Creative Technology, episode 33: technology against counterfeit goods

Presenter Bao Phong: Hello and welcome back to Creative Technology, produced by the Science and Education Department of Vietnam Television. The trade in counterfeit goods and goods that infringe intellectual property is growing more complex. In Vietnam, businesses have applied many solutions in recent years, yet counterfeiting itself keeps getting more sophisticated, and there have been many cases where the product was faked along with its anti-counterfeit seal. Against that background, a number of new technology solutions have appeared on the market: digital anti-counterfeiting, or the use of artificial intelligence or blockchain. Alongside the efforts of the authorities, applying digital technology has become urgent. So how do we make the most of technology, and encourage research into anti-counterfeit technology that supports businesses and protects their brands? That is the subject of today's programme.

I am Bao Phong, and I will be with you through the programme.

Report: Counterfeit and imitation goods are widespread, and the methods used to make them are ever more sophisticated, which has pushed businesses and the authorities to apply many new technologies against them. According to the Vietnam Anti-Counterfeiting Technology Centre, counterfeiting remