Counterfeit detection with QR codes

Serialized QR Codes applied to product packaging have received considerable interest as a potential solution to the problem of industrial counterfeiting. Compared to traditional security solutions (e.g. taggants, holograms, security inks), they are indeed simpler to integrate in existing production workflow, easier to verify, and more cost-effective at scale. In addition, they allow to convey a product digital identity and history, and are used to connect brand owners with consumers. However, by itself a QR Code offers no protection at all against copy by cloning. Various schemes have been proposed to add a copy-sensitive layer to QR Codes, but most techniques in the state of the art have not been applied to real production environments, where QR Codes are printed at mass scale and products are scanned in a non-controlled environment, typically by consumers with their smartphones. This paper presents a system based on integrating copy detection patterns into QR Codes, which has been deployed for a number of years on the market.