Digimarc Corp., based in
Portland, Oregon, announced it received a patent for its digital
watermarking technology.
Digital watermarks allow image creators to authenticate and track digital
media such as pictures and video. The technology embeds an invisible
“watermark” into image pixels, allowing image authors to embed
identification and copyright information.
The U.S. Patent No. 5,710,834, “Method and Apparatus Responsive to a Code
Signal Conveyed Through a Graphic Image,” allows active control of systems
and devices that encounter watermarked media.
Geoff Rhoads, Digimarc CTO and founder, explained, “The significance of
this invention is best illustrated by the ability to read watermarks after
they have been printed and scanned back into a computer.”
“Many applications require a highly reliable method of transmitting such
digital information from physical media to digital media and vice versa.
The ‘834 patent directly resolves this basic necessity, thus enabling
printed watermarks to act as computer instructions,” continued Rhoads.