In 2005, CSIRO and ASX-listed Datadot Technologies formed a joint venture company called
DatatraceDNA Pty Ltd to commercialize a new forensic marker technology for brand protection
and bulk applications.
DataTraceDNA allows high-security protection for parts authentication enabling EMPR®Australia to ensure we only service genuine products.
DatatraceDNA involves science developed by CSIRO. CSIRO is a 50% shareholder in
DatatraceDNA Pty Ltd. While much of the technology involves trade secrets, CSIRO owns two
patents and has exclusively licensed these patents to DatatraceDNA Pty Ltd in most fields of use.
Briefly, the Datatrace technology involves a series of marker materials that are incorporated, in
extremely tiny quantities, onto or into items of value. A handheld reader is used to detect the
presence of these markers and identify the origin of the item. The markers are typically present
in complex mixtures that are difficult to decipher or reproduce.
DatatraceDNA - The Technology
DataTraceDNA is described as a 'chemical barcode' consisting of a group of chemical markers
that can be integrated, in exceedingly tiny quantities, into or onto many materials.
When the material is interrogated by a specifically-designed and tuned hand-held reader, the
product can be authenticated.
Distinct combinations of the component chemical markers are available to ensure that customers
can be supplied with unique codes. The complexity of the chemical barcode makes it difficult to
decipher, preventing counterfeiters from reproducing the authenticity code.
The DataTraceDNA markers are durable and inert. They are resistant to heat, light and
chemicals.
The DatatraceDNA system employs three interconnected components that are designed to work
seamlessly together, to preserve the security of the system:
- (1) the marker materials with very precise, distinctive properties,
- (2) the complex detection procedures, and
- (3) a variable reading algorithm.
