WO2024232035A1

WO2024232035A1 - System and method for authentication certification

Info

Publication number: WO2024232035A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/017529
Authority: WO
Inventors: 絵美熊谷
Filing date: 2023-05-10
Publication date: 2024-11-14

Abstract

The present invention is provided with: a distributed file server that generates, on the basis of digital property data of an authentication-requiring product, a hashed identifier that is individually allocated to the authentication-requiring product; a dedicated platform that records, on a blockchain, NFT information on the authentication-requiring product associated with the identifier and outputs a generated transaction hash or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto; and a recording means that associates first verification information held for each of a plurality of users related to the authentication-requiring product with the NFT information and records the first verification information in accordance with the order in which the users are related. At the time of authentication certification, the first verification information associated with NFT information corresponding to a transaction hash acquired from an authentication certifier or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto is read from the recording means, and the consistency between the read first verification information and first signature information held by the authentication certifier is determined, whereby the authentication certification of the authentication-requiring product is performed.

Description

Appraisal and certification system and appraisal and certification method

The present invention relates to an appraisal certification system and an appraisal certification method.

　Products that require authentication, such as bags, luggage, clothing, watches, arts and crafts, and automobiles, usually follow a complex distribution route, being manufactured by a manufacturer, producer, or copyright holder, before being sold to consumers through distributors such as logistics companies, wholesalers, and retailers. During the manufacturing and distribution process, consumers require authentication certificates, i.e., proof that the item is genuine and not a counterfeit. In recent years, products that require authentication are often sold to consumers over the Internet, and second-hand products of the above-mentioned products that require authentication (including secondary distribution, tertiary distribution, and other n-th distribution (n is an integer of 4 or more)) are also sold to consumers over the Internet. Furthermore, as products are often sold between consumers, there is an increasing need for more multifaceted authentication certificates for these products that require authentication.

　Products requiring authentication are usually issued with a certificate (hereafter referred to as a "guarantee card") to certify and guarantee that they are genuine. The guarantee card contains information about the product, such as the product name, product number, manufacturer/producer (author), place of manufacture, and date of manufacture (hereafter referred to as "product information"). However, in recent years, it has become possible to obtain just the guarantee card via the Internet, etc. For this reason, authentication proof based on a guarantee card is no longer fully reliable.

　Conventionally, a method has been disclosed in which a medium such as a plastic card with an IC chip storing information is used as a certificate, and the authenticity of the certificate is determined by comparing the information printed on the surface of the certificate with information read from the memory of the IC chip (see, for example, Patent Document 1). However, when the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is applied to products requiring authentication, counterfeiting becomes difficult, and although the authenticity of the guarantee card itself can be confirmed, the only thing that links this guarantee card to the item is the product number engraved on the item. This makes it difficult to provide sufficient authentication proof.

Also disclosed is a technology that attaches an IC chip to a product requiring authentication, making it possible to read the product information recorded on the IC chip using a smartphone, mobile phone, etc. (see, for example, Patent Document 2). However, when the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 is applied to a product requiring authentication, if a password is not set when reading the above-mentioned product information, third parties other than distributors and consumers can also intercept the product information. As a result, third parties can intercept product information that consumers do not want to be known, such as whether the product requiring authentication is genuine or not, or whether the date of manufacture is recent or not. On the other hand, if a password is set, the password itself may become unknown as the product requiring authentication travels through a complex distribution route, and authentication certification may not be possible when necessary. There is also a risk that the password itself may be hacked.

There is also a technology disclosed in which a serial code is assigned to a product, read by a serial code reader, and checked against a product database to authenticate the product (see, for example, Patent Document 3). However, when the technology disclosed in Patent Document 3 is applied to a product requiring authentication, the same problems as those of the technology disclosed in Patent Document 2 arise.

For this reason, a new method has been proposed in recent years to authenticate and certify an item by using multi-sig authentication of two or more items: a product to be authenticated, to which a small recording medium is affixed or incorporated, and a guarantee card to which a small recording medium is also affixed or incorporated (a microchip (IC chip), two-dimensional code, electronic watermark, etc. can be used as appropriate depending on the shape, structure, size, etc.) (see, for example, Patent Document 4).

According to the technology disclosed in Patent Document 4, a private key and a small recording medium on which product information on the product to be authenticated is recorded are attached to or embedded in the product to be authenticated and the guarantee card (a microchip (IC chip), two-dimensional code, electronic watermark, etc., depending on the shape, structure, size, etc.). Then, the product information and transaction information at each distribution stage until the product to be authenticated is delivered to the consumer are recorded on the blockchain. The consumer uses the private key attached to the product to be authenticated and the guarantee card, respectively, to read the product information and transaction information from the blockchain. This allows only the consumer to easily provide a highly reliable authentication certificate. In addition, by sequentially writing product information on the blockchain by manufacturers, manufacturers, authors, etc., and by sequentially writing transaction information by distributors, wholesalers, retailers, etc., the product information and transaction information can be accurately recorded while complementing each other, and further, the product information and transaction information can be firmly prevented from being tampered with.

JP 2001-357377 A International Publication No. 2014/207890 JP 2020-35197 A Patent No. 6894033

However, products requiring authentication naturally include not only analog (physical) goods (hereinafter also referred to as analog goods) but also digital goods (hereinafter also referred to as digital goods). Digital goods include, for example, digital images, digital sounds, digital music, digital videos, etc. The social need for stronger, more reliable and multifaceted authentication certification of the above digital goods has become particularly evident in recent years with the spread of the Internet. For example, the Mangamura Incident, a pirated manga website that was established in January 2016 and closed in April 2018, is said to have caused copyright infringement damages of over 300 billion yen (Source: “Mangamura Operator Arrested, Extradited from Philippines, Suspected of Copyright Infringement, Damages Possibly of 320 Billion Yen”, Asahi Shimbun Digital, September 25, 2019). In addition to manga, pirated versions of magazines, novels, photo books, movies, dramas, and other video content were also available to post for free on the Internet (Source: “Mangamura Incident (Only the Copyright Infringement Portion)”, Professor Okumura Koji, Keio University Law School, June 2, 2021).

The above-mentioned Patent Document 4 discloses technology that focuses on the above-mentioned analog goods. For this reason, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 4 is lacking in reference to authentication certification systems and methods for the above-mentioned digital goods. For these reasons, it is desirable to be able to perform highly reliable authentication certification even when authenticating digital goods.

The present invention was devised in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide an authentication and certification system and authentication and certification method that can perform highly reliable authentication and certification, even when authenticating digital property.

The authentication certification system according to the first invention comprises a distributed file server that generates a hashed identifier that is individually assigned to the product to be authenticated based on the digital property data of the product to be authenticated, a dedicated platform that records the NFT (Non-fungible token) information of the product to be authenticated linked to the identifier on a blockchain and outputs the generated transaction hash or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto, and a recording means that links first verification information held by each of multiple users related to the product to be authenticated to the NFT information and records it in the order in which the multiple users are involved, and is characterized in that, at the time of authentication certification, the first verification information linked to the NFT information corresponding to the transaction hash obtained from the authentication certifier or the two-dimensional code corresponding thereto is read out, and the authentication certification of the product to be authenticated is performed by determining the consistency between the read out first verification information and the first signature information held by the authentication certifier.

The authentication certification system according to the second invention is the first invention, characterized in that the first verification information read out during the authentication certification is consistent with the first signature information held by a user, among the multiple users, who was involved in the product requiring authentication before the most recent user.

The authentication certification system according to the third invention is characterized in that in the first invention, the first verification information read out during the authentication certification is consistent with the first verification information held by the latest user, among the multiple users, who is involved in the product requiring authentication.

The authentication certification system according to the fourth invention is the first invention, characterized in that the first verification information indicates at least one of the blockchain wallet address held by the user, the public key used to generate the blockchain wallet address, and the private key used to generate the blockchain wallet address.

The authentication certification system according to the fifth aspect of the present invention is any one of the first to _fourth aspects of the present invention, wherein the plurality of users include at least one of consumers, manufacturers, manufacturers, authors, and various traders, and further includes a small recording medium (a ₁ and a transaction hash or two-dimensional code output from and generated by the dedicated platform, and the authentication certification is performed using the product to be authenticated, to which a signature ID of the product to be authenticated is attached or embedded, and the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code output from and generated by the dedicated platform, and the authentication certification is further performed using an application [A] used by at least one of the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, and various traders to record in the blockchain the product information and transaction information at each distribution stage until the product to be authenticated is delivered to the consumer, and an application [B] used by the authentication certifier to read out the product information and the transaction information from the blockchain, wherein the dedicated platform records second verification information obtained based on the product information and/or the transaction information on the blockchain using the application [A] by at least one of the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, and various traders, and at the time of authentication certification, the authentication certifier uses the private key α ₁ assigned to the product to be authenticated, and uses the application [B] to determine consistency between second signature information read out from the blockchain based on the product information and the transaction information and the second verification information, thereby authenticating the product to be authenticated.

