamber of Commerce. It provides for the capability of printing a certified original document anywhere in the world via the Internet.