IDENTIFICATION OF CONTROLLED OBJECTS

1 . A computing system for a three-dimensional printing apparatus, the computing system comprising:

a database that stores object data for a controlled object, the object data comprising:

confidentiality preserving descriptors associated to the controlled object; and

a specification of processes for identifying the controlled object, the specification comprising a hierarchical arrangement of processes into layers, wherein processes in a given layer have a higher accuracy for identifying the controlled object than processes in a preceding layer;

and

a processor to:

receive a request to print a three-dimensional object on the three- dimensional printing apparatus;

access object data for the controlled object from the database;

determine confidentiality preserving descriptors of the three- dimensional object; and

evaluate processes according to the object data for the controlled object based on the confidentiality preserving descriptors of the three- dimensional object and the controlled object.

2 . The computing system according to claim 1 , wherein, to evaluate processes according to the object data, the processor is to:

evaluate layers of the hierarchy of processes in sequence, based on an output of the evaluation of the preceding layer of processes in the hierarchy.

3 . The computing system according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is to:

determine that the three-dimensional object is distinct from the controlled object when the evaluation of processes in a layer of the hierarchy is indicative of a dissimilarity between the three-dimensional object and the controlled object.

4 . The computing system according to claim 3 , wherein the processor is to print the three-dimensional object in response to determining that the three-dimensional object is distinct from the controlled object.

5 . The computing system according to claim 1 , wherein processes in a first layer have a lower computational complexity than processes in a second layer, subsequent to the first layer.

6 . The computing system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is to:

determine that the three-dimensional object is the same as the controlled object when evaluation of processes in all layers of the hierarchy are indicative of a similarity between the three-dimensional object and the controlled object.

7 . The computing system according to claim 6 , wherein the processor is to execute a policy in response to determining that the three-dimensional object is the same as the controlled object.

8 . The computing system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is to reconfigure the specification of process for identifying the controlled object.

9 . The computing system according to claim 8 , wherein the processor is to reconfigure the specification of processes by modifying an order in which processes are evaluated, assigning and/or modifying weights indicative of a relative importance of the processes and/or omitting a process from the specification.

10 . A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

access a database that stores object data for a controlled object, the object data comprising:

confidentiality preserving descriptors associated to the controlled object; and

a specification of processes for identifying the controlled object, the specification comprising a hierarchical arrangement of processes into layers,

wherein processes in a given layer have a higher accuracy for identifying the controlled object than processes in a preceding layer; and

obtain an instruction to generate the three-dimensional object on the three- dimensional printing apparatus;

generate confidentiality preserving descriptors of the three-dimensional object; and

evaluate processes according to the object data for the controlled object based on the confidentiality preserving descriptors of the three-dimensional object and the controlled object.

11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 10 , wherein the specification of processes comprises a discriminative band comparison process.

12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 10 , wherein, to evaluate processes according to the object data, the instructions cause the processor to:

evaluate layers of the hierarchy of processes sequentially, based on an output of the evaluation of the preceding layer of processes in the hierarchy.

13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12 , wherein the output comprises a determination of whether the three-dimensional object is distinct from the controlled object.

14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 10 , wherein the three-dimensional object is identified as being the same as the controlled object when evaluation of the processes across all layers of the hierarchy are indicative of a similarity between the three-dimensional object and the controlled object.

15 . A method, comprising:

receiving a request to generate the three-dimensional object on a three- dimensional printing apparatus;

obtaining object data for a controlled object, the object data comprising:

confidentiality preserving descriptors associated to the controlled object;

and

a hierarchy of processes for identifying the controlled object, the hierarchy comprising layers of processes whereby processes in a given layer have a higher accuracy for identifying the controlled object than processes in a preceding layer; and

generating confidentiality preserving descriptors of the three-dimensional object; and

evaluating processes according to the object data for the controlled object based on the confidentiality preserving descriptors of the three-dimensional object and the controlled object.