The authentication certification system of the sixth invention is the fifth invention, wherein further authentication certification is performed using a private key _β1 and a guarantee card to which a small recording medium (b) recording the product information is attached or embedded, and the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code output and generated from the dedicated platform, and the dedicated platform records third verification information obtained based on the product information and/or the transaction information on the blockchain using the application [A] by at least one of the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, and various traders, and at the time of authentication certification, the authentication certifier uses the private key _β1 attached to the guarantee card and the application [B] to determine the consistency between the third signature information read from the blockchain based on the product information and the transaction information and the third verification information, thereby authenticating the product to be authenticated.

The authentication certification system according to the seventh invention is the sixth invention, characterized in that the dedicated platform records fourth verification information obtained based on the transaction hash or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto in the blockchain, and at the time of authentication certification, performs authentication certification of the product requiring authentication by determining the consistency between the fourth signature information obtained based on the transaction hash obtained from the authentication certifier or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto and the fourth verification information.

The authentication certification system according to the eighth invention is the seventh invention, characterized in that, at the time of the authentication certification, at least one of the results of the comparison between the first verification information and the first signature information, the results of the comparison between the third verification information and the third signature information, and the results of the comparison between the fourth verification information and the fourth signature information are consistent, and the results of the comparison between the second verification information and the second signature information are consistent, thereby satisfying the authentication of the product requiring authentication.

The authentication and certification system of the ninth invention is the eighth invention, characterized in that the dedicated platform uses the transaction hash as is as the fourth verification information, and at the time of authentication and certification, uses the transaction hash obtained from the authentication certifier as is as the fourth signature information.

The authentication method according to the tenth invention is characterized in that it uses a distributed file server to generate a hashed identifier that is individually assigned to the product to be authenticated based on the digital property data of the product to be authenticated, uses a dedicated platform to record NFT (Non-fungible token) information of the product to be authenticated linked to the identifier on a blockchain and outputs the generated transaction hash or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto, uses a recording means to link first verification information held by each of multiple users related to the product to be authenticated to the NFT information and record it in the order in which the multiple users are involved, and at the time of authentication certification, reads out the first verification information linked to the NFT information corresponding to the transaction hash obtained from the authentication certifier or the two-dimensional code corresponding thereto, and determines the consistency between the read first verification information and the first signature information held by the authentication certifier, thereby authenticating the product to be authenticated.

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, NFT information linked to a unique identifier is recorded in the blockchain data only for genuine products made by multiple users such as manufacturers, producers, and copyright holders. This allows NFT information to be recorded accurately and also prevents the NFT information itself from being tampered with. This makes it possible to perform highly reliable authentication even when authenticating digital goods. Furthermore, for example, if a pirated version of a digital good, which is a counterfeit or fake, appears, it is possible to incorporate a function into the authentication system that can capture the pirated version along with the "5W1H" information, thereby preventing the leakage of pirated versions.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of an authentication and certification system to which the present invention is applied. 2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining the processing operation of the digital property authentication certificate. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the process of generating an NFT transaction hash and a two-dimensional code from digital property data. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a configuration required for analog property authentication certification. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of an analog property authentication certificate. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of blockchain data that records product information and transaction information that is recorded on a dedicated platform when performing analog property authentication certification. 7(a) and 7(b) are diagrams for explaining the processing operation of a hybrid (analog/digital) authentication certificate. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of ownership verification through a blockchain wallet. 9(a) and 9(b) are diagrams showing an example of hybrid authentication proof based on a transaction hash or a two-dimensional code together with proof-of-ownership data (blockchain wallet proof-of-ownership). 10A and 10B are diagrams showing an example of hybrid authentication certification that combines an identifier or the like with analog property authentication certification. FIG. 11 is another diagram showing an example of hybrid authentication certification that combines an identifier or the like with analog property authentication certification. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a flow of an authentication and certification method using traceability. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the flow of a modified example of the authentication and certification method using traceability.

Below, an example of an appraisal certification system and appraisal certification method to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the system configuration of an authentication certification system 1 to which the present invention is applied. The authentication certification system 1 is used by users (including people involved with the product 5 to be authenticated, such as manufacturers, producers, authors, etc., distributors, wholesalers, retailers, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as various businesses, etc.), owners, consumers, etc.). In the authentication certification system 1,

terminals

2 and 72 operated by users (e.g., various businesses, etc.) and a distributed file server 3 operated by an administrator, etc. are connected via a public communication network 10 such as the Internet, forming a dedicated platform 8 via this public communication network 10. The users who operate

terminals

2 and 72 can be set arbitrarily depending on the purpose, but the following description will be given as an example of a case where terminal 2 is operated by various businesses, etc., and terminal 72 is operated by a consumer as necessary.

The terminal 2 is composed of electronic devices such as a personal computer (PC), but may be embodied in any other electronic devices such as a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet device, wearable device, etc., other than a PC. Various businesses operate the terminal 2 to perform various tasks to generate an identifier from the product 5 requiring authentication. The product 5 requiring authentication that is the subject of authentication certification can be broadly classified into analog goods and digital goods. For example, analog goods include any product that requires authentication certification, such as bags, satchels, clothing, watches, art and crafts, and automobiles. Digital goods include any digital content that requires authentication certification, such as digital images, digital audio, digital music, and digital videos. Digital goods also include, for example, information that has been digitized from information about analog goods (for example, product images, serial numbers, authentication certificates, etc.). The product 5 requiring authentication includes not only new products, but also second-hand products (secondary distribution, tertiary distribution, and other n-th distribution (n is an integer of 4 or more)).

The terminal 72 is also configured as an electronic device such as a PC, but may also be embodied as any other electronic device such as a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet device, or wearable device. The consumer operates the terminal 72 to attempt to obtain authentication proof for the product 5 requiring authentication.

The distributed file server 3 is a distributed file system intended to connect the terminals 2 to the same file system, and may be configured as a so-called IPFS (Inter Planetary File System), but is not limited to this. The distributed file server 3 is provided with data by various businesses that access the public communication network 10 via the terminals 2, and consumers can request the data in a P2P (Peer to Peer) format. The distributed file server 3 is a place to store all digital content that requires authentication proof, such as digital images, digital audio, digital music, and digital videos of the product 5 requiring authentication, and at the same time as the storage, a multi-digit character string called an identifier is generated, as described below. When identifying the identifier of the product 5 requiring authentication, if it is new, the image will be exactly the same, but unique additional information such as a product management number is added along with the digital content, so the identifier generates a unique character string.

In the case of second-hand goods, each digital good is individually characterized by its own scratches, scuffs, deformation, etc., so the above identifier generates a unique string. Such characterized digital goods, which are unique to second-hand goods, are extremely important in providing authentication proof in the resale industry. For example, if someone who purchases a second-hand watch brings the replaced watch to the store where they bought it and requests a return, if the NFT (Non-fungible token) corresponding to the digital good and information based on the identifier described below are stored on the blockchain, they can be used as evidence when checking the difference between the watch sold to the customer and the watch brought in by the customer.

The dedicated platform 8 references a blockchain 8a. A blockchain having a P2P network such as a distributed ledger can be used as the blockchain 8a. In addition to product information of the product 5 requiring authentication and transaction information at each distribution stage until the product 5 requiring authentication is delivered to the consumer, identifiers generated by hashing based on the digital property data of the product 5 requiring authentication are recorded on this blockchain 8a.

Note that the blockchain 8a referred to here may be any type of blockchain, including a blockchain with a P2P network such as a distributed ledger, a public blockchain, a private blockchain, a consortium blockchain, etc.

In addition, recording on the blockchain 8a also includes the concept of recording a state in which hash values for proving specific data are linked together. Recording on the blockchain 8a also includes the concept of recording information in which various information, such as hash values, is encrypted or digitally signed, and for example, information recorded on the blockchain 8a may be recorded in a format appropriate to the application, such as encryption technology or digital signature technology.

The authentication certification system 1 to which the present invention is applied can realize two types of authentication certification, broadly classified as digital property authentication certification and hybrid authentication certification, as described below.

Digital Goods Authentication Certification First, the processing operation of digital goods authentication certification will be described. Authentication certification of digital goods involves acquiring digital goods data for the product 5 requiring authentication as shown in FIG. 2(a). This digital goods data is acquired for the subject of authentication certification. This digital goods data is digital image data consisting of digital goods data captured using a terminal 2 or a digital camera for the product 5 requiring authentication. This digital goods data may be configured as digital goods data obtained by a manufacturer, manufacturer, author, etc. capturing images via such a terminal 2, or may be data originally assigned to the product 5 requiring authentication or recorded on a storage medium in association with the product 5. This digital goods data is any digital content requiring authentication certification, such as digital images, digital audio, digital music, digital video, etc., and may be assigned an extension such as jpg, png, gif, mp3, mov, etc.

