Prizes for protection

ProteXXion, the identification technology for the forgery-proof authentication of objects and packaging, has won the 100,000 Euro Hermes Award, the international technology prize awarded by the Hannover Fair.

ProteXXion provides effective forgery protection without the need for additional marking or tagging by using laser light to unequivocally recognise objects on the basis of their individual surface structure.

Bayer Technology Services (BTS) developed ProteXXion for industrial applications based on laser surface authentication technology invented by Ingenia Technology of the UK.

All previous strategies for identifying counterfeits have been based on overt or covert tagging of the products, but whether watermarks, barcodes, RFID tags, holograms or patterns applied by special printing inks, none of the markings or tags used so far offer 100 percent protection from unauthorised copying or replication.

In collaboration with Ingenia Technology, BTS now offers ProteXXion, a unique process for the identification and avoidance of counterfeit products. The products are automatically registered during production and can be unequivocally verified at any time in the downstream supply chain using mobile readers.