System and method for guaranteeing authenticity of branded goods

摘要

Ownership of physical article are electronically registered in a database upon purchase of the physical articles from merchants. A merchant gives a uniquely numbered card to a customer with each purchased physical article. The numbered cards are not initially associated with a particular physical article. Each physical article has a label with a unique identifier code attached to the article or to the packaging of the article. The registration process involves associating the numbered card with the article's label. Registration is only permitted if the numbered card and the label's identifier code are not associated with a previously sold article. This process thwarts the potential sale of counterfeit articles to purchasers.