The manufacturer, creator, author, etc. registers the digital property data of the product 5 to be authenticated thus obtained in the dedicated platform 8. As a result, the dedicated platform 8 acquires NFT information based on the NFT issued via the blockchain 8a referenced by the dedicated platform 8, and automatically generates a transaction hash and a two-dimensional code corresponding to the NFT information. It becomes possible to determine whether the product 5 to be authenticated is a counterfeit or genuine through the transaction hash and two-dimensional code of the NFT information issued and generated in this manner. Note that the NFT information may refer to the publicly known NFT itself, or may refer to information obtained by processing the NFT based on publicly known technology such as encryption or digital signature. The NFT information may also include an identifier linked to the NFT.

As shown in FIG. 2(b), digital property data is recorded in a distributed file server and an identifier is issued, from which a unique two-dimensional code A can be generated. A unique two-dimensional code B can also be generated from a transaction hash obtained via the blockchain. Although two-dimensional code A and two-dimensional code B are different from each other, they can be used as one of the authentication elements of the appraisal certification system 1. Two-dimensional code B is well known, but the addition of two-dimensional code A can increase the security of multisig authentication. Only the two-dimensional code A or only the two-dimensional code B can be used as an authentication element. Furthermore, the two-dimensional codes A and B can be used together as authentication elements to increase the strength of multisig authentication.

Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the process of issuing a transaction hash or two-dimensional code of NFT information from such digital goods data. Note that Figure 3 shows an example in which an NFT is used as the NFT information.

First, in step S11, the manufacturer, creator, etc. obtains digital property data for the product 5 requiring authentication and registers it on the dedicated platform 8. The processing operation for registering this digital property data is performed by the manufacturer, creator, etc. by accessing the dedicated platform 8 via the terminal 2. In such a case, the manufacturer, creator, etc. may access the dedicated platform 8 from within the terminal 2 and execute the various procedures by installing the applications required for the procedures in advance.

Then, the process proceeds to step S12, where the dedicated platform 8 accepts registration of digital goods data. The dedicated platform 8 may be configured as a so-called NFT marketplace or the like. When the dedicated platform 8 accepts registration of digital goods data, it issues, for example, an NFT marketplace registration number to that digital goods data each time. This registration number is issued each time registration of digital goods data is accepted, and is therefore unique.

Next, the process proceeds to step S13, where the digital property data accepted for registration in step S12, the issued registration number, and information on the manufacturer, creator, etc. are collected into a single folder or the like, and registered in the distributed file server 3. Details of the manufacturer, creator, etc. information include names, corporate information, pen names, pen names, etc., and work information includes information on the work name, production year, release year, work specifications (size, format, technology used), copyright of the work, and rights information such as portrait rights and design rights included in the work. The method of collecting and registering the digital property data, registration number, and information on the manufacturer, creator, etc. into a single folder at the time of registration is one example, and any method may be used instead as long as the digital property data, registration number, and information on the manufacturer, creator, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as supplementary information), these three pieces of information, are registered in a linked state.

Next, proceed to step S14, and the distributed file server 3 issues a unique ID for each piece of registered additional information. The ID issued for the digital property data is called the first ID, the ID issued for the registration number is called the second IDa, and the ID issued for information on the manufacturer, producer, author, etc. is called the second IDb.

When the digital property data is identical to other digital property data, or when the digital property data has been copied by another person, the same first ID may be issued. On the other hand, since the registration number is unique, the second IDa is unique. Although the information on the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, etc., such as the company name, date of birth, name of the copyright holder, title of the work, etc., may not be unique depending on the content, it is possible to set up a unique ID for each, so the second IDb can also be unique. For example, time information such as the date and time and seconds registered in the distributed file server 3 can be added, which can increase the accuracy of uniqueness. At least the digital property data is recorded in the distributed file server 3 in step S14. Moreover, the distributed file server 3 is configured to prevent the digital property data from being lost in multiple ways by adopting a distributed form. Such a configuration setting is also possible.

Next, the process proceeds to step S15, where a unique identifier is generated based on the associated information linked to each other. This generated identifier is linked to the associated information and can become an identifier held by the associated information. This identifier is generated based on the first ID, second IDa, and second IDb described above. Since the second IDa is unique and the second IDb is also unique, even if the same digital property data (first ID) is the same or a duplicate, the newly generated identifier will always be unique. This hashed and generated identifier is called an identifier.

In addition, this identifier may be generated based on rules defined in the distributed file server 3, based on the additional information placed in the folder.

A two-dimensional code may also be generated based on the generated identifier (step S23).

The process proceeds to step S16, where the dedicated platform 8 receives an identifier from the distributed file server 3. If a two-dimensional code was generated in step S23, the dedicated platform 8 receives the two-dimensional code from the distributed file server 3.

Then, the process proceeds to step S17, where the dedicated platform 8 transmits an identifier based on the additional information to the blockchain 8a.

In step S18, the blockchain 8a records the NFT information issued based on the identifier transmitted from the dedicated platform 8 on the blockchain 8a. By recording the NFT information linked to the identifier on such a blockchain 8a (e.g., writing it to the blockchain data 8b), it is possible to completely prevent, for example, the NFT information from being tampered with. In other words, each block in the blockchain 8a contains a timestamp and a link (hash value) to the previous block, and the data in the block cannot be changed retroactively.

Next, proceed to step S19, where a transaction hash and/or a two-dimensional code corresponding to the NFT information is generated. The generation of this transaction hash and/or two-dimensional code may be performed simultaneously with recording to the blockchain 8a. The transaction hash here is indicated by a character string of about 64 digits in the case of Ethereum, for example, for identifying the NFT information. As an alternative to this transaction hash, a combination of a contract address and a token ID may be used. The contract address here refers to a unique address where a contract is deployed on the blockchain (Ethereum, etc.). The token ID refers to the NFT information identified by the contract address. The two-dimensional code is a code for identifying the transaction hash. The issued transaction hash and two-dimensional code are sent to the dedicated platform 8 (which may be, for example, a marketplace), and are received (step S20).

The blockchain 8a also transmits this NFT information to various businesses, etc. as necessary (step S21). This transmitted NFT information may be substituted for the issued transaction hash or two-dimensional code. The various businesses, etc. receive this NFT information (step S22). The various businesses, etc. can receive such transaction hash or two-dimensional code via the terminal 2.

The authority to obtain digital property data and register it on the dedicated platform 8 is given only to various businesses, etc. For example, if the product 5 requiring authentication is a bag, suitcase, clothing, watch, art or craft item, automobile, etc., only various businesses, etc. or those authorized to act as sales agents for the product may be given the authority to register the digital property data on this dedicated platform 8.

Various businesses, etc., or consumers who purchase a new or used product 5 that is to be authenticated as a genuine product, receive this transaction hash or two-dimensional code from the various businesses, etc., or the dedicated platform 8 (e.g., a marketplace) along with the product 5 to be authenticated. The various businesses, etc., or consumers who receive the transaction hash or two-dimensional code can use the transaction hash or two-dimensional code to access the blockchain 8a of the dedicated platform 8 and read the NFT information of the product 5 to be authenticated that is recorded there. This allows only the true various businesses, etc., or true consumers who possess the transaction hash or two-dimensional code to easily perform a highly reliable authentication certification. For this reason, third parties who do not possess this transaction hash or two-dimensional code cannot perform such authentication certification itself.

In this way, in digital property authentication certification, the unique NFT information derived from the unique identifier for only genuine products 5 to be authenticated by various businesses, etc. is written sequentially into the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8. This allows the NFT information itself to be recorded accurately, and also makes it possible to completely prevent the NFT information itself from being tampered with. Therefore, various businesses, etc. of products to be authenticated 5, or consumers who have purchased products to be authenticated 5 that have been distributed through complex distribution routes or sold over the internet, can easily perform highly reliable authentication certification.

Note that the digital property appraisal certificate is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, in step S13, the case where additional information is registered together with the digital property data to generate an identifier has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any information may be registered as long as it is linked to at least some information with respect to the digital property data. The information referred to here is any information or data related to the digital property data or generated in association with the digital property data, such as the above-mentioned registration number, information on the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, etc. The additional information may be composed of only one of the registration number and information on the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, etc. Furthermore, the additional information may not include any of the registration number and information on the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, etc., but may be composed of any information or data related to the digital property data or generated in association with the digital property data.

Hybrid Authentication Certification Next, the processing operation of hybrid authentication certification will be described. In hybrid authentication certification, in addition to the above-mentioned digital property authentication certification, analog property authentication certification is further combined to perform authentication of the product 5 requiring authentication with higher accuracy.

4 is a schematic diagram showing a product 5 to be authenticated and a guarantee card 24 sold and distributed together with the product 5 in the analog property authentication certificate. A small recording medium (a 1 ) 51a is attached or incorporated into the product 5 to be authenticated, and information including a private key _α ₁ and product information (product name, product number, manufacturer/manufacturer (author), manufacturing location, manufacturing date, etc.) is recorded therein, and a small recording medium (b) 52a is attached or incorporated into the guarantee card 24, and information including a private key β ₁ and product information is recorded therein. As the small recording medium (a ₁ ) 51a and the small recording medium (b) 52a, small recording media such as IC chips, two-dimensional codes, and electronic watermarks can be appropriately used depending on the shape, structure, size, etc. of the product 5 to be authenticated and the guarantee card 24.

