# US 12,602,950 B2 · System and methods for identifying a verified searcher > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,602,950 B2 - Document ID: US12602950B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/499,412 - Filed: 2023-11-01 - Published: 2025-05-01 - Granted: 2026-04-14 - Earliest claimed: 2023-11-01 - Assignees: ImageShield LLC - Applicants: ImageShield LLC - Inventors: Michael Gallagher; Vinay Kumar Thadem - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12602950B2 ## CPC - G06V 40/172: {Classification, e.g. identification} - G06V 10/82: using neural networks - G06V 40/178: {estimating age from face image; using age information for improving recognition} - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING ## Abstract The invention relates generally to protecting content via facial recognition technology and more particularly to a system and methods for identifying a verified user in searchable media based on facial recognition. The system may be configured to receive content and verify that the content corresponds to the user. The system may then process verified content to extract features corresponding to the verified user's face. The system may implement facial recognition technology to identified instances of use of the verified content in searchable media and produce a report including one or more selectable actions corresponding to each instance of identified use of the verified content. Advantageously, the system may be configured to output a report of a user efficient and effectively and further provide the user with one or more recommendations corresponding to the verified content. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system for identifying a verified user, the system comprising: a processor; and a non-volatile, non-transitory memory operatively coupled to the processor, the processor operative to: receive user content in real-time, said content including a face of the user; verify that said content corresponds to said user via an audit of personal information or identification corresponding to the user; store verified content and generate, using one or more generative facial models, a plurality of hypothetical facial variants of the verified content, each variant comprising one or more modified facial attribute corresponding to at least one of facial hair, age, and ethnicity, said variants are linked to the verified content; initiate a monitoring process to scan a database for the verified content and the variants linked to the verified content, wherein said monitoring process further comprises identifying instances of use of said user's face; produce a report for output to a user including the identified instances of use, wherein each identified instance is associated with one or more selectable actions. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is further operative to determine whether an age associated with the user is above a pre-defined threshold. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein said processor is further operative to analyze the content to predict the age of the user, wherein the predicting comprises training a machine learning model based on the analyzing of the content, wherein the predicting further comprises comparing features of the user's face to the model for probabilistic determination of the user's age. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein said processor is further operative to obtain consent in response to determining that the user's age is below the pre-defined threshold. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein said verification step further comprises: output one or more prompts to the user; examine said received real-time content; approve verification of the user in response to confirming performance of said one or more prompts; and deny verification of the user in response to determining that at least one prompt was not performed. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein said verifying step further includes at least one of an action-based verification, geographical verification, and audit verification. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein said generating step further includes processing said verified content to identify characteristics of said user's face, wherein said characteristics include at least one of eye color, hair color, and dimensions of facial features. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein said processor is further operative to compare the characteristics of the user's face to one or more characteristics of an image in the database. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein said monitoring step further includes accessing said database and analyzing said content using a facial recognition model associated with the user to identify the user and to determine changes in the features of said user's face. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more selectable actions include at least one of ignore instance, ignore domain, report improper use, add to a category, request take- down, file copyright, take legal action. ### Claim 11 A method for identifying a verified user, the method comprising: receiving user content in real-time, said content including a face of the user; verifying that said content corresponds to said user via an audit of personal information or identification corresponding to the user; store verified content and generate, using one or more generative facial models, a plurality of hypothetical facial variants of the verified content, each variant comprising one or more modified facial attribute corresponding to at least one of facial hair, age, and ethnicity, wherein said variants are linked to said verified content; initiating a monitoring process to scan a database for the verified content and the variants linked to the verified content, wherein said monitoring process further comprises identifying instances of use of said user's face; producing a report for output to a user including the identified instances of use, wherein each identified instance is associated with one or more selectable actions. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising determining whether an age associated with the user is above a pre-defined threshold. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising analyzing the content to predict an age of the user, wherein the predicting comprises training a machine learning model based on the analyzed content, wherein the predicting further comprises comparing features of the user's face to the model for probabilistic determination of the user's age. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising obtaining consent in response to determining that the user's age is below the pre-defined threshold. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: outputting one or more prompts to the user, said one or more prompts corresponding to at least one of an action-based verification, geographical verification, and audit verification; examining said real-time content; approving verification of the user in response to confirming performance of said one or more prompts; and denying verification of the user in response to determining that at least one prompt was not performed. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising processing said verified content to identify characteristics of said user's face, wherein said characteristics include at least one of eye color, hair color, and dimensions of facial features. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, further comparing the characteristics of the user's face to one or more characteristics of an image in the database. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising accessing said database and analyzing said content using a facial recognition model associated with the user to identify the user and to determine changes in the features of said user's face. ### Claim 19 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more selectable actions include at least one of ignore instance, ignore domain, report improper use, add to a category, request take-down, file copyright, take legal action. ### Claim 20 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising assigning a priority score to said verified content based on the user's features, wherein a frequency of the monitoring process corresponds to the priority score.