Danish invention makes forgeries impossible: 'It is a game changer'

Danish invention makes forgeries impossible: 'It's a game changer'

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Small grains of sand in unique patterns can ensure that everything from kiwifruits and over-the-counter medicines to 24-karat gold jewelry are secured against counterfeiting.

By

Frederik Bjerre Andersen ( [email protected] ) 27 min. ago

Next year, your Christmas gifts will come with a little bit of particles on them. A random pattern of small, fine grains, which reveals whether the item is authentic – or if it is a cheap and risky copy.

This is at least Thomas Just Sørensen's New Year's resolution.

He is behind a groundbreaking technology, which can give everything from designer items and toys to medicines and kiwifruits a completely unique stamp, which consists of a random pattern of small particles.

- It is completely impossible to copy, says Thomas Just Sørensen, who is a professor of chemistry at the University of Copenhagen.

- It's a game changer. It's like biometrics and fingerprints, but for things.

Once a product is marked with Thomas Just Sørensen's invention, the customer can use a special mobile app to check whether it is registered as authentic.

If the unique combination of small particles in the mark is not recognized, or if there is no code present, the product can then be considered a copy.

- There are really many people who try to make easy money because we cannot control where the products come from, says Thomas Just Sørensen.

- In reality, I see it as a way to export the Danish trust, says Thomas Just Sørensen.

His technology with the small particles has been developed so that the pattern can be fixed in both stickers, glazes and in fabric:

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Counterfeit goods worth millions seized

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In 2021, counterfeit goods worth $467 billion were traded, estimates OECD ( https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2025/05/global-trade-in-fake-goods-reached-USD-467-billion-posing-risks-to-consumer-safety-and-compromising-intellectual-property.html ).

At home, Customs seized 37,916 counterfeit goods in 2024. Converted to original products, the copies were worth a total of 77.7 million kroner. The five most valuable categories of goods were:

Thomas Just Sørensen's invention has been given the commercial name O-Key. It is already used by brands such as Royal Copenhagen, which apply the small unique markings on their expensive design products.

At Vestergaard Furniture in Copenhagen, owner Per Vestergaard sees a large potential in Thomas Just Sørensen's invention. For example, if your furniture is stolen:

- It's a unique marking that isn't just something you can find and erase, so it will actually have meaning for your documentation with the insurance company, says Per Vestergaard.

And customers can also be assured that the Danish design icon they have at home is actually authentic. Per Vestergaard has himself recently had a customer whose daughter received a designer lamp as a Christmas gift from her workplace:

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Export of Danish trust

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The mark can fill as little as a millimeter and is sprayed on the item or packaging with transparent ink. The ink contains micro-particles, which form a random pattern – as if you yourself were to pour a little sand on a table.

- If I ask you to make a pattern that fits. So you'll never be done, explains Thomas Just Sørensen.

To make security even greater, the particles are available in three colors: red, green and blue.

- The possibilities that it opens up are so great that we can make more of the here patterns than there are atoms in the universe, says Thomas Just Sørensen.

Thomas Just Sørensen admits that his invention cannot stop counterfeit goods as such:

- Sometimes we just want a cheap Ronaldo jersey that we can wear in town. There is a great desire among consumers to buy some things as counterfeit goods, and we cannot remove them, he says.

However, his invention can ensure that all products that we want to be authentic are actually so. For example, airbags in cars. Reserve parts for planes. Or kiwifruits and apples, which today sometimes do not have the originating country they claim to be from.

- If the manufacturer puts our markers on the products, they guarantee that it is the right product, says Thomas Just Sørensen.

- No matter what happens on the way, via a website, the postal service or over the sea on a Mærsk ship, you can be assured, because there is a unique fingerprint.

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Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.