Here, the "private key" refers to information for realizing authentication certification of the product 5 requiring authentication, and for example, the integrity of the "private key" itself may be judged at the time of authentication certification. The "private key" refers to information that cannot be known by anyone other than a specific user, and may be recorded, for example, on the above-mentioned "small recording medium," or may be recorded within a configuration used in the authentication certification system 1, such as the terminal 72 or the dedicated platform 8.

Also, for example, a "public key" may be generated as a pair with the "private key". In this case, the "private key" and "public key" can be used to implement known encryption techniques or electronic signature techniques. Furthermore, during authentication and certification, consistency may be determined based on whether the "public key" was generated as a pair with the "private key". The "public key" may be recorded, for example, on the above-mentioned "small recording medium", or may be recorded arbitrarily depending on the application within a configuration used in the authentication and certification system 1, such as the dedicated platform 8. Furthermore, the "private key" and "public key" may be generated using known techniques, and may be generated arbitrarily depending on the application, using a configuration used in the authentication and certification system 1, such as the dedicated platform 8 or the distributed file server 3.

The product information in the small recording medium (a ₁ ) 51a of the product to be authenticated 5 and the small recording medium (b) 52a of the guarantee card 24 is input by various businesses etc. when the product to be authenticated 5 is shipped.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of analog property authentication certification. In order to perform analog property authentication certification, in addition to the components necessary for digital property authentication certification described above, a dedicated platform 8 that records product information of the product 5 requiring authentication and transaction information at each distribution stage until the product 5 requiring authentication is delivered to the consumer as blockchain data 8b of a blockchain 8a, a terminal 2a connected to the dedicated platform 8 via a public communication network 10 by an application [A] 9, and a terminal 2b connected to the dedicated platform 8 via a public communication network 10 by an application [B] 11.

Various businesses use application [A] 9 to write product information and transaction information into the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8.

Using application [B] 11, the consumer can use the private key α ₁ assigned to the product 5 to be authenticated and the private key β ₁ assigned to the guarantee card 24 to read the product information and transaction information of the product 5 to be authenticated that have been written to the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8, thereby enabling the consumer to easily obtain a highly reliable authentication certificate.

Application [A] 9 is downloaded to terminal 2a and operated, and various businesses can use it to write product information and transaction information to the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8. Application [B] 11 is downloaded to terminal 2b and operated, and consumers can read the product information and transaction information of the product 5 requiring appraisal that has been written to the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8. For example, application [A] 9 may have the same functions as application [B] 11, and application [B] 11 may have the same functions as application [A] 9.

The private key α ₁ and information including product information recorded on the small recording medium (a ₁ ) 51a of the product to be authenticated 5, and the private key β ₁ and information including product information recorded on the small recording medium (b) 52a of the guarantee card 24 can be read via wireless communication by bringing a reader 25 connected to the terminal 2a or a terminal 2b configured as a smartphone into close proximity. In this case, the reading can also be performed contactlessly by short-distance wireless communication such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or RFID (Radio Frequency IDenticifier).

Figure 6 shows an example of blockchain data 8b in which various businesses record product information and transaction information on a dedicated platform 8 for a product 5 requiring authentication when conducting analog property authentication certification.

After the product 5 requiring authentication is manufactured by a manufacturer, creator, author, etc., it is shipped together with a guarantee card 24. At the time of shipment, the person in charge at the manufacturer, creator, author, etc. first uses application [A] 9 to write information including the following product information and 5W1H information (who, when, where, what, why, how), such as the product name, product number, manufacturer, manufacturing location, and manufacturing date, into the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8.

Next, the responsible person of the manufacturer, creator, author, etc. uses application [A] 9 to write the product information recorded by the person in charge of the manufacturer, creator, author, etc., including the inspection results and 5W1H information, into the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8.

Next, after the product 5 requiring authentication is shipped from the manufacturer, producer, author, etc., the logistics company uses application [A] 9 to write information including the date and time when the product was received from the manufacturer, producer, author, etc., the date and time when it was delivered to the wholesaler, and the 5W1H information, into the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8.

After the product 5 requiring appraisal is received from the logistics company, the wholesaler uses application [A] 9 to write information including, for example, the date and time the product was delivered by the logistics company, the date and time the logistics company transported it to the retailer, and 5W1H information, into the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8.

In this way, product information and transaction information from various vendors etc. is written sequentially into the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8.

The authority to write product information and transaction information to the blockchain data 8b is given only to each of the various businesses involved in this information. For example, each of the various businesses may only be given the authority to write product information.

In this way, various businesses etc. sequentially write down the product information and transaction information of the product 5 requiring appraisal, so that the product information and transaction information of the product 5 requiring appraisal can be accurately recorded even if the product 5 requiring appraisal is distributed through complex distribution routes or sold over the Internet.

Furthermore, by writing the product information and transaction information to the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8, it is possible to completely prevent the product information and transaction information from being tampered with. That is, each block in the blockchain data 8b contains a timestamp and a link (hash value) to the previous block, and the data in a block cannot be changed retroactively.

A consumer who purchases a new or used product 5 to be authenticated can use the private key α ₁ attached to the product 5 to be authenticated and the private key β ₁ attached to the guarantee card 24 with the terminal 2b to read the product information and transaction information of the product 5 to be authenticated that have been written in the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8 with the application [B] 11. This allows only the genuine consumer who owns the product 5 to be authenticated and the guarantee card 24 to easily provide a highly reliable authentication certificate.

Similarly, with this type of analog goods authentication certification, a consumer who purchases a product 5 requiring authentication that has been distributed through complex distribution routes or sold over the internet can easily obtain a highly reliable authentication certification. In this analog goods authentication certification, various businesses etc. sequentially write the product information and transaction information of the product 5 requiring authentication to the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8. This allows the product information and transaction information to be recorded accurately, and also completely prevents the product information and transaction information from being tampered with. This further increases the reliability of the authentication certification.

In analog goods authentication certification, only the true consumer _who owns the product to be authenticated 5 and the guarantee card 24 can perform authentication certification by reading the product information and transaction information of the product to be authenticated 5 written in the blockchain data 8b of the dedicated platform 8 using the private key α ₁ assigned to the product to be authenticated 5 and the private key β 1 assigned to the guarantee card 24. For this reason, a third party who does not possess the product to be authenticated 5 or the guarantee card 24 cannot perform such authentication certification itself.

In performing the analog property authentication certification, n small recording media (n is _{an integer of 2 or more) including a small recording medium (a 2} ₎ recording information including a private key α ₂ to a small recording medium (a _n ) recording information including a private key α _n can be attached or incorporated into the product 5 to be authenticated together with the small recording medium (a 1 ). This makes it possible to adopt multi-sig authentication in which authentication certification is established when not only the private keys α ₁ and β ₁ but also at least two of all the private keys α ₂ to α _n (for example, the private key α ₁ and at least one of the private keys β ₁ and α ₂ to α _n ) are present, thereby making it possible to make the accuracy of the authentication more reliable. Furthermore, by attaching or incorporating the n small recording media (a ₁ ) to (a _n ) to each part of the product 5 to be authenticated, even if some of the parts are replaced with counterfeits, this can be detected. For example, if the product to be authenticated 5 is an automobile, small recording media can be attached to or incorporated into the body of the vehicle and each tire, thereby making it possible to authenticate all parts.

In addition, in the appraisal certification system 1, at least one of the small recording media (a ₁ ) to (a _n ) and the small recording media (b) can preferably be provided with a GPS function, so that even if each part of the product to be appraised 5 or the guarantee card 24 is lost or stolen, its location can be easily detected.

When performing hybrid authentication certification by combining such analog property authentication certification with the digital property authentication certification described above, three items are prepared as shown in FIG. 7(a): the product to be authenticated 5 and the guarantee card 24 required for analog property authentication certification, as well as the transaction hash or two-dimensional code required for digital property authentication certification.

Then, using the terminal 72, the private key α ₁ assigned to the product 5 to be inspected and the private key β ₁ assigned to the guarantee card 24 are used to read out the product information and transaction information of the product 5 to be inspected, which are recorded in the block chain 8a of the dedicated platform 8. At the same time, the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code is used to access the application installed on the terminal 72, and authentication proof is performed. In addition to being able to determine the consistency of the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code on the application side, it is also possible to determine whether the read product information and transaction information of the product 5 to be inspected are both correct. Only when it is determined that both of these determination results are correct can it be determined that the product 5 to be inspected is genuine.

Even if the private key α ₁ assigned to the product to be authenticated 5 used for analog property authentication certification and the private key β ₁ assigned to the guarantee card 24 are counterfeited or illegally copied, this hybrid authentication certification cannot be overlooked unless authentication certification is performed through the transaction hash or two-dimensional code used for this digital property authentication certification. In other words, this hybrid authentication certification makes it possible to provide a more reliable authentication certification system 1 by interweaving digital property authentication certification in addition to analog property authentication certification.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 7(a), the present invention has been described taking as an example a case in which three items, a product to be authenticated 5 and a guarantee card 24, as well as a transaction hash or a two-dimensional code, are prepared, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 7(b), a hybrid authentication proof can be similarly performed by preparing a combination of only two items, a product to be authenticated 5 or a guarantee card 24, as well as a transaction hash or a two-dimensional code.

