US 12,470,254 B2
Methods and systems for authenticating physical products via near field communication tags and recording authentication transactions on a blockchain
Lukasz Jacek Bulawski, Zurich (CH); David Geisser, Goldach (CH); Philipp Harbeke, Zurich (CH); and Jeremy Eugene Smith, Coral Springs, FL (US)
Filed by collectID AG, Goldach (CH)
Filed on Sep. 29, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/036,043.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/909,930, filed on Oct. 3, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0103938 A1, Apr. 8, 2021
Int. Cl. H04B 5/77 (2024.01); G06Q 30/018 (2023.01)
CPC H04B 5/77 (2024.01) [G06Q 30/0185 (2013.01); G06Q 2220/00 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for authenticating physical products via near field communication (NFC) tags and recording authentication transactions on a blockchain, the method comprising:
receiving, by an application executing on a first computing device, from an NFC reader, a unique identifier of an NFC tag physically connected to a product;
storing, by a second computing device, in accordance with a smart contracts protocol, an identification of the product and the unique identifier of the NFC tag on a block in a blockchain;
receiving, by the second computing device, from a second application executing on a third computing device associated with a first user, a request for a determination of authenticity of the NFC tag;
requesting, by the second computing device, from the blockchain, an indication of whether the unique identifier of the NFC tag is stored in association with the identification of the product and an indication of ownership indicating whether the unique identifier of the NFC tag is associated with an owner associated with a blockchain address;
receiving, by the second computing device, from the blockchain, confirmation that the unique identifier of the NFC tag is stored in association with the identification of the product and the indication of ownership indicating whether the unique identifier of the NFC tag is associated with the owner associated with the blockchain address, wherein the owner associated with the blockchain address is a second user;
providing, by the second computing device, to the third computing device, the confirmation, the identification of the product, and the indication of ownership;
receiving, by the second computing device, from the third computing device, an instruction to remove the association to the second user and add an association between the first user and the unique identifier of the NFC tag and the identification of the product;
updating, by the second computing device, a database storing the association between the unique identifier of the NFC tag and the second user to indicate that the first user is the owner of the product;
storing, by the second computing device, on the blockchain, a record of the association of the first user with the unique identifier of the NFC tag and the identification of the product; and
modifying, by the second application, a visual element of the second application to match a style of a brand associated with the identification of the product to provide a branded user experience, based upon the updating of the database to store the association between the the unique identifier of the NFC tag and the second user to indicate that the first user is the owner of the product.