Molecular tag "markings" to thwart counterfeiting
Rafe Needleman column in Business 2.0 on the growing industry in helping combat counterfeiting in products, even documents, and also to identify and target. He quotes the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition blaming counterfeiting for revenue and product liability losses of $200 billion in the United States alone.
But it can be hard to tell the difference between an official Nike (NKE) sneaker and a knockoff, and there's a growing industry in marking technologies, which covertly verify the authenticity of a product. Several different methods are already in use. An interesting one comes from Isotag: Using technology developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory about 10 years ago, Isotag manufactures "molecular tags," simple chemical solutions in which a hydrogen molecule is replaced by one of deuterium. These chemicals are embedded or mixed into a product in specific (and very low) concentrations that don't affect it in any way. A low-cost, handheld mass spectrometer can identify whether an item under its eye contains the solution, and in the right concentration. If not, it's a forgery. A lab version of the test can be used as evidence in a court.