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Startups License Academic Research to Combat Counterfeiting

Two startup companies completed exclusive license agreements with University of Arkansas – Little Rock (UALR) to bring to market technology developed by UALR’s Nanotechnology Center that offers anti-counterfeiting solutions for manufacturers. UALR says the technology will enable companies and government agencies to authenticate items with an invisible and unique code that is virtually impossible to replicate.

The technology developed a new form of taggant, or marker, embedded with a code. Taggants are commonly used today in the form of radio frequency microchips, physical codes or chemical codes to identify and track individual items or groups of items. UARL researchers advanced the technology using multiple layers of nanoparticles which are undetectable to the eye, and are both customizable and complex in structure.

Because counterfeiting is an acute problem across many industries, an effective solution must be applicable through a variety of physical forms. The nanotaggants available through the licensing partnerships can be incorporated and applied to a product or its packaging through ink, paint, dissolved polymers or a variety of other materials.

The two new companies licensing the technology are Provectus International LLC and NanoIMG, both based in Arkansas. Provectus International LLC was founded last year to patent the technology developed by a team of scientists led by Alexandru Biris, chief scientist at UALR’s Nanotechnology Center, and to construct working prototypes. NanoIMG, was formed this year to develop commercial test sites and relationships with customers and recently entered into an exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with Provectus.

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