That is, in analog property authentication certification, the private key α ₁ assigned to the product 5 to be authenticated or the private key β ₁ assigned to the guarantee card 24 is used to read out the product information and transaction information of the product 5 to be authenticated, which are recorded in the block chain 8a of the dedicated platform 8. In addition, the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code can be used to determine consistency via an application installed on the terminal 72. Only when all of these determination results are determined to be correct can the product 5 to be authenticated be determined to be genuine.

Furthermore, as an alternative to the analog property authentication proof described above, ownership proof may be performed through a blockchain wallet for storing tokens such as Ethereum, which will be described below. The ownership proof using a blockchain wallet described below is one example, and may be, for example, a DID (Decentralized Identity, or Decentralized Identifier), an SSI (Self-Sovereign Identity), or another "DIW (Digital Identity Wallet)." In addition, for example, "gBizID" or "My Number (Personal Number)" certified by governments and public institutions as "Verifiable Credentials (VC)" in Japan may be used as an alternative, and it goes without saying that any other means of ownership proof may be used without being limited to these.

In addition, as an alternative to the above-mentioned guarantee card 24, a microchip (IC chip), two-dimensional code, electronic watermark, etc. can be used as appropriate depending on the shape, structure, size, etc.

Figure 8 shows a flowchart of ownership proof through a blockchain wallet.

In step S31, the owner 41 first requests a one-time token from the backend 42. The owner 41 here is, for example, the owner of a blockchain wallet that can be used as an extension to a web browser or a smartphone app, and is shown as an example of the user mentioned above. The owner 41 sends and receives information through the frontend, which is an element that directly exchanges data with the owner 41, and in web production, it refers to the web browser side (client side). The backend 42 refers to server-side processing, and generally refers to mechanisms, functions, and parts such as servers, databases, functions, and programs and modules that handle processing that are not visible to the owner 41.

Then, the process moves to step S32, where the backend 42 returns a one-time token to the owner 41. The expiration time of this one-time token may be, for example, a few seconds to a few minutes.

Next, the process moves to step S33, where the owner 41 issues a signature creation request to the blockchain wallet 43. This blockchain wallet 43 is, for example, a program that handles crypto assets. With this blockchain wallet 43, the address and its private key are not stored on an external server, and remittance processing and the like may all be performed on the browser.

Then, the process proceeds to step S34, where the signature is returned from the blockchain wallet 43 to the owner 41.

Next, the process moves to step S35, where the owner 41 sends the message, one-time token, signature data, and blockchain wallet address to the backend 42. That is, before signing, the owner 41 requests a one-time token for owner authentication from the backend 42, which is used for signing. When sending the signature data to the backend 42, the owner 41 also sends the one-time token mentioned above. The backend 42 verifies the signature data and the one-time token.

The backend 42 converts the signed message into hash data according to the standard. Then, the hash message and the signature data are sent to the smart contract 44 (step S36). The smart contract 44 here is a mechanism for automatically executing a contract on the blockchain 8a, and runs on the server of the blockchain 8a.

Next, the process proceeds to step S37, where the smart contract 44 returns the verification address to the backend 42. The backend 42 checks the verification address. In this case, the backend 42 checks the consistency between the blockchain wallet address and the verification blockchain wallet address.

Then, the process proceeds to step S38, where the backend 42 sends the blockchain wallet owner certificate to the owner 41. When the owner 41 wishes to perform ownership certification for the product 5 requiring authentication, this can be achieved by reading out the owner certification data (blockchain wallet owner certificate) recorded in the smart contract (blockchain 8a) in this manner.

Therefore, as an alternative to the analog property authentication proof described above, it is possible to read out the owner certification data (blockchain wallet owner certification) recorded in the blockchain 8a in this way, and perform a hybrid authentication proof based on the transaction hash or two-dimensional code issued from the dedicated platform 8, as shown in Figure 9(a).

In addition, when such a blockchain wallet owner proof is used, it may be further combined with an analog property authentication proof as shown in Fig. 9(b). In such a case, the private key _α1 given to the product to be authenticated 5 in the analog property authentication proof and the private key _β1 given to the guarantee card 24 may be used, or the private key _α1 or the private key _β1 may be used. It becomes possible to perform hybrid authentication proof based on the private key _α1 and/or the private key _β1 in addition to the owner proof data (blockchain wallet owner proof), the transaction hash, or the two-dimensional code.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, authentication proof via NFT is not essential, and authentication proof may be performed via an identifier, as shown in FIG. 10. Since the identifier itself is unique, authentication proof can be performed via this.

The consumer or manufacturer/producer/author, etc., obtains the identifier from the dedicated platform 8. At this time, if a two-dimensional code corresponding to the identifier has been generated in step S23 in addition to the identifier, the consumer or manufacturer/producer/author, etc., may obtain the two-dimensional code.

At the time of authentication certification, in addition to this acquired identifier or a two-dimensional code corresponding to that identifier, a private key α ₁ assigned to the product to be authenticated 5 as shown in FIG. 10(a), or a private key α ₁ and a private key β ₁ assigned to the guarantee card 24 as shown in FIG. 10(b) are prepared.

Then, using the terminal 2, the private key α ₁ or the private key α ₁ and the private key β ₁ , the product information and transaction information of the product to be inspected 5 recorded in the blockchain 8a via the dedicated platform 8 is read. At the same time, the identifier or a two-dimensional code corresponding to the identifier is used to access the dedicated platform 8 or the distributed file server 3, and the identifier of the product to be inspected 5 recorded therein is read. Only when it is determined that all of the product information, transaction information, and identifier of the product to be inspected 5 that have been read are correct, can the product to be inspected 5 be determined to be genuine. Note that the criterion for determining that the product is genuine may be, for example, at least one of the product information, transaction information, and identifier of the product to be inspected 5 that are correct, and can be set arbitrarily according to the application.

In the example of Figure 10, a hybrid authentication proof may be performed by further combining owner proof data (blockchain wallet owner proof).

For example, in the case of digital goods, hybrid authentication proof may be performed using the acquired identifier or a two-dimensional code corresponding to the identifier, as well as the private key _β1 attached to the guarantee card 24, as shown in Fig. 11. Since the product 5 to be authenticated is not embodied as an item and the small recording medium a itself cannot be attached, hybrid authentication proof is performed by omitting the private key _α1 and using only the private key _β1 . In the example of Fig. 11, hybrid authentication proof may be performed by further combining owner certification data (blockchain wallet owner certification).

Authentication by Counting Up The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be implemented by incorporating authentication by counting up.

In this count-up authentication proof, the time of the authentication proof is recorded on the blockchain 8a sequentially each time the authentication proof described above is performed. For example, if the authentication proof is performed at 10:15 on August 19th, the time of 10:15 on August 19th is recorded on the blockchain 8a, if the authentication proof is then performed at 21:54 on September 23rd, the time of 21:54 on September 23rd is recorded on the blockchain 8a, and if the authentication proof is then performed at 13:34 on November 4th, the time of 13:34 on November 4th is recorded on the blockchain 8a. As a result, the time points at which authentication proof is recorded are sequentially accumulated on the blockchain 8a.

The authentication certification by counting up is based on the time when it was recorded in the blockchain 8a. For example, if multiple authentication certifications are recorded in the blockchain 8a at the same time, it is clear that one of the products 5 to be authenticated is genuine and the others are fake. In such a case, a notification to that effect may be sent.

In addition, if the time difference between the authentication certificates is several tens of seconds, several minutes to several tens of minutes, or even several hours, this may be suspicious since it is rare for the same item to be authenticated frequently. In such cases, a notification to that effect may also be provided.

In this way, the authenticity is judged based on the time of the authentication certification recorded sequentially in the blockchain 8a. At this time, a threshold may be set for the interval between the times recorded in the blockchain 8a, and authentication certification may be performed based on whether or not the interval is below this threshold.

Furthermore, in addition to the time of the authentication certification, location information regarding the location where the authentication certification was performed may be linked and recorded in the blockchain 8a. For example, if the location of the authentication certification was "Marunouchi, Tokyo" in addition to the time of August 19th 10:15, the time of August 19th 10:15 and the location information "Marunouchi, Tokyo" are recorded in the blockchain 8a. If the next time the authentication certification was performed was December 21st 14:09 and the location of the authentication certification was "Address XX in Paris," the time of December 21st 14:09 and the location information "Address XX in Paris" are recorded in the blockchain 8a. As a result, the time when the authentication certification was recorded and its location information are sequentially accumulated on the blockchain 8a.

