Nowadays, it is quite difficult for major brands to fight counterfeiting, since to some extent it is a consequence of moving production to regions with cheaper labor. This has led to the development of various protection mechanisms, and one of the most recent comes from Xerox, based on a printed label with 36 bits of "rewritable" memory, which is also encrypted to prevent unauthorized modifications.
The world of computing has shown us all sorts of developments... and all sorts of counterfeits. I remember very well the "Pintel" processors, a name given to chips whose surface was modified to present a different factory frequency, and today we find absurd things like one-terabyte pendrives whose firmware was altered. If a product has high enough demand, an imitation is likely to appear somewhere, and while there is nothing wrong with loyal competitors offering similar deals, let's say the concept of "bootleg" can be found in almost every market.
The printed memory label
Besides fighting counterfeiting, a company must also guarantee the provenance of its original products, which means storing information about each of the processes they underwent, along with each of their stages during transportation. In an attempt to meet this need, the folks at Xerox developed a new "printed memory" in the form of labels with a maximum capacity of 36 bits. If we compare it with current storage media, 36 bits does not seem like much, but Xerox indicates that it is possible to store up to 68 billion data points, offering enormous flexibility. The memory content can be modified, but at the same time it is encrypted, and access is only possible using an authorized reader connected to a secure application installed on a smartphone.
Technology and real-world applications
Xerox's printed memory is based on technology from the company Thinfilm, for which it obtained a license in December of last year. The first example Xerox gives of an application for these labels points to the pharmaceutical industry. Determining the origin, state, handling, and distribution of a medicine is critical for public health, and there is even speculation about placing them on food or cash.
