When doing your first Google search of the morning, you may have noticed a more unusual Google logo than normal: it’s the Google Barcode. Don’t worry, you are not seeing things because you haven’t had enough coffee yet, Google is commemorating the 57th anniversary of the day the barcode was first patented. The barcode was invented by two Americans, Normal Joseph Woodland, and Bernard Silver, and the patent number is 2,612,994. Funny enough, the Google barcode looks nothing like the barcode first patented, which was a pattern of circles, instead of the straight lines we use now.

The Google barcode uses Code 128 to spell out “Google”, it is the standard way used to encode strings of ASCII characters in a barcode these days. Google has their own open souce barcode project, Zxing, and I think it is safe to assume they used that to generate the Google barcode online today.

Techcrunch also reported on the Google barcode, and included a link to the actual patent in their post. If it wasn’t for Google, you may not have even noticed the many different barcodes you come in contact with today, and which have become so essential in our modern day lives.

Google seems to love changing up their logo these days. Where in the past, it was usually holidays that promted a change in Google’s look, the Google barcode is according the some the seventh Google Doodle this month!