The first line of defence in the war
against counterfeiting has arrived
Counterfeit activity is a threat to all modern businesses, affecting their profits, their reputations and, in some cases,
the safety of their consumers. But, so persistent is the threat that it can be difficult for companies to know where to
start. To help our clients to prevent, identify and track counterfeit activity, Novagraaf has partnered with Authenticateit,
an intelligent new technology aimed at both brands and consumers.
Its important for brands to have a robust
anti-counterfeiting strategy as the threat of
piracy continues to grow, but where should brand
owners begin? These days, an anti-counterfeiting
strategy requires more than just a robust approach
to trademark registration and enforcement.
Intellectual Property (IP) rights holders need to
use all the tools at their disposal if they are to
effectively identify and act against counterfeit
activity.
One important new tool is Authenticateit, a
powerful new tracking and reporting system that
has been developed to enable consumers and
brands to work together to identify and halt the
sale of counterfeit products.
How does it work?
Developed by an Australian innovator,
Authenticateit is an industry-leading track-andtrace system that is accessible to consumers via
a free smartphone application. The app enables
consumers and other interested parties to inspect
a product’s origins and authenticity, and to
retrieve product recall alerts and additional
product insights, simply by scanning its barcode.
To ensure the technology is accessible to a
global audience, the results are available in
26 languages. There is also an option for brands
to support a Live Chat function to further assist
consumers who may have questions on product
authenticity or recall. In addition, the Product
www.novagraaf.com
Insights feature allows brands to push
supplementary marketing and product information
to customers that would otherwise not be
available in store, including ratings, videos and
additional images that may influence their
purchase decisions.
This ties in with current global sales trends in
which consumers are increasingly using their
smartphones to find out more about a product at
point of sale. If they’re using their smartphones to
compare shopping deals or to find out more about
product, then why not also enable them to
authenticate a product at the same time?
What do brand owners need to do?
To work in Authenticateit’s track-and-trace
system, products need to be serialised with a GS1
DataBar or a Datamatrix, a global and common
accepted standard for barcodes. Once stitched
onto labels or printed onto the product or its
packaging, these unique product identifiers (UPI)
will enable consumers to quickly scan an item to
check for authenticity before proceeding to
purchase.
Any negative result will trigger an alert to brand
owners as well as consumers, providing a pinpoint
to the precise location of an anomaly (via Google
Maps) and enabling them to take immediate
action to stop, disable or neutralise unauthorised
imports or counterfeit operations at their point
of sale.
If a product does not match its description or
intended destination, then the potential customer
will receive an instant notification that the product
cannot be authenticated and deterred from
proceeding with the transaction. This provides a
useful first line of defence in the war against
counterfeit products.
The tool provides
brand owners with
important insight by:
✓ T racking and identifying counterfeits and
parallel imports / grey market goods;
✓ S erialising products for track, trace and
authentication;
✓A
chieving compliance with directive or
mandatory traceability requirements;
✓ Capturing product and customer insights;
✓ S timulating interaction with consumers;
✓O
ffering consumers product safety and recall
advice;
✓ B uilding trust and confidence among
consumers;
✓D
eterring counterfeiters; and
✓ I ntegrating with the World Customs
Organisation’s IPM tool, so that local customs
agents can also use the barcode to determine
if products in transit are legitimate.
MAIN OFFICES IN AMSTERDAM, BRUSSELS, GENEVA, LONDON AND PARIS The Novagraaf Group
The authentication process in brief
1. The consumer scans a product
Consumers use their smartphone to scan a
serialised barcode, which is printed on products,
packaging, labels, swing tags or stickers. As each
barcode can only be assigned to a single product,
and a single physical location which cannot be
replicated, would-be counterfeiters seeking to
copy or reuse a serialised barcode, will soon
realise the system cannot be fooled.
2. Consumer receives authentication results
If a product is successfully authenticated, the
consumer will be notified immediately that the
product is genuine, allowing them to proceed
safely with the transaction. If, however, a product
does not match its description or location, the
consumer will be notified instantly that the
product could not be authenticated and deterred
from proceeding with the transaction.
3. Brands are alerted
Any negative result will also trigger an alert to
the brand owner that pinpoints the precise
location of the product. This provides an important
opportunity to investigate potentially fake goods
at point of sale.
Why we have partnered
with Authenticateit
Consumer education is an important, but often
overlooked, element of any anti-counterfeiting
strategy. Novagraaf strongly believes that brand
owners and consumers need to work together to
identify and stop the sale of counterfeit and
potentially unsafe products. By partnering with
Authenticateit, we are able to provide our clients
with another important new tool for identifying
and stopping counterfeit activity, this time at point
of sale.
Not only can the new technology help clients to
trace and protect their brands, it also provides
them with added insight into consumer shopping
habits, hotspots for counterfeit goods, and a new
technological barrier to deter counterfeiters.
To find out more about Novagraaf or for
further information about Authenticateit,
please contact our experts at
www.novagraaf.com, or
email [email protected].
How it works
About Novagraaf
About Authenticateit
Headquartered in the Netherlands, the Novagraaf Group has offices
throughout Europe in Intellectual Property (IP) hotspots such as Amsterdam,
Brussels, Geneva, London and Paris. One of Europe’s leading IP consulting
groups, Novagraaf specialises in the protection and global management of IP
rights, such as trademarks, patents, designs, domain names and copyright,
including identifying abuse and acting decisively on infringement. With more
than 350 IP professionals across 14 offices, we partner with our clients to
provide IP services across a broad range of strategic issues.
Authenticateit Pty Ltd is an Australian company headquarted in Melbourne.
Established as a start up in 2011, Authenticateit has successfully launched
services with a number of Australian brands in 2013. Authenticateit offers
brand owners an effective way to track, trace and deter counterfeits and
instances of unauthorised distribution as they occur. For consumers, the free
Authenticateit smartphone app provides access to product recall data, an
authenticity check and useful product information simply by scanning the
product’s barcode.
www.novagraaf.com
MAIN OFFICES IN AMSTERDAM, BRUSSELS, GENEVA, LONDON AND PARIS The Novagraaf Group