Imagine a secret ink that is impossible to copy because it's made of tiny, specially engineered particles. You can print this ink on a card or a package, and it creates a unique digital fingerprint. To see if it's real, you just use a special handheld scanner that reads the hidden code.
Counterfeit products cause massive economic losses, including €121B in lost EU sales. Existing security tags are often too expensive or easy to clone via reverse engineering.
A complete prototype consisting of 4 nano-engineered inks, a low-cost dedicated reader (3Check), and a software platform for authentication.
If you are an ID card manufacturer dealing with identity theft and forgery — this project developed nano-engineered inks and a dedicated reader that creates a unique code for each badge. This ensures that public and private documents are virtually impossible to clone.
If you are a drug packaging company dealing with counterfeit medicines that risk patient health — this project developed 3Tag adhesive tags and 3Check verification. This allows you to certify the authenticity of products using a system with more than a septillion combinations.
If you are a luxury brand owner dealing with a hidden counterfeit market worth up to €2 trillion — this project developed a low-cost reader and secure inks. This protects your brand value by making products uniquely identifiable and secure.
Based on available project data, the project aims to provide a low-price solution and a low-cost reader to ensure the system is inexpensive while remaining secure.
Yes, the system is being tested and validated on an industrial production line of ID badges to test its scalability and model costs.
Based on available project data, the technology is designed to be almost impossible to replicate via reverse engineering due to high-knowledge content and specific ink chemistry. The consortium intends to establish a start-up to commercialize the technology.
The system uses a dedicated reader called 3Check to verify the nano-engineered inks (3Tag) applied to documents or packaging.
The project runs from 2023-06-01 to 2026-08-31, with the final phase focusing on the establishment of a start-up for market consolidation.
The consortium is well-balanced for commercialization, featuring a 50% industry ratio with 3 SMEs and 3 other partners across 4 countries (IT, AT, FR, PL). Led by Politecnico di Milano, the group blends academic research (2 universities, 1 research center) with industrial application, specifically targeting the transition from lab to market through a planned start-up.
Contact the technology transfer office at Politecnico di Milano
Contact us to explore licensing opportunities for nano-engineered security inks.
