Anti-counterfeiting systems – absolutely necessary and perfectly feasible; these are the 4 most advanced technologies employed

Anti-counterfeiting is not just about protecting the legacy of domestic production and the famous ‘made in Italy’ label that draws consumers to Italian products all over the world. It also means safeguarding jobs in the supply chains, protecting against criminal and financial risks and, frequently, retaining the trust and even protecting the health of consumers. Since they evade the quality and conformity checks prescribed by legislators, the use of counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs and other unregulated products can have a serious impact on consumer health. Also, unscrupulous individuals working outside the law frequently exploit illicit labour and provide unacceptable working conditions. Anti-counterfeiting systems not only protect consumers from fake products, they also protect the quality of the production and distribution chain, ensuring all information provided is strictly truthful.

Anti-counterfeiting: how and why

Anti-counterfeiting strategies can be implemented using identification techniques that must allow information tracking and tracing in order to be functional and effective. ‘Tracking’ refers to the process that accompanies each product from the start to the end of the production chain and makes it possible to store relevant information (tracking data) at each stage of the process through which the product passes. Tracing, on the other hand, refers to the opposite process in which information issued throughout the chain is collected. Once securely stored in a database, tracking data can be retrieved and consulted at any time by operators with the necessary access credentials.

The following are just three of the reasons why implementing an anti-counterfeiting solution is important:

1) Brand protection

Brand Awareness is a capital asset that distinguishes a company that builds on the excellence and reputation of its products and services, generating business and acting as a status symbol independently from the product. Customer purchases are often driven more by an emotional identification with the brand than the objective and intrinsic value of the product. That’s why companies invest high levels of resources in brand creation and tend to employ their top staff in this area of activities. Competing companies, especially from emerging economies, exploit the investments and creativity of leading companies to erode their market shares by producing obviously fake products or products that closely resemble the products of the brand they are attempting to imitate. In this case anti-counterfeiting measures provide name brands with a valid tool to help them maintain their position at the top of the reference segment.

2) Consumer protection

Attentive consumers focus their attention not just on the price but also on quality, deciding to make a purchase only if they are sure they will receive a top quality product and/or service. Today’s consumers are far more informed than in the past and before looking for a product they tend to research the information thoroughly. Anti-counterfeiting is based on technologies capable of providing clear and unequivocal proof (and, in the most advanced solutions, also certification) of the truth of claims concerning the origin, production process, components and ingredients that define the distinguishing values of a product or service.

3) Protection of authorised channels (anti-counterfeiting and the grey market)

Anti-counterfeiting strategies protect a brand in several ways. For example, in the case of the grey market, i.e. when part of a company’s production output is traded through unauthorised channels that are unable to offer the necessary support or guarantee the quality of the service and that do not apply the prices agreed between the brand and its official channels; this situation generates a parallel market that causes considerable damage to the brand reputation and erodes profit margins. Different markets call for different strategies and product positioning, and this can stimulate the development of parallel markets. Also, the grey market tends to generate conflict with the official sales network.

Anti-counterfeiting = Reliable product identification

A label alone is insufficient to protect brands and consumers. If brand protection can be achieved ONLY by identifying the product in a RELIABLE and UNIQUIVOCAL manner in order to prove its authenticity, protection from parallel markets can be achieved EXCLUSIVELY BY TRACING the product history as it travels through the supply chain. Obviously, product authenticity certification will be far more efficient if consumers can check for themselves that the product they wish to purchase is an authentic original item.

Several different technologies are currently available for unequivocal and reliable product identification, each associated with various pros and cons. Excluding conventional barcodes – essential for tracking and tracing processes and management of the supply chain in general, but easily copied and thus unable to guarantee authenticity – there are several technological solutions that, in addition to identifying products, can also guarantee their authenticity because they cannot be copied. These are currently the most advanced solutions, applicable also to products of low cost although with high value in terms of reputation and image (e.g. food products).

SIXTRUE
SixTrue technology is a combination of a 2D QR Code (Quick Response) type barcode and a sign composed of a series of minute marks generated by patented printing techniques.

The result is the generation of an exclusive and original code that is absolutely unequivocal and unrepeatable, just like a fingerprint. During the print process each sign is associated with a unique serial value that is written into the barcode.

