A method for providing scratch-off lottery tickets for sale remote from a POS location in a retail establishment includes configuring the tickets with a game play area having play characters covered by a scratch-off coating. A print characteristic is provided in the game play area that is optically scannable but not reproducible when photocopying the game play area. In a database, identification of the printed characteristic is linked to a computer file associated with the lottery ticket at a central lottery computer. An optically scannable random identifier is also provided in the game play area and is linked to the computer file. Upon presentation of the lottery ticket for purchase, the ticket or a scanned image of the ticket is analyzed to verify that the print characteristic is present in the game play area. The scanned image of the ticket is analyzed to verify that the random identifier assigned to the lottery ticket is present in the game play area of the scanned image.

The invention refers to a computer-implemented method of analyzing security documents having visible information and at least one of infrared and ultraviolet detectable information, the method comprising the steps of: receiving visible-color data of a first set of pixels of a first region of the security document in a first image of the security document and feeding the visible-color data to a convolutional neural network, CNN; receiving infrared, IR, and/or ultraviolet, UV, data of a second and/or third set of pixels of a respective second and/or third region in a respective second and/or third image of the security document and feeding the IR and/or UV data to the CNN; analyzing the visible-color data of the first set of pixels using the CNN to extract characteristics of the security document from the visible information; and analyzing the IR and/or UV data of the second and/or third set of pixels using the CNN to extract characteristics of the security document from the IR and/or UV information. Further, a corresponding system is provided.

Methods of marking plastic-based products and marked plastic-based products are provided. Some methods include irradiating the product to alter the functionalization of the plastic.

In one implementation, a processor: (1) receives an image of a candidate mark from an image acquisition device, (2) uses the image to measure one or more characteristics at a plurality of locations on the candidate mark, resulting in a first set of metrics, (3) removes, from the first set of metrics, a metric having a dominant amplitude, resulting in a trimmed first set of metrics, (4) retrieves, from a computer-readable memory, a second set of metrics that represents one or more characteristics measured at a plurality of locations on an original mark, (5) removes, from the second set of metrics, a metric corresponding to the metric removed from the first set of metrics, resulting in a trimmed second set of metrics, (6) compares the trimmed first set of metrics with the trimmed second set of metrics, and (7) determines whether the candidate mark is genuine based on the comparison.

Methods of marking plastic-based products and marked plastic-based products are provided. Some methods include irradiating the product to alter the functionalization of the plastic. In general, the present disclosure features methods of marking substrates, e.g., substrates including plastics, such as plastic-based products, such as polymer banknotes. Such plastics can be rigid or flexible, e.g., elastomeric. Such plastics can be thermoplastic or thermosets. In some cases, the products are marked by irradiating plastic-based materials, e.g., sheet materials, under conditions that alter characteristics of the irradiated plastic.

In one implementation, a processor: (1) receives an image of a candidate mark from an image acquisition device, (2) uses the image to measure one or more characteristics at a plurality of locations on the candidate mark, resulting in a first set of metrics, (3) removes, from the first set of metrics, a metric having a dominant amplitude, resulting in a trimmed first set of metrics, (4) retrieves, from a computer-readable memory, a second set of metrics that represents one or more characteristics measured at a plurality of locations on an original mark, (5) removes, from the second set of metrics, a metric corresponding to the metric removed from the first set of metrics, resulting in a trimmed second set of metrics, (6) compares the trimmed first set of metrics with the trimmed second set of metrics, and (7) determines whether the candidate mark is genuine based on the comparison.

A method of printing a digital image includes printing authentication marks by applying an amplitude modulated raster print in a detection zone to an object, the printed area of the detection zone consisting of asymmetric raster dots, wherein at least two mutually non-parallel finder edges are printed from at least one finder zone to determine the position, boundary and orientation of the detection zone. A method of authenticating such a print includes capturing an image of the printed article; detecting the at least two finder edges to determine the detection zone from the image with halftone dot accuracy, comparing the captured print image of the detection zone with the resulting print images, and deciding on the basis of the comparison whether there is an original print on the article.

A method of printing authentication indicia by applying an at least amplitude-modulated halftone print in a detection zone to an object uses adjoining halftone cells, in each of which a halftone dot is printed from a matrix of printable halftone elements, individual tone values of the halftone print corresponding in each case to a halftone plane of a halftone mountain for a halftone dot. In this process, the assigned screen plane of the screen mountain is modified in the detection zone in a predetermined manner for a plurality of tone values of screen dots to be printed, so that a predetermined matrix image of the screen elements to be printed is assigned to it while the tone value of the print remains constant.

A method is disclosed for manufacturing a structured polymeric material. In the method, a body is provided comprising a substantially homogenous precursor polymeric material. An interference pattern of electromagnetic radiation is set up within the body to form a partially cross-linked polymeric material, the interference pattern comprising maxima and minima of intensity of the electromagnetic radiation, the interference pattern thereby causing spatially differential cross linking of the precursor polymeric material to form crosslinked regions having relatively high cross linking density and non-crosslinked regions having relatively low cross linking density, the crosslinked regions and non-crosslinked regions corresponding to the maxima and minima of intensity of the electromagnetic radiation, respectively. The partially cross-linked polymeric material is then contacted with a solvent to cause expansion and crazing of at least some of the non-crosslinked regions to form a structured polymeric material containing pores.

A method for examining the optical condition of a value document on the basis of a digital image of at least a specified region of the value document, the image comprising pixels, comprises searching the pixels of the digital image are searched for sets of error pixels which are respectively given in that the error pixels fulfill a specified deviation criterion for an impermissible deviation of at least one specified pixel property, and the distance of each error pixel of the respective set from at least one other error pixel of the same set does not exceed a specified distance that is greater than the distance of directly neighboring pixels of the digital image, and a number of sets found during the search and/or a value for at least one property of at least one of the sets found during the search is ascertained.