3 ms·

Another option would be to put a 5mm embossed "K" on the bottom of the container, and call it a trademark, or trade-dress. Then make the receptacle require that

Another option would be to put a 5mm embossed "K" on the bottom of the container, and call it a trademark, or trade-dress. Then make the receptacle require that exact "K" as a physical lock.

Pitarou 13y ago
We can combine the two ideas: Print a trademarked image on top, and then print a digitally signed digest of that image (as a barcode) on that same top. The coffee maker verifies the signature, and verifies that the digest matches the image. This also makes it easy to control who else can manufacture the coffee pods.
- joezydeco 13y ago
  It's a great idea, but probably over complicated for the environment that this coffee maker operates in. You'd also have a tricky optical problem capturing an image of the cap at close range (such as inside a closed lid)
duskwuff 13y ago
That would almost certainly not be upheld in court - Sega v. Accolade found that the use of a trademark as part of a security system cannot be prosecuted as trademark infringement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade Capsule summary: Sega's Trademark Security System, which was present in some versions of the Sega Genesis game system, would check for the string "SEGA" at a particular location in the ROM. When it found this string, it would display the text "PRODUCED BY OR UNDER LICENSE FROM SEGA ENTERPRISES LTD." on screen; if it did not find this string, the game would not boot. Accolade reproduced this to make their unlicensed games work; Sega sued them for a variety of things, including trademark infringement, and lost.
- OWaz 13y ago
  Thanks for sharing that. I was never aware of Sega v Accolade and the impact it had on reverse engineering under fair use.
  - gcb0 13y ago
    Remember that a precedence is not law. More importantly, sega did not have the bribe money nestle et al have today.
    - dfc 13y ago
      Remember that the term is precedent and not precedence. Witty replies work better when you use the correct term.
- Danieru 13y ago
  Nintendo also tried this with the Gameboy's DRM. The gameboy would copy a section of the ROM onto the screen then checksum it. The gameboy would only jump to the real start address if the displayed bitmap matched the nintendo seal of quality. This went a bit further than Sega's system by displaying it verbatim. Every ROM needed to includ the full trademark and it would be show in full to the user. I think they get this system for the Gameboy Color. I'm not sure of the timing between the lawsuits and the GBC. In general the GBC is a GB with double clocked CPU and palleted color so they might have kept the same scheme for developer ease.

Another option would be to put a 5mm embossed "K" on the bottom of the container, and call it a trademark, or trade-dress. Then make the receptacle require that exact "K" as a physical lock.

Pitarou 13y ago

We can combine the two ideas: Print a trademarked image on top, and then print a digitally signed digest of that image (as a barcode) on that same top. The coffee maker verifies the signature, and verifies that the digest matches the image. This also makes it easy to control who else can manufacture the coffee pods.

joezydeco 13y ago
It's a great idea, but probably over complicated for the environment that this coffee maker operates in. You'd also have a tricky optical problem capturing an image of the cap at close range (such as inside a closed lid)

duskwuff 13y ago

That would almost certainly not be upheld in court - Sega v. Accolade found that the use of a trademark as part of a security system cannot be prosecuted as trademark infringement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade Capsule summary: Sega's Trademark Security System, which was present in some versions of the Sega Genesis game system, would check for the string "SEGA" at a particular location in the ROM. When it found this string, it would display the text "PRODUCED BY OR UNDER LICENSE FROM SEGA ENTERPRISES LTD." on screen; if it did not find this string, the game would not boot. Accolade reproduced this to make their unlicensed games work; Sega sued them for a variety of things, including trademark infringement, and lost.

OWaz 13y ago
Thanks for sharing that. I was never aware of Sega v Accolade and the impact it had on reverse engineering under fair use.
- gcb0 13y ago
  Remember that a precedence is not law. More importantly, sega did not have the bribe money nestle et al have today.
  - dfc 13y ago
    Remember that the term is precedent and not precedence. Witty replies work better when you use the correct term.
Danieru 13y ago
Nintendo also tried this with the Gameboy's DRM. The gameboy would copy a section of the ROM onto the screen then checksum it. The gameboy would only jump to the real start address if the displayed bitmap matched the nintendo seal of quality. This went a bit further than Sega's system by displaying it verbatim. Every ROM needed to includ the full trademark and it would be show in full to the user. I think they get this system for the Gameboy Color. I'm not sure of the timing between the lawsuits and the GBC. In general the GBC is a GB with double clocked CPU and palleted color so they might have kept the same scheme for developer ease.