August M
Counterfeit goods cost companies billions each year and pose growing risks to consumers, from unsafe electronics to fake medicines. Now, a Danish chemist says a new technology developed at the University of Copenhagen could fundamentally change how products are protected.
Several major brands have already begun using the system.
A global problem
According to figures cited by Ritzau, counterfeit goods worth an estimated 467 billion US dollars were traded worldwide in 2021. Once limited mainly to luxury items such as handbags and watches, counterfeiting now affects almost every product category, including toys, cosmetics, car parts, electronics and pharmaceuticals.
Beyond lost revenue and jobs, counterfeit products can be dangerous. Fake medicines and cosmetics may cause serious health problems, while substandard electronics can overheat or catch fire. Despite enforcement efforts, the scale of the problem continues to grow.
A digital fingerprint
Thomas Just Sørensen, a chemist at the University of Copenhagen, believes he has found a solution. Together with Danish entrepreneurs and investors, he has developed O−KEY®, a digital fingerprint designed to make physical products impossible to copy.
“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,” Sørensen said.
The fingerprint is a one-square-millimetre mark sprayed onto a product or its packaging using transparent ink. Microparticles inside the ink form a random pattern that cannot be recreated. The mark can be scanned with a standard smartphone and serves as legally recognised proof of authenticity.
“The marking gives companies an unprecedented opportunity to protect their products, enforce contracts and document authenticity down to the individual item level,” Sørensen said.
Early adoption
Royal Copenhagen is among the first brands to adopt the technology. The Danish porcelain company is using O−KEY® to track products through its distribution chain and verify authenticity.
“O−KEY® has set new standards for how we protect our brand,” said Allan Schefte, SVP Continental Europe at Fiskars Denmark A/S. He said the system provided immediate transparency and legally recognised proof of protection.
The labels have also been used on Kay Bojesen figures and international security products.
From lab to market
The technology is rooted in years of research in materials chemistry. Sørensen first became interested in physically unclonable functions after a conference in 2016. Two years later, he published research in Science Advances that laid the foundation for the system.
With support from the Innovation Fund and private investors, the research evolved into the company PUFIN-ID®, which now employs 16 people in Copenhagen.
“We have gone from advanced science in a laboratory to a mass-produced product,” Sørensen said, adding that the technology shows how far university research can reach.
Sources: Ritzau, University of Copenhagen
