US Patent 9996996 Protected article management

Tracking, identifying and article management systems and methods for reliably and repeatedly determining one or more physically uncopiable attribute instances (of the same or varying types) from or inherent in an article of manufacture, using the selected physical uncopiable attribute(s) to produce an unforgeable identity for the article, and then integrating that unforgeable identity into computer-based tracking systems in a way that permits the tracking system to track and monitor articles for which identity information is known. Applications include documents, fashion accessories, artwork, and other objects.