Authenticating products

1. A method of authenticating products, the method comprising:

receiving a description of detectable features read from a package including two or more detectable features, wherein the detectable features are determined from encoded information associated with a product in the package and a series of questions regarding the package, and the detectable features are affixed to the package after being determined; and

providing authentication information based on a comparison of the received description to one or more stored package identifiers.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

comparing the received description to the one or more stored package identifiers.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a description of one or more of the detectable features comprises receiving input transmitted from a reading device.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein receiving input from a reading device comprises receiving radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tag information from the reading device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising affixing the detectable features on the package based on the encoded information.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving a description of the package comprises a unique identification (“unique ID”) associated with the package.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the unique ID comprises at least one of a lot number, an identification number printed on the package, RFID tag information and a name of the product.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing one or more questions of the series of questions regarding the detectable features, wherein at least a portion of the received description is received in response to the one or more questions.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the authentication message comprises providing a message indicating that the package is authentic if the received description matches one of the one or more stored package identifiers.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the authentication message comprises providing a message indicating that the package may not be authentic if the received description does not match one of the one or more stored package identifiers.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing at least one of the one or more stored package identifiers from a database in response to passing an expiration date associated with the at least one of the one or more stored package identifiers.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating a product key derived from a product code for the package; and

encrypting the product key with one of a manufacturer key or a product line key to generate the encoded information.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein encrypting the product key produces a bit stream, and the method further comprises:

translating the bit stream into answers to the series of questions regarding the package, the detectable features corresponding to the answers to the series of questions.

14. A method of authenticating a package, the method comprising:

providing an unique ID of a package to a website;

providing information regarding one or more detectable features of the package to the website, wherein the detectable features are determined from encoded information associated with a product in the package and a series of questions regarding the package, and the detectable features are affixed to the package after being determined; and

receiving authentication information from the website regarding authenticity of the package.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the unique ID comprises at least one of a lot number, an identification number printed on the package, RFID tag information and a name of the product.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein providing the information regarding the one or more detectable features comprises providing the information regarding the one or more detectable features in response to the series of questions received from the website.

17. A system for authenticating packages, the system comprising:

an affixing module configured to affix detectable features on a package based on encoded information;

an authentication module configured to receive a description of one or more of the detectable features and transmit authentication information based on a comparison of the received description to one or more stored package identifiers;

an encoding module configured to generate a product key derived from a producer code for the package; and

an encryption module configured to encrypt the product key with one of a manufacturer key or a product line key to produce a bit stream, wherein the affixing module is further configured to translate the bit stream into answers to a series of questions regarding the package, the detectable features corresponding to the answers to the series of questions.

18. A computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, said one or more computer programs implementing a method of authenticating products, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions for:

receiving a description of detectable features read from a package, wherein the detectable features are determined from encoded information associated with a product in the package and a series of questions regarding the package, and the detectable features are affixed to the package after being determined; and

providing authentication information based on a comparison of the received description to one or more stored package identifiers.

19. A computer readable storage medium on which is embedded one or more computer programs, said one or more computer programs implementing a method of authenticating products, said one or more computer programs comprising a set of instructions for:

providing a unique ID of a package to a website;

providing information regarding one or more detectable features of the package to the website, wherein the detectable features are determined from encoded information associated with a product in the package and a series of questions regarding the package, and the detectable features are affixed to the package after being determined; and

receiving authentication information from the website regarding authenticity of the package.

20. A system for authenticating a package, the system comprising:

means for receiving a description of detectable features read from a package, wherein the detectable features are determined from encoded information associated with a product in the package and a series of questions regarding the package, and the detectable features are affixed to the package after being determined; and

means for providing authentication information based on a comparison of the received description to one or more stored package identifiers.