In this case, if the location information recorded in the blockchain 8a at the time of the first authentication certification is Tokyo, and the location information recorded at the time of the subsequent authentication certification is Paris, and the time interval between these times is only two hours, it is clear that one of the products to be authenticated 5 is genuine and the other is a fake, since it is impossible to fly from Tokyo to Paris in two hours. In such a case, a notification to that effect may be sent to the registered email address, or an alert pop-up may be displayed via an application implemented in the terminal 2, or a red message may be displayed on the screen to warn of the possibility of fraud.

In this way, the authenticity of the authentication certificate is judged based on the time and location information recorded sequentially in the blockchain 8a. At this time, if a threshold is set for the interval between the times recorded in the blockchain 8a and a judgment is made, the threshold may be set in relation to the location information.

In addition to being based on whether or not authentication was performed over a distance that cannot be traveled within a specified time, this determination of authenticity may also be based on whether or not a specified number of authentications were performed in one day, or whether the total number of authentications exceeded a specified number, regardless of location information. In other words, the authenticity is determined based on the number of authentications performed in a specified period of time. The authenticity is determined based on whether or not the number of authentications performed in a specified period of time exceeds a threshold. If the number of authentications performed in a specified period of time exceeds the threshold, it is unnatural for so many authentications to be performed in such a short period of time, so the authenticity may be determined to be suspicious and an alert may be issued.

Furthermore, if the product to be authenticated 5 is a cosmetic product or the like, and has an IC chip-containing tamper detection seal affixed to it, the IC chip-containing tamper detection seal will be destroyed upon use. For this reason, it becomes impossible for authentication certification to be performed multiple times, and if authentication certification were performed multiple times, it would clearly prove that counterfeit products are in circulation. In such cases, it can be said that there is an advantage to determining the authenticity of the product based on the number of authentication certifications performed within a specified period of time.

Table 1 shows an example of the time and location information of authentication certifications recorded sequentially in the blockchain 8a. The number of times the authentication result has been displayed indicates the number of times authentication certifications have been performed. The time is displayed via date and time. Location information is displayed at the country, prefecture, city, town, or village level, but is not limited to this.

Incidentally, the acquisition of location information is implemented, for example, in terminal 2 and/or terminal 72 that are attempting to perform the appraisal certification.

Current location information may be obtained via an application, or the information may be obtained by tracing the accessed IP address.

Authentication using traceability The authentication method using traceability is explained below.

FIG. 12 shows the flow of an authentication certification method using traceability. In the authentication certification method, multiple users related to the product 5 requiring authentication hold first verification information. The first verification information includes at least one of the above-mentioned blockchain wallet address, the public key used when generating the blockchain wallet address, the private key used when generating the blockchain wallet address, the DID, the SSI, the DIW, or the VC (e.g., G Biz ID or My Number).

For example, when a DID is used as the first verification information, the information to be used can be set for each user. This makes it possible to prevent the use of unnecessary information. In addition to the above, for example, GBiz ID or My Number can be positioned as information with higher reliability than DID. Therefore, by using GBiz ID, My Number, or DIW as the first verification information, it is possible to improve the reliability of the appraisal certification method.

Furthermore, at the time of authentication and certification, the first verification information held by the user as the authentication certifier is regarded as first signature information and is used to determine consistency with the first verification information recorded in the blockchain 8a or the like. Note that in the authentication and certification method, the determination of consistency can be realized by carrying out the processes of "signature" and "signature verification" in electronic signature technology, for example.

Below, we will explain the case where a blockchain wallet address is used as the first verification information and the first signature information. Note that the same applies when at least one of the DID, SSI, DIW, and VC (e.g., G Biz ID or My Number) is used as the first verification information and the first signature information, so we will omit the explanation.

The premise for starting this flow is that each user, such as the manufacturer, creator, logistics company, consumer, etc., has been assigned the above-mentioned blockchain wallet address in advance. This blockchain wallet address may be assigned by the operator of this system. The private key and public key linked to this blockchain wallet address may be distributed to users such as the manufacturer, creator, logistics company, consumer, etc. who hold the blockchain wallet address, or may be recorded in a configuration used in the authentication certification system 1 such as the above-mentioned dedicated platform 8, or may be included in a small recording medium (e.g., a two-dimensional code) or as part of the NFT information, and may be set arbitrarily depending on the purpose. In addition, each entity, such as the manufacturer, creator, logistics company, and consumer, may independently obtain a blockchain wallet address.

First, in step S41, digital property data is acquired for the product 5 requiring authentication. This digital property data is acquired for the subject of authentication certification. As described above, this digital property data may be configured as digital property data obtained by the manufacturer, creator, author, etc. by capturing an image via such a terminal 2, or may be data that is originally assigned to the product 5 requiring authentication or that is linked and recorded on a storage medium. This digital property data is any digital content that requires authentication certification, such as digital images, digital audio, digital music, digital video, etc., and is assigned an extension such as jpg, png, gif, mp3, mov, etc. At this time, the above-mentioned supplementary information and any product information related to the product 5 requiring authentication may also be acquired together with this digital property data. In such a case, a file in CSV format containing such digital property data, registration number, supplementary information, product information, etc. may be acquired.

Then, proceed to step S42, where such digital goods data, ancillary information, product information, etc. are registered on the dedicated platform 8, and similarly to the above, NFT information is obtained and a transaction hash corresponding to the NFT information is automatically generated. This transaction hash may be embodied as data such as an ID (also called a TxID), or may be embodied as a blockchain address.

Then, a new first hash is generated by further hashing this transaction hash. Note that instead of generating the first hash based on the transaction hash, the transaction hash itself may be used as the first hash.

The issued NFT information is of course linked to the transaction hash, but this NFT information is also linked to the first hash generated from this transaction hash. This NFT information is recorded on the blockchain 8a.

Next, the process proceeds to step S43, where, similarly to the above-mentioned analog property authentication certificate, information including the private key α ₁ , product information, and transaction information recorded on the small recording medium (a ₁ ) 51a of the product 5 to be authenticated, and/or information including the private key β ₁ , product information, and transaction information recorded on the small recording medium (b) 52a of the guarantee card 24 is read. Then, a second hash generated when recording the read information in the blockchain 8a is obtained.

In addition to the physical guarantee card that is actually embodied as a card-like object, the guarantee card 24 also includes a logical guarantee card that is not embodied as an object but is instead digital information.

Next, the process proceeds to step S44, where a new third hash is generated based on the obtained first hash and second hash. This third hash may be generated by calculating the product or sum of the first hash and the second hash and using this as the third hash, or by any other well-known method. The calculated third hash is recorded on the blockchain 8a. At this time, this third hash may be recorded by linking it to the above-mentioned NFT information or a transaction hash corresponding to the NFT information and a two-dimensional code.

The above pre-processing steps S41 to S44 may be performed in advance by the operating company, or may be performed by other related parties (manufacturers, manufacturers, authors, logistics companies, consumers, etc.). The process of distribution of the product 5 to be appraised from the manufacturers, manufacturers, and authors to the logistics companies and consumers begins after step S45, which is described below.

In addition, in the present invention, the blockchain wallet address may be assigned by Web 2.0, which can be said to be a so-called centralized system, but is not limited to this. For example, it may be embodied by Web 3.0, in which all of an individual's digital assets are stored in a blockchain wallet without the need to enter personal information (gender, nationality, race, age, etc.), and no one can erase it. In other words, Web 3.0 may be applied in a so-called decentralized manner that does not rely on centralization.

In step S45, the product 5 to be authenticated, which was created by the manufacturer/producer/author, is first transferred to the distribution company. That is, in step S45, the owner of the product 5 to be authenticated is transferred from the manufacturer/producer/author to the distribution company. At this time, the small recording medium (a ₁ ) and small recording medium (b) accompanying the product 5 to be authenticated are also transferred in the same manner. The owner of the NFT information of the product 5 to be authenticated is also transferred in the same manner.

Each time a transfer occurs, the blockchain wallet address of the transferee's owner is recorded in association with the NFT information. Before the transfer, the blockchain wallet addresses of the manufacturer, producer, and author are recorded in association with the NFT information, but when the transfer occurs, the blockchain wallet address of the logistics company is recorded in association with the NFT information. In such cases, various businesses, etc. may use application [A] or the like to record the blockchain wallet address at the time of transfer in the blockchain 8a of the dedicated platform 8.

In other words, in step S45, for example, using application [A] 9 as a recording means, the first verification information (here, blockchain wallet address) held by each of multiple users related to the product to be authenticated 5 can be linked to the NFT information and recorded in the order in which the multiple users are involved. Note that in step S45, for example, the

terminal

2, 72 held by the user or the dedicated platform 8 may be used as the recording means instead of application [A] 9. Furthermore, the destination where the recording means records various information such as the first verification information may be, in addition to the blockchain 8a, for example, the distributed file server 3 or other databases.

Also, in step S45, the logistics company receives this transaction hash or two-dimensional code from various businesses or the dedicated platform 8 (e.g., a marketplace) along with the product 5 requiring authentication. The logistics company that receives the transaction hash or two-dimensional code can use the transaction hash or two-dimensional code to access the blockchain 8a of the dedicated platform 8 and read the NFT information of the product 5 requiring authentication that is recorded there.

