Digimarc

Digimarc Corporation
Public company
Traded as NASDAQ: DMRC
Industry Technology
Founded 1995
Founder Geoff Rhoads
Headquarters 9405 SW Gemini Dr, Beaverton, Oregon, United States
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Bruce Davis, CEO
Revenue ~US$35 million (2013)[1]
Number of employees
 170[2]
Website www.digimarc.com

Digimarc is a digital watermarking technology provider enabling embedding of information into many forms of content, including printed material, audio, video, imagery, and certain objects. Digimarc technology provides solutions for media identification and management, counterfeit and piracy deterrence, and digital commerce.[3][4]

History

Digimarc was founded by Geoff Rhoads, an astrophysicist with a background in deep space imaging. The initial inspiration for the company came while Rhoads was photographing images of the planet Jupiter. He felt that his digital images were vulnerable on the internet, even with copyright protection.[3] In 1996, after initial venture funding,[5] Digimarc released its first product: a digital watermarking plug-in bundled with Adobe Photoshop, Corel, and Micrografix.[6] After a second round of venture funding and increased investments in research and technology, Digimarc signed a multi-year contract with a consortium of central banks.

Digimarc has developed a DRM system used on bank notes of several countries. Developed for the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group, the system embeds various hidden patterns into banknote designs which are detected by code included in several popular image editing programs, including Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.[7] Digimarc's system blocks users from opening images identified as bank notes.

In 2001, Digimarc acquired the ID Systems assets of bankrupt Polaroid Corporation and established Digimarc ID Systems, LLC.[8] The acquisition gave Digimarc the resources to develop IDMarc, a secure driver license technology eventually adopted by 37 state DMVs.[8]

In August 2008, Digimarc completed the sale of its ID card business to rival L-1 Identity Systems.[9] The new Digimarc corporation consists solely of its digital watermarking business and reincorporated as an Oregon company.[10][11] Digimarc sold off the majority of their patents to Intellectual Ventures in 2010 for $36 million, plus a portion of any future patents Digimarc is granted.[12] The licensing deal helped increase revenue and profits the next year, when the company earned $639,000 on revenues of $8.6 million in the third quarter.[13]

In 2012, Digimarc acquired Attributor Corp., a company specializing in services protecting ebooks from piracy.[14]

In January 2014, Digimarc set a new Guinness World Record for fastest time to scan and bag 50 items at the National Retail Federation's Annual Convention & EXPO (Retail's Big Show) 2014. With a Guinness World Record adjudicator present, company representatives scanned and bagged 50 items featuring the newly released Digimarc Barcode in 51.91 seconds - bettering the previous record of 75 seconds.[15]

In January 2015, Digimarc disclosed Wegmans as their first retail customer. Wegmans has enhanced products from their private label in all 85 of their stores.[16]

In September 2015, Digimarc was honored with an Emmy Award for Technology & Engineering. The award for Steganographic Technologies for Audio/Video acknowledges Digimarc for engineering creativity in the company’s work in the entertainment industry.[17]

Products

Digimarc Barcode

Digimarc Barcodes are an imperceptible pattern that can be embedded into all marketing materials, including packaging, displays, ads in magazines, circulars, radio, and television. The pattern is not visible to people, but mobile devices, POS image scanners, and other computing technologies can read them. This pattern contains the same Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN) data currently carried in the product’s UPC/EAN symbol and is repeated multiple times over the entire package. With support for Digimarc Barcodes in audio, virtually any recorded sound can be enhanced with an inaudible signal allowing identification and interaction by the Digimarc Discover platform.

Digimarc Discover Mobile SDK

The Digimarc Discover software development kit (SDK) enables application developers to build mobile apps (iOS/Android) that enable consumers to scan product packages and virtually any media with smartphones and tablets to discover more information. The SDK features proprietary optimizations for scanning the 1D consumer barcodes traditionally used at retail (UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN 8, EAN 13, Code 39, Code 128) and also supports scanning of QR codes. The SDK includes technology for detection of Digimarc Barcodes in audio, inaudible codes that enable a range of audience measurement, content monetization and so-called second screen broadcast applications.[18]

Digimarc for Images

Digimarc for Images (formerly MyPictureMarc) is a photographer's tool to embed digital watermarks into digital images for persistent and unobtrusive copyright and ownership communication.[19]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Digimarc Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Financial Results". Digimarc Corporation. February 20, 2014. Retrieved 25 Apr 2014.
  2. ↑ "Digimarc Corp". Google Finance. Apr 25, 2014. Retrieved 25 Apr 2014.
  3. 1 2 "DMRC Profile | Digimarc Corporation Stock - Yahoo! Finance". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  4. ↑ Caruso, Denise. "Business > Companies > Digimarc Corporation". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ "Digimarc receives funding of $4.5M. (AVI Capital, Adobe Ventures, Just Systems and Softbank provide capital) (Company Financial Information)(Brief Article)". The Seybold Report on Internet Publishing. 1 September 1996.
  6. ↑ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18652483.html
  7. ↑ Software Detection of Currency, http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk, Accessed 2010-04-25
  8. 1 2 "doc/1G1-81034373". eb.archive.org. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  9. ↑ Earnshaw, Aliza (18 January 2009). "$310M sale of Digimarc unit the biggest deal of 2008".
  10. ↑ "Last chance to tender Digimarc shares". 11 August 2008.
  11. ↑ "Digimarc reincorporates as an Oregon company". 16 May 2010.
  12. ↑ Rogoway, Mike (December 28, 2010). "Digimarc fires auditor amid accounting dispute". The Oregonian (OregonLive). Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  13. ↑ Rogoway, Mike (October 25, 2011). "Licensing revenue fuels Digimarc's growth". The Oregonian. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Digimarc acquires Attributor". Portland Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Dec 4, 2012. Retrieved 25 Apr 2014.
  15. ↑ "Digimarc Sets New Guinness World Record at NRF 2014 for Fastest Retail Checkout". www.digimarc.com. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  16. ↑ "2014 letter to shareholders" (PDF).
  17. ↑ "Digimarc Earns Emmy® Award for Engineering Creativity in Audio/Video". 9/03/2015. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ↑ "Digimarc Discover Mobile SDK Overview" (PDF). Digimarc.com.
  19. ↑ ""Why some of your photos could end up in the wrong hands and what you can do about it" date=17 August 2012". WXYZ ABC Action News.
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