Methods and a system for verifying the authenticity of a mark

1. A method for encoding, storing, and retrieving an electronic signature of a barcode, the method comprising:

a first computer system optically capturing an image of an original barcode;

the first computer system

extracting one or more optical or physical characteristics of the original barcode at a plurality of locations on the original barcode;

encoding the one or more optical or physical characteristics of the original barcode into a verification metric data set for the original barcode;

the first computer system storing the verification metric data set of the original barcode in a database on a network storage;

a second computer system retrieving the verification metric data set of the original barcode from the database;

the second computer system optically capturing an image of a candidate barcode;

the second computer system

extracting one or more optical or physical characteristics of the candidate barcode at a plurality of locations on the candidate barcode,

wherein optical or physical characteristics extracted from the candidate barcode by the second computer system are taken from the same locations from which the first computer system extracted optical or physical characteristics from the original barcode;

trimming the optical or physical characteristics extracted from the candidate barcode by removing one or more dominant optical or physical characteristics;

encoding the trimmed optical or physical characteristics of the candidate barcode into a verification metric data set for the candidate barcode;

the second computer system retrieving the verification metric data set of the original barcode from the network storage;

the second computer system trimming the optical or physical characteristics extracted from the original barcode by removing the same optical or physical characteristics from the verification metric data set of the original barcode as were removed from the verification metric data set of the candidate barcode;

the second computer system verifying the candidate bar code based on a comparison between the verification metric data set of the original barcode and the verification metric data set of the candidate barcode;

the second computer system transmitting a message indicating a result of the verifying step.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second computer system trimming the optical or physical characteristics extracted from the candidate barcode by removing one or more dominant optical or physical characteristics extracted from the candidate barcode comprises the second computer system removing the highest-magnitude optical or physical characteristics extracted from the candidate barcode.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second computer system trimming the optical or physical characteristics extracted from the candidate barcode by removing one or more dominant optical or physical characteristics extracted from the candidate barcode comprises removing each of the optical or physical characteristics that exceed a predetermined threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

the second computer system decoding an error correction code of the candidate barcode to determine locations of the plurality of locations that are damaged; and

the second computer system excluding, based on the decoded error correction code, optical or physical characteristics that were extracted from locations of the plurality of locations on the candidate barcode that are determined to be damaged.

5. A method for establishing a signature for a printed mark, the method comprising:

printing a mark, wherein the printed mark includes imperfections resulting from a printing process that printed the mark;

capturing an image of the printed mark;

forming a genuine mark signature based on the imperfections by carrying out steps comprising

extracting one or more optical or physical characteristics of the printed mark at a plurality of locations on the printed mark;

trimming the optical or physical characteristics by removing one or more dominant optical or physical characteristics;

encoding the trimmed optical or physical characteristics of the printed mark into a verification metric data set;

storing the genuine mark signature in a database; and

applying the printed mark to an item.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the printed mark includes coded information regarding the item to which the mark is applied.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein

the coded information comprises an item identifier, and

storing the genuine mark signature comprises using the item identifier index the genuine mark signature for subsequent retrieval from the database.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the printed mark is a logo.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the optical or physical characteristics comprise irregularities along an edge of a feature of a barcode.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein

the irregularities are among the imperfections on which the genuine mark signature is based, and

forming the genuine mark signature comprises giving the irregularities greater weight than the rest of the imperfections.

11. The method of claim 5 , further comprising storing, along with the genuine mark signature, metadata regarding a device involved in a process used to print the mark.

12. The method of claim 5 , further comprising storing, along with the genuine mark signature, information regarding a device used to capture the image of the printed mark.

13. A computer system comprising a processor that carries out actions comprising:

receiving an image of a candidate mark from an image acquisition device;

using the image to measure one or more characteristics at a plurality of locations on the candidate mark, resulting in a first set of metrics;

removing a highest metric from the first set of metrics, resulting in a trimmed first set of metrics;

retrieving, from a computer-readable memory, a second set of metrics that represents one or more characteristics measured at a plurality of locations on an original mark;

removing, from the second set of metrics, a metric corresponding to the metric removed from the first set of metrics, resulting in a trimmed second set of metrics;

comparing the trimmed first set of metrics with the trimmed second set of metrics;

determining whether the candidate mark can be verified as genuine based on the comparison;

if, based on the comparison, it is determined that the mark cannot be verified to be genuine, carrying out further actions comprising:

removing a next highest metric from the trimmed first set of metrics, resulting in a further trimmed first set of metrics;

removing, from the trimmed second set of metrics, a metric corresponding to the metric removed from the trimmed first set of metrics, resulting in a further trimmed second set of metrics;

comparing the further trimmed first set of metrics with the further trimmed second set of metrics;

determining whether the mark can be verified to be genuine based on the comparison of the further trimmed first set of metrics and the further trimmed second set of metrics; and

repeating the removing, comparing, and determining steps for successively further trimmed sets of metrics until the metrics remaining in the trimmed first set of metrics for the candidate mark is less than a predetermined threshold amount.

14. The computer system of claim 13 , wherein the processor carries out further actions comprising:

if, after the metrics remaining in the trimmed first set of metrics for the candidate mark are less than the predetermined threshold amount, it is determined that the mark cannot be verified to be genuine, prompting a user to re-submit another image of the mark.

15. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the processor carries out further actions comprising:

determining whether a predetermined retry limit has been reached.