The SixTrue sign is generated during the printing process in a completely random manner and it cannot be duplicated even by the printer in question; what’s more: it’s absolutely unique. That’s why SixTrue is a guaranteed reference solution for protection against counterfeiting. And it’s got a major plus: consumers can use their smartphone or tablet to read the code and check the authenticity of the product they intend to purchase by means of a web portal.

SixTrue codes can be applied on paper, plastic, eco leather, polyamide and a range of other materials, ensuring exceptional flexibility of use and compatibility with a broad range of products.

PROS:

• Low cost
• Cannot be duplicated/faked
• Readable with a normal smartphone or tablet

CONS:

Requires a dedicated app and connection to a remote server to validate authenticity

RFID UHF & NFC

RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) technology is the most evolved version of AutoID solutions and it incorporates various types of products/solutions, the most popular of which are currently UHF (Ultra High Frequency) and NFC (Near Field Communication). Thanks to their long range reading distances (up to several metres) UHF RFID chips are used in the world of logistics and waste collection, but they currently require dedicated scanners that are not available to the general public so they’re employed in professional settings where operators are equipped with specific reading devices.

On the other hand, thanks to the gradual adoption of NFC readers in smartphones and tablets, the use of this latter system is becoming more widespread among the general public.

The internal memory of RFID devices (or ‘TAGS’) contains a unique and uneditable number that is written at the time of creation of the chip in the factory; depending on the type of device this number is called the UID or TID: this is the de facto registration number of the chip that ensures it is completely unique.

The RFID world includes systems that use the TID/UID number to guarantee authenticity of the TAG without having to connect the scanner to internal or remote databases (as in the case of the Fides Code for example).

PROS:

• Cannot be duplicated/faked
• Readable with a normal smartphone/tablet (only NFC enabled)
• Facility to check authenticity without having to connect to internal or external databases/servers (Fides Code)
• Rewritable
• Readable even if not visible

CONS:

• Relatively expensive (double-figure eurocents for each tag)
• Requires a dedicated app and connection to a remote server for authenticity checking (remote connection not required with Fides Code)

RFID+FIDES CODE

Another smart combination matching the advantages of identification with a system for certification is Fides Code (Frequency Identifier Double Encript Security Controlled Operation Dual Encoding).  Today is very much used by the PA to trace the waste but the solution is well suited for all applications for anticounterfeiting. What is Fides Code? It’s an algorithm associated with the use of RFID tags: so you can certify, uniquely, the codes associated with each object labeled, by relating the public key and the private key that are used to perform the validation, thus ensuring the originality and uniqueness of the tag without having to access local and remote databases, always guaranteeing the veracity of the statement. Fides Code encoding a set of important information and functional processes to tracking and tracing information. The reading devices operating in standard Fides Code, are able to perform the appropriate control validations, verify the authenticity and recognize the tag automatically, guaranteeing the safety of the procedure. Fide Code work without on-line connections to a central server or by pre-loading of data. This means that you should not equip the read terminals of large amounts of memory or the need to have a GPRS connection to access information about the database.

PROS:

• • Cannot be duplicated/faked
  • Readable with a normal smartphone/tablet
  • Rewritable
  • Readable even if not visible
  • Does not require a dedicated app but still needs a remote server connection for authenticity verification

CONS:

• Relatively expensive (around one euro)

 

NFC RFID + OTP

This technology combines two existing solutions: an RFID/NFC tag and an OTP (One Time Password). In practice, it looks like a normal HF/NFC tag, which can be supplied in the form of a sticker or in a rigid housing for applications that require greater resistance, or also in the form of a plastic credit card style badge. By adding the OTP, in addition to a memory containing the data the customer has decided to include, the tag generates a one time code that is used as a password. This means that even if an intruder intercepts the link generated by the tag and attempts to redirect the browser to the address in question, as soon as the link has been used once it will reject any further connection requests, just like the operation of a classic home banking system.

Apart from its exceptional security, one benefit of this technology is its practicality, since there’s NO NEED for a specific smartphone/tablet app so the use is facilitated thanks to the absence of prior installations or downloads.

PROS:

• Cannot be duplicated/faked
• Readable with a normal smartphone/tablet (only NFC enabled)
• Rewritable
• Readable even if not visible
• Does not require a dedicated app but still needs a remote server connection for authenticity verification

CONS:

• Relatively expensive (around one euro)