IP Library Granted Patent US 12,499,456
Granted Patent B2
US 12,499,456 · App. 18/481,009 · Granted Dec 16, 2025

Digital fingerprinting

Inventors: Nader Rahimizad (Portland, OR); Christopher Andon (Portland, OR); Hien Tommy Pham (Beaverton, OR)
Assignee: NIKE, Inc.
G06Q30/0185A43B3/34G06K7/10861G06K7/1417G06K7/1443G06K7/1447G06K19/027G06K19/06037G06Q10/087G06Q20/3672G06Q20/3674G06Q20/3829H04L9/088G06K2007/10504G06K7/1413G06K19/06028G06K19/145G06Q2220/00
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,499,456
App. No.
18/481,009
Granted
Dec 16, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method of authenticating an article of clothing includes providing a machine-readable identifier on an exterior surface of an article of clothing, the machine-readable identifier includes a digitally printed image having a plurality of predefined discrete areas with one or more ciphers. The ciphers include at least one of a symbol, a color, or a geometric shape, and are representative of an authenticity of the article of clothing. The method further includes receiving a scan of the machine-readable identifier to detect the ciphers, processing the scan of the machine-readable identifier to extract the encryption key, accessing a digital token associated with the article of clothing using the extracted encryption key, and authenticating the article of clothing based on authentication of the digital token.

Claims (30)

1 . A method of authenticating an article of clothing, comprising:

providing a machine-readable identifier on an exterior surface of an article of clothing, the machine-readable identifier comprising a digitally printed image having a plurality of predefined discrete areas, and wherein the image includes a cipher at each of the plurality of predefined discrete areas, the cipher comprising at least one of a symbol, a color, or a geometric shape, and wherein the ciphers from the plurality of predefined discrete areas are representative of an authenticity of the article of clothing attached thereto;

receiving a scan of the machine-readable identifier to detect the ciphers at each of the predetermined discrete areas, and wherein a plurality of the ciphers encode an encryption key that is uniquely associated with the article of clothing;

processing the scan of the machine-readable identifier to extract the encryption key encoded in the plurality of ciphers;

accessing a digital token associated with the article of clothing using the extracted encryption key; and

authenticating the article of clothing based on authentication of the digital token.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable identifier is a digitally printed image on the article of clothing.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the digitally printed image includes the plurality of predefined discrete areas.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the scan includes continuously capturing image data from the machine-readable identifier using a camera of an interface device.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of identifying ciphers includes a plurality of encoding symbols.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein at least one of the plurality of encoding symbols comprises a graphical shape.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the graphical shape comprises at least one of a circle, a square, or a triangle.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of identifying ciphers comprise a plurality of colors, each color having color values.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the color values are grouped into a plurality of predefined value ranges, and wherein an encoding bit is associated with each predefined value range.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the scan comprises converting the scan to a grayscale image.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the article of clothing is an article of footwear comprising an upper and a sole structure attached to the upper, and wherein the machine-readable identifier is located on the upper.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable identifier comprises a barcode printed on the article of clothing.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital token is a non-fungible token stored on a blockchain.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the blockchain is a private blockchain.

15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to authenticating the article of clothing, providing access to a database including manufacturing data associated with the article of clothing.

16 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to authenticating the article of clothing, enabling the use of a software functionality associated with the article of clothing.

17 . A system for authenticating an article of clothing, comprising:

a computer system comprising one or more processors and a memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to:

receive a scan of a machine-readable identifier on an exterior surface of the article of clothing, the machine-readable identifier comprising a digitally printed image having a plurality of predefined discrete areas, wherein the image includes a cipher at each of the plurality of predefined discrete areas, the cipher comprising at least one of a symbol, a color, or a geometric shape, and wherein a plurality of the ciphers encode an encryption key that is uniquely associated with the article of clothing;

process the scan of the machine-readable identifier to extract the encryption key encoded in the plurality of ciphers;

access a digital token associated with the article of clothing using the extracted encryption key; and

authenticate the article of clothing based on authentication of the digital token.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further executable to continuously capture image data from the machine-readable identifier using a camera of an interface device.

19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the digital token is a non-fungible token stored on a private blockchain.

20 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the instructions are further executable to, in response to authenticating the article of clothing, provide access to a database including manufacturing data associated with the article of clothing.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 5, 2023
From: RAHIMIZAD, NADER; ANDON, CHRISTOPHER; PHAM, HIEN TOMMY
To: NIKE, INC.
Reel/Frame 065130/0330 →
Continuity (4)
Continuation 17116536 · Dec 9, 2020
Provisional Application 63031118 · May 28, 2020
Provisional Application 62945639 · Dec 9, 2019
Related Publication 20240029083A1 · Jan 25, 2024
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