Shipment authentication and tracking

Abstract

In one embodiment of the present invention, a source point in a supply chain generates a secret and devises a secret sharing scheme that parcels the secret into a number of secret shares. The source point retains at least one secret share, and distributes the remaining secret shares to trusted, intermediate points in the supply chain. The source point then ships a shipment comprising are least one object, and frequently including at least one level of packaging, to a destination point in the supply chain, labeling the object or objects and/or packaging enclosing the object or objects with the retained secret share. Each intermediate point incorporates the secret share obtained by the intermediate point from the source point into the object, packaging enclosing the object, or a label on the object or packaging. At the destination point, the recipient of the object can use the secret shares incorporated into the object, packaging enclosing the object, or a label on the object or packaging to reconstruct the secret initially generated by the source point, and compares the reconstructed secret to the original secret forwarded from the source point.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.