710614RealtagClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKEvery year counterfeiting results in devastating consequences for brand owners and consumers. The lack of assurance in a product that is widely counterfeited undermines the brand’s value and equity with a consumer. This equity is commonly acquired through a long process of building trust with the consumer. Counterfeiters undermine and ultimately destroy this trust. The human cost of counterfeiters can be counted in the tragic loss of life caused by the use of fake spirits. Counterfeiters, motivated by the large profits do not care that providing fake alcohol or malarial medicines which in fact contain dangerous and sometimes fatal chemicals. It is with this backdrop that RealTag was established. The company was formed with the simple vision of enabling consumers to use the now ubiquitous smart phone to verify their purchases. Consumers will have the assurance that they are using authentic products and brand owners can reverse the financially ruinous problem of counterfeiting. The vision of using a smart phone to check if something was genuine appears in theory to be a simple one. To this end RealTag has developed a unique pattern generating process which is simple and cost effective to brand owners. The process is naturally occurring and is practically impossible to copy, thereby significantly raising the barriers of entry of counterfeiters. The process will allow brand owners to uniquely fingerprint each product. However RealTag’s fingerprint only adds value to if the process can be read and verified against a data base. Here RealTag is developing a pattern recognition process that can read the fingerprint, compare it against a data base and if a match takes place, provide instant verification. If a match does not take place the consumer receives a warning that the product may not be genuine.