Injection molding process including digital watermarking and articles manufactured from injection molding process

1. A method of steganographically marking an object comprising:

providing a steganographically encoded image, wherein the steganographic encoding is generally imperceptible to a human viewer of the image, but is machine-readable with computer analysis;

printing the steganographically encoded image onto a print receiving material, the print receiving material comprising a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the print receiving material receives the print on the bottom surface, and wherein the image is perceptible to a human viewer of the image when viewed through the top surface of the print receiving material;

providing the printed encoded print receiving material to an injection mold, wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material is positioned so as to be adjacent to a second material to be injected into the mold; and

injection molding the printed encoded print receiving material and the second material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material contacts the second material.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material contacts the second material through at least one of the printed encoded image, a resin, a tie coat and an adhesive.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steganographic encoding comprises a digital watermark.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the digital watermark comprises an orientation component.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the digital watermark is redundantly encoded in the image.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steganographic encoding comprises at least two digital watermarks.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the print receiving material comprises at least one of a polycarbonate (PC), acrylnitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and acrylic.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second material comprises at least one of a plastic and polymer.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the top surface of the print receiving material and the bottom surface of the print receiving material are separated by a measurable distance.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a cell phone faceplate.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a logo.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the object comprises at least one of a personal digital assistant component, a handheld computer game component, a game console component, and a camera component.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image comprises at least one of a tint or background pattern.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steganographically-encoded image is encoded by adjusting transform domain coefficients corresponding to the image.

16. A cell phone faceplate manufactured according to the method of claim 1 .

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steganographic encoding is detectable with visible light scanning.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steganographic encoding is detectable with infrared scanning.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image comprises at least one of a company logo, photographic image, design and graphic.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image appears reversed to a human viewer of the image when viewed from the bottom surface of the print receiving material prior to said injection molding.

21. A component comprising:

a body comprising:

a first layer including a top surface and a bottom surface;

printing providing on the bottom surface of the first layer, wherein the printing conveys an image including steganographic encoding that is generally imperceptible to a human viewer thereof, but is machine-readable with computer analysis, and wherein the image is perceptible to a human viewer when viewed through the top surface of the first layer; and

a second layer adjacently arranged with respect to the bottom layer of the first layer.

22. The component according to claim 21 , wherein the body comprises an injection molded body, and wherein the second layer comprises at least a polymetric material which is injection molded so as to be adjacently arranged to at least a portion of the bottom surface of the first layer, the injection molding forming a one-piece component.

23. The component of claim 22 , wherein the second layer contacts the bottom surface of the first layer through the print.

24. The component of claim 22 , wherein the steganographic encoding comprises a digital watermark.

25. The component of claim 22 , wherein the component comprises a cell phone faceplate.

26. The component of claim 22 wherein the component comprises a company or product logo.

27. A method of authenticating the component of claim 21 , comprising;

presenting the faceplate to an optical sensor, the optical sensor producing scan data;

analyzing the scan data to decode the steganographic encoding; and

determining based on the decoded steganographic encoding whether the faceplate is authentic.

28. The method of claim 27 , wherein said steganographic encoding comprises a digital watermark.

29. The method of claim 27 , wherein said steganographic encoding comprises at least two digital watermarks, and said determining determines whether the faceplate is authentic at least in part by cross-correlating information conveyed by the two digital watermarks.

30. A method of marking an object comprising:

providing a steganographic signal;

printing the steganographic signal onto a print receiving material, the print receiving material comprising a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the print receiving material receives the print on the bottom surface, and wherein the printing comprises at least ultraviolet ink;

providing the printed encoded print receiving material to a mold, wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material is positioned so as to be adjacent to a second material to be provided to the mold; and

molding the printed encoded print receiving material and the second material.

31. A method of steganographically marking an object comprising:

providing a steganographically encoded image, wherein the steganographic encoding is general imperceptible to a human viewer of the image, but is machine-readable with computer analysis;

printing the steganographically encoded image onto a print receiving material, the print receiving material comprising a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the print receiving material receives the print on the bottom surface, and wherein the image is perceptible to a human viewer of the image as viewed through the top surface of the print receiving material;

providing the printed encoded print receiving material to a mold, wherein the bottom surface of the printed encoded print receiving material is positioned so as to be adjacent to a second material to be injected into the mold; and

molding the printed encoded print receiving material and the second material.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein the molding process comprises at least one of heat and pressure.

33. A method for steganographically marking a molded article comprising:

providing a transparent substrate, the transparent substrate comprising a top surface and a bottom surface;

printing an image on the bottom surface of the substrate, wherein the image comprises machine-readable steganographic encoding;

forming the printed substrate into a three-dimensional shape;

providing the formed, printed substrate to a mold, the mold including a cavity surface to cooperate with the three-dimensional shape of the formed, printed substrate, wherein the top surface of the substrate is adjacently arranged with respect to the mold cavity surface; and

injecting a molten resin into the mold cavity directly against the bottom surface of the substrate to produce a one-piece, bonded thee-dimensional article.

34. The molded article according to claim 33 , wherein the steganographic encoding comprises a calibration component.

35. The molded article according to claim 34 , wherein the steganographic encoding is redundantly encoded in the image.

36. The molded article according to claim 35 , wherein the steganographic encoding comprises at least one digital watermark.