A new digital fingerprint developed by researchers promises to make physical products impossible to counterfeit.
Each year, businesses lose billions of dollars because products are copied or sold illegally. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have now created a digital, legally binding fingerprint that prevents items from being counterfeited. The technology ensures that products can be authenticated and protected against unauthorized duplication.
Global trade in counterfeit goods reached an estimated value of 467 billion US dollars in 2021. Luxury items such as handbags, watches, and sunglasses are among the most recognizable examples, but imitation products now span nearly every category. Items ranging from cosmetics and toys to car parts, electronics, and even medicines are routinely counterfeited.
The impact goes far beyond lost revenue. Fake products are linked to large-scale job losses and can pose serious dangers to consumers. Counterfeit drugs and cosmetics may threaten health, while imitation electronic devices can malfunction or catch fire. Despite growing awareness, the scale of counterfeiting continues to increase each year.
A New Scientific Approach to Anti-Counterfeiting
To address this challenge, chemist Thomas Just Sørensen from the University of Copenhagen has developed a new method to stop counterfeiting at its source. Working with Danish entrepreneurs and investors, he helped create the O−KEY® technology, which assigns a unique digital identity to physical objects that cannot be replicated.
“Imagine throwing a handful of sand onto a glass plate. The grains of sand will land in a random pattern that is impossible to copy. We use exactly the same principle when we produce our artificial fingerprints,” says Thomas Just Sørensen.
The fingerprint takes the form of a transparent mark measuring one millimeter square. It can be applied directly to a product or to its packaging using a special ink filled with microscopic particles. These particles settle into a random arrangement that cannot be duplicated. The mark occupies only a tiny area, can be scanned using a standard smartphone, and functions as legally recognized proof that an item is genuine.
“The marking gives companies an unprecedented opportunity to protect their products, enforce contracts, and document authenticity down to the individual item level,” says Thomas Just Sørensen.
Unique identification of Royal Copenhagen products
Royal Copenhagen, the Danish porcelain maker, has welcomed the technology. It is among the first brands worldwide to adopt the labeling system, and early rollout results have been positive. In its initial use, the company has applied O-KEY® to follow its products from distribution through to the end consumer.
“O−KEY® has set new standards for how we protect our brand. The implementation gave us immediate transparency across our distribution chain and assurance that our products are protected with legally recognised proof. It is simple, effective and absolutely crucial,” says Allan Schefte, SVP Continental Europe Fiskars Denmark A/S.
Beyond Royal Copenhagen’s porcelain, O-KEY labels have also been applied to Kay Bojesen figures and a range of international security products, among other uses.
From university to business
The system builds on years of materials chemistry research carried out at the University of Copenhagen. Backed by the Innovation Fund and private investors, that work later developed into PUFIN-ID®, a Copenhagen-based company that now employs 16 people.
Back in 2016, Thomas Just Sørensen overheard some colleagues talking about PUFs physically unclonable functions at a conference in northern France, and became interested in developing a fingerprint that is impossible to clone. Two years of research later, the professor published a scientific article in Science Advances about his groundbreaking technology, which the company O−KEY® is built around.
Since then, the company has grown steadily and has, among other things, built its own IT infrastructure, labeling machines, and AI solution that keeps track of all the digital fingerprints that are made.
#AnalyticalChemistry, #ScienceOfSolutions, #ChemicalAnalysis, #Spectroscopy, #Chromatography, #LabScience, #PrecisionMatters, #ScienceInEveryDrop, #ChemistryMatters, #InnovationThroughAnalysis
For More Details
🌎Visit Our Website : analyticalchemistry.org
✉️Contact Us: mail@analyticalchemistry.org
Get Connected Here:
=====================
Youtube : www.youtube.com/channel/UCS6A6Sa-eyg5RiG0kkQ5VaA
Twitter : x.com/ChemistryAwards
Facebook : www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566931868357
Pinterest : in.pinterest.com/analyticalchemistry25
Blog : analyticalchemistryawards.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment