News in Brief

Royal Copenhagen Among First Brands to Adopt O-KEY Fingerprinting

Thomas Just Sørensen, a chemist at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, has developed the O-KEY® technology – a kind of digital fingerprint for physical products.

‘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,’ said Sørensen.

The fingerprint consists of a mark measuring 1mm², which is sprayed onto either the product itself or its packaging using transparent ink. The ink contains various microparticles that form a random pattern that cannot be recreated. The mark is scannable with a standard smartphone, and serves as legally recognised proof of authenticity.

The Danish porcelain company Royal Copenhagen is among the first brands in the world to adopt O-KEY, initially as a method to track the journey of its products to the end consumer.