Digimarc Corporation

Jonathan L Hawes

Marc D Miller

A method of associating first media with at least second media is described where the first media comprises encoded first auxiliary information. The first auxiliary information is auxiliary to the first media. The method includes receiving electronic data representing at least a portion of the first media, the electronic data being obtained from a portable storage device; decoding the encoded first auxiliary information from the electronic data to obtain the first auxiliary information; providing second auxiliary information, wherein the second auxiliary information is based on the first auxiliary information and is auxiliary to the second media; and encoding the second auxiliary information in the second media by altering data representing the second media to yield encoded second media, wherein the second media comprises an electronic form, storing the encoded second media in a storage device in a handheld device.

Associating media through encoding

The present invention relates to embedding a document with multiple watermark components at different printing stages. A document is preprinted to include a first digital watermark component. The document is then reprinted, perhaps with a lower quality printer, to include a second digital watermark component. In some cases the first component provides an orientation signal that is useful when trying to detect the second component. In other cases the first and second components are related or otherwise used to determine the authenticity of the document. In still other cases, the first and second watermark components carry information useful in determining the type of document, watermark-embedding hints and/or personal or serialized data.

Embedding watermark components during separate printing stages

The present invention relates to linking documents through digital watermarking. In one implementation, an identification document is embedded with a first digital watermark. The first digital watermark includes a first identifier. Before issuing a second document, like a boarding pass or ticket, the first identifier is extracted from the identification document. The first identifier is manipulated or altered to produce a second identifier. The second identifier, however, remains related to the first identifier. The second document is embedded with a second digital watermark including the second identifier. Thus, the identification document and the second document are linked through the first and second watermark identifiers.

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West Linn, OR, United States of America

Jonathan L Hawes