The Inventors' Inbox: Anti-faking technology - Our resident inventors look at some would-be technologies to expose fakes

摘要

What's the problem? Counterfeit goods cost businesses a lot. An FBI assessment from 2002 said that US businesses lose between $200bn and $250bn to counterfeiting annually. According to the World Customs Organisation, counterfeit goods account for up to 7 per cent of world trade. As I write this, I have just received spam entitled 'Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Givenchy'. Even these big brands have difficulty dealing with increasingly professional counterfeiters, who are directly in touch with everyone's customers via the Internet.