Luxury Goods To Be Branded With DNA To Stop Counterfeiting – 13/1/10

We have written a lot about luxury goods counterfeiting in the MO Down, so we were particularly interested in a new DNA ‘deterrent’, described in an CNN article.

CNN revealed that a “renowned luxury brand” (we wonder who?) has partnered with Applied DNA Sciences (APDN) to have unique DNA authentication markers fitted into their goods.

Dr. James Hayward, President and CEO of APDN, said, "Premier brands are using DNA both to protect their brand and to offer customized products for individual customers. Proof of authenticity is a central tenet of brand integrity, and there is no better proof than DNA.”

We plan to keep tracking any DNA marker developments. But, meanwhile, we are still intrigued by the research study we discussed in December 8’s article: Counterfeiting: The Scary And Surprising Facts. This study, by Renee Richardson Gosline, revealed that buying counterfeit was a precursor to buying a genuine bag for 46 percent of those interviewed. Our final thoughts on this is that this percentage is very high, and one would need to really understand the methodology applied in order to interpret this result. So the MO jury is out on this research.