The process proceeds to step S46, where the product to be authenticated 5 is transferred from the logistics company to the consumer. At this time, the small recording media (a ₁ ) and small recording media (b) accompanying the product to be authenticated 5 are also transferred in the same manner. The owner of the NFT information of the product to be authenticated 5 is also transferred in the same manner.

Each time a transfer occurs, the blockchain wallet address of the new owner is linked to the NFT information and recorded, so the new owner's blockchain wallet address is linked to the NFT information and recorded.

In step S46, the consumer also sends the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code together with the product 5 to be authenticated to various businesses or a dedicated platform 8.
The consumer who receives the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code can use the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code to access the blockchain 8a of the dedicated platform 8 and read the NFT information of the product 5 to be authenticated that is recorded therein.

Such consumers can attempt to certify the authentication of the product 5 requiring authentication via the dedicated platform 8. Step S47 will be explained below as an example of the operation during authentication, and a user such as a consumer who attempts this authentication will be referred to as an authentication certifier.

In step S47, the authentication certifier first accesses the dedicated platform 8, and thus the blockchain 8a, to write to the log. This writing to the log can be realized from the user interface of the application, and for example, the authentication certifier's personal information such as the name and date of birth, and any other information, is entered by following the prompts on the user interface. Even if there is no prompting on the user interface, any information entered by the authentication certifier, or any character string that has no meaning as information, can be considered as writing to the log.

In such a case, if a private key is assigned to the authentication certifier when the blockchain wallet address is assigned, the authentication certifier may access the log via this private key. Of course, the authentication certifier may generate a blockchain address himself and use it. At the stage of signing using the private key, the blockchain wallet address can be automatically obtained on the blockchain 8a. Alternatively, this private key may be entered on a user interface, and the dedicated platform 8 may verify whether or not a blockchain wallet address has been assigned to that private key. As a result, if a blockchain wallet address has been assigned to the private key, a signature is made on the dedicated platform 8. If this signature is made, the log writing is deemed successful, otherwise the log writing is deemed unsuccessful. This signature may be automatically executed by a program.

In order to write a log, it may be set so that a signature is required via a private key, for example. Once the signature is entered, the blockchain wallet address can be automatically obtained on the blockchain 8a. Therefore, the blockchain wallet address can be obtained by prompting the appraisal certifier to write a log on the user interface. For example, it may be possible to identify a public key via a private key, and to obtain the blockchain wallet address via this public key.

The dedicated platform 8 can determine that it is the owner of the blockchain wallet address. On the other hand, if the log writing fails, it can determine that it is not the owner of the blockchain wallet address. If it determines that it is the owner of the blockchain wallet address, it reads out the determined blockchain wallet address (hereinafter referred to as the second blockchain wallet address or the first signature information).

The method of acquiring the second blockchain wallet address is not limited to the above-mentioned method, and any other method may be used. When acquiring the second blockchain wallet address, it may be acquired by having the authentication certifier input it directly.

In addition, in step S47, a blockchain wallet address linked to the NFT information corresponding to the transaction hash obtained from the authentication certifier or the corresponding two-dimensional code is read from the blockchain 8a. Hereinafter, the blockchain wallet address read from the blockchain 8a is referred to as the first blockchain wallet address (or first verification information).

Next, the consistency between the first blockchain wallet address and the second blockchain wallet address is determined. If the first blockchain wallet address and the second blockchain wallet address are identical, the matching is completed. Once the matching is completed, it can be determined that the product 5 to be authenticated is genuine and not a counterfeit. On the other hand, if the first blockchain wallet address and the second blockchain wallet address are not identical, it can be determined that the authentication certifier is not the owner of the product 5 to be authenticated.

The reason for this is that each time the ownership of NFT information is transferred, the first blockchain wallet address that is linked to it and recorded serves as evidence that the product is genuine. This serves as evidence that the holder of the second blockchain wallet address, which is the same as this first blockchain wallet address, currently holds the authentic product 5. For this reason, by determining the consistency between this first blockchain wallet address and the second blockchain wallet address, it is possible to provide authentication proof for the product 5 to be authenticated.

For example, the first verification information such as the first blockchain address read in step S47 has consistency with the first signature information held by the most recent user of the multiple users who is involved with the product 5 to be authenticated. In this case, in step S47, only the most recent user can perform authentication certification as the authentication certifier. This makes it easy to identify the user who currently owns or manages the product 5 to be authenticated.

The first verification information such as the first blockchain address read in step S47 is consistent with the first signature information held by a user (i.e., a past user) who was involved with the product 5 before the most recent user among multiple users. In this case, in step S47, the past user can perform the authentication certification as an authentication certifier. This makes it possible to identify users who have been involved with the product 5.

In addition, for example, step S47 may perform a process of granting a user who satisfies the authentication requirements of the product 5 to have the authority to view at least a portion of the information related to the product 5 to be authenticated (e.g., product information and transaction information used when recording in the blockchain 8a).

In addition, in step S47, the judgment may be made by combining, for example, the authentication certificate described below.

In step S47, a fourth hash is generated based on the transaction hash obtained from the authentication certifier or the transaction hash associated with the NFT information corresponding to the corresponding two-dimensional code. The method of generating this fourth hash is the same as the method of generating the first hash described above.

In step S47, the information including the private key α ₁ , product information, and transaction information recorded on the small recording medium (a ₁ ) 51a of the product 5 to be authenticated, and/or the information including the private key β ₁ , product information, and transaction information recorded on the small recording medium (b) 52a of the guarantee card 24 is read. Then, a fifth hash generated when recording the read information in the blockchain 8a is obtained.

Next, a sixth hash is generated based on the obtained fourth hash and fifth hash. The method for generating this sixth hash is the same as the method for generating the third hash described above.

The consistency of the sixth hash and the third hash obtained in this way is then determined.

If the product to be authenticated 5 is genuine, the fifth hash generated when recording the information read from the small recording medium (a ₁ ) 51a and the small recording medium (b) 52a in the blockchain 8a will be the same as the second hash. Also, if the authentication certifier holds a genuine product, the fourth hash generated based on the transaction hash received from the dedicated platform 8 (e.g., a marketplace) or the transaction hash linked to the two-dimensional code will be the same as the first hash.

For this reason, it is possible to determine whether the product to be authenticated 5 is genuine or not based on whether the sixth hash generated based on the fourth hash and the fifth hash is identical to the third hash. Specifically, after the sixth hash is generated, a search is made to determine whether the same third hash is stored on the blockchain 8a. In this way, confidentiality can be improved by making the determination not only based on the first hash and second hash, but also based on the third hash generated based on these. In addition, when recording on the blockchain 8a, instead of recording both the first hash and the second hash, it is only necessary to record the third hash reflecting these, which can improve the recording speed and speed up the processing operation.

In the present invention, the authentication of the product 5 to be authenticated may be certified by determining both the consistency between the first and second blockchain wallet addresses, and the consistency between the third hash and the sixth hash. That is, if the first and second blockchain wallet addresses are identical and the third hash and the sixth hash are identical, the matching is completed. Upon completion of the matching, it is determined that the product 5 to be authenticated is genuine. On the other hand, if either or both of the first and second blockchain wallet addresses, or the third hash and the sixth hash are not identical, it can be determined that the authentication certifier is not the owner of the product 5 to be authenticated.

In this way, in the present invention, authentication can be performed based on completely different methods, namely, the consistency between the first blockchain wallet address and the second blockchain wallet address, and the consistency between the third hash and the sixth hash. Therefore, even if a product 5 requiring authentication is determined to be genuine by successfully circumventing one of the authentication methods, if it is determined to be a counterfeit by the other authentication method, the product 5 will not be determined to be genuine. In this way, it is possible to achieve a higher level of authentication accuracy for products requiring authentication 5 that require stronger authentication.

Note that the above-mentioned steps S43 to S47 may be performed using application [A] 9 and application [B] 11, or, for example, at least a part of them may be performed using a dedicated platform 8.

In addition to the above, for example, the authentication certification method may perform authentication certification without generating the third hash and the sixth hash. In this case, the second to fourth verification information and the second to fourth signature information are used for the authentication certification. Each piece of verification information and each piece of signature information may include, for example, information in hash format, or may include information obtained by encrypting or digitally signing information in hash format (hereinafter referred to as encryption, etc.). Note that each piece of verification information and each piece of signature information may include at least one of a private key and a public key used for encryption, etc.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, for example, in step S43a, which is a modified example of step S43, second verification information based on information including at least one of the private key α ₁ , product information, and transaction information recorded in the small recording medium (a ₁ ) 51a of the product 5 to be inspected is recorded in the blockchain 8a. The second verification information may indicate information including at least one of the private key α ₁ , product information, and transaction information, or may indicate information obtained by performing processing such as encryption on information including at least one of the product information and transaction information using the private key α _1. In addition to the above, the second verification information may indicate information in a hash format obtained when recording at least one of the private key α ₁ , product information, and transaction information in the blockchain 8a, or information obtained by performing processing such as encryption on the hash.

In step S43a, third verification information based on information including at least one of the private key _β1 , product information, and transaction information recorded in the small recording medium (b) 52a of the guarantee card 24 is recorded in the blockchain 8a. The third verification information may indicate information including at least one of the private key _β1 , product information, and transaction information, or may indicate information obtained by encrypting or otherwise processing the product information and at least one of the transaction information using the private key _β1 . In addition to the above, the third verification information may indicate information in a hash format obtained when recording at least one of the private key _β1 , product information, and transaction information in the blockchain 8a, or information obtained by encrypting or otherwise processing the hash.

Furthermore, in step S43a, fourth verification information generated, for example, based on the transaction hash is recorded in the blockchain. The fourth verification information may indicate the transaction hash, or may indicate, for example, information obtained by encrypting the transaction hash. Note that the fourth verification information may be generated, for example, based on a two-dimensional code corresponding to the transaction hash.

Note that step S43a can be performed using application [A] 9, or, for example, can be performed using a dedicated platform 8 for at least a portion of the processing.

Then, without performing step S44 described above, in step S47a, which is a modified example of step S47, second signature information is obtained based on information including at least one of the private key α ₁ , product information, and transaction information recorded in the small recording medium (a ₁ ) 51a of the product 5 to be authenticated obtained from the authentication certifier, for example. The second signature information may indicate information including at least one of the product information and transaction information, or may indicate information in a hash format generated when reading at least one of the product information and transaction information and recording the read information in the blockchain 8a. Note that the second signature information may be obtained by performing a generation method similar to that of the fifth hash described above, for example.

In step S47a, third signature information is obtained based on information including at least one of the private key _β1 , product information, and transaction information recorded in the small recording medium (b) 52a of the guarantee card 24 obtained from the appraisal certifier. The third signature information may indicate information including at least one of the product information and transaction information, or may indicate information in a hash format generated when reading at least one of the product information and transaction information and recording the read information in the blockchain 8a. The third signature information may be obtained by implementing a generation method similar to that of the fifth hash described above.

Furthermore, in step S47a, fourth signature information is obtained, for example, based on the transaction hash obtained from the authentication certifier or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto. Note that the fourth signature information may be obtained, for example, by implementing a generation method similar to that of the fourth hash described above.

Then, in step S47a, at least one of the consistency between the second verification information and the second signature information, the consistency between the third verification information and the third signature information, and the consistency between the fourth verification information and the fourth signature information is determined. Note that the consistency between each piece of verification information and the signature information may be determined, for example, for information of the same format (e.g., information in hash format), or may be determined for one piece of information in hash format and the other piece of information that has been encrypted or otherwise processed. In either case, the determination may be made using known technology. As a method for determining the consistency between each piece of signature information and each piece of verification information, for example, after acquiring each piece of signature information, a search may be performed to determine whether the same verification information is stored on the blockchain 8a, and then whether they are identical.

In this case, for example, if at least one of the results of the comparison between the first verification information and the first signature information, the results of the comparison between the third verification information and the third signature information, and the results of the comparison between the fourth verification information and the fourth signature information are consistent, and if the results of the comparison between the second verification information and the second signature information are consistent, the product to be authenticated 5 may be deemed to be a genuine product. As a result, even if a problem occurs with some of the information used for authentication certification, authentication of the product to be authenticated 5 can be achieved using other information, making it possible to expand the possibilities for use.

Note that step S47a can be performed using application [B] 11, or, for example, can be performed using a dedicated platform 8 for at least a portion of the processing.

According to the authentication certification system 1 in the above-described embodiment, highly reliable authentication certification can be performed even when authentication certification is performed for digital goods. Furthermore, the authentication certification method in the above-described embodiment can be implemented, for example, using each component of the authentication certification system 1, and highly reliable authentication certification can be performed even when authentication certification is performed for digital goods.

The electronic devices such as the

terminals

2, 72, distributed file server 3, dedicated platform 8, application [A] 9, and application [B] 11 described above each have a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and execute the various processes described above. The electronic devices also have a data storage device such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and store various types of information.

　Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Such a novel embodiment can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. This embodiment and its variations are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims.

1 Authentication certification system 2, 7 2 Terminal 3 Distributed file server 5 Product to be authenticated 8 Dedicated platform 8a Blockchain 8b Blockchain data 10 Public communication network 24 Guarantee card 25 Reader 43 Blockchain wallet

Claims

A distributed file server that generates a hashed identifier that is individually assigned to the product to be authenticated based on the digital property data of the product to be authenticated;
A dedicated platform that records the NFT information of the product to be authenticated linked to the identifier on a blockchain and outputs a generated transaction hash or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto;
A recording means for linking first verification information held by each of a plurality of users related to the product to be authenticated with the NFT information and recording the first verification information in the order in which the plurality of users are involved;
Equipped with
At the time of appraisal certification,
reading the first verification information linked to the NFT information corresponding to the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code corresponding thereto obtained from the authentication certifier;
the read first verification information;
The authentication and certification system performs authentication and certification of the product requiring authentication by determining consistency with first signature information held by the authentication and certifier.
The authentication certification system according to claim 1, characterized in that the first verification information read out during the authentication certification is consistent with first signature information held by a user among the multiple users who was involved in the product to be authenticated before the most recent user.
2. The authentication certification system according to claim 1, wherein the first verification information read out during the authentication certification is consistent with the first signature information held by the latest user, among the plurality of users, who is involved in the product to be authenticated.
The first verification information is
The blockchain wallet address held by the above user,
The authentication certification system of claim 1, characterized in that it indicates at least one of: a public key used when generating the blockchain wallet address; and a private key used when generating the blockchain wallet address.
The plurality of users include at least one of consumers, manufacturers, creators, and various traders,
Further authentication is performed using the private key α 1 , the product to be authenticated to which a small recording medium (a 1 ) recording product information related to the product to be authenticated is attached or incorporated, and the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code output and generated from the dedicated platform,
An application [A] used by at least one of the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, and various traders to record the product information and transaction information at each distribution stage until the product to be authenticated is delivered to the consumer in the blockchain;
an application [B] used by the authentication certifier to read the product information and the transaction information from the blockchain;
Further comprising:
The dedicated platform records second verification information obtained by at least one of the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, and various traders using the application [A] based on the product information and/or the transaction information on the blockchain;
At the time of the above appraisal,
The authentication certifier uses the private key α1 assigned to the authentication-required product and the application [B] to read second signature information from the blockchain based on the product information and the transaction information;
The authentication and certification system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the authentication and certification of the product requiring authentication is performed by determining consistency with the second verification information.
Further authentication is performed using the private key β 1 and a guarantee card to which the small recording medium (b) recording the product information is attached or embedded, and the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code output and generated by the dedicated platform,
The dedicated platform records third verification information obtained by at least one of the manufacturer, manufacturer, author, and various traders using the application [A] based on the product information and/or the transaction information on the blockchain;
At the time of the above appraisal,
Third signature information read from the blockchain by the authentication certifier using the private key β1 assigned to the guarantee card and the application [B] based on the product information and the transaction information; and
6. The authentication certification system according to claim 5, wherein the authentication certification of the product requiring authentication is performed by determining consistency with the third verification information.
The dedicated platform records the fourth verification information obtained based on the transaction hash or the corresponding two-dimensional code in the blockchain;
At the time of the above appraisal,
fourth signature information obtained based on the transaction hash obtained from the authentication certifier or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto;
The fourth verification information; and
7. The authentication certification system according to claim 6, further comprising: a verification unit for verifying the authentication-required product by determining the consistency of the above-mentioned.
At the time of the above appraisal,
a comparison result between the first verification information and the first signature information;
At least one of the comparison result between the third verification information and the third signature information and the comparison result between the fourth verification information and the fourth signature information has consistency, and
8. The authentication certification system according to claim 7, wherein a comparison result between said second verification information and said second signature information is consistent, thereby satisfying the authentication of said product requiring authentication.
The dedicated platform uses the transaction hash as the fourth verification information,
9. The authentication and certification system according to claim 8, wherein, during authentication and certification, a transaction hash obtained from the authentication certifier is used as the fourth signature information as is.
generating a hashed identifier, which is individually assigned to the product to be authenticated, based on the digital property data of the product to be authenticated, using a distributed file server;
Using a dedicated platform, record the NFT information of the product to be authenticated linked to the identifier on a blockchain and output a generated transaction hash or a two-dimensional code corresponding thereto;
Using a recording means, the first verification information held by each of the plurality of users related to the product to be authenticated is linked to the NFT information, and recorded in the order in which the plurality of users are involved;
At the time of appraisal certification,
The first verification information linked to the NFT information corresponding to the transaction hash or the two-dimensional code corresponding thereto obtained from the authentication certifier is read from the recording means;
By judging the consistency between the read first verification information and the first signature information held by the authentication certifier,
A method for authentication, characterized in that authentication is performed for the above-mentioned product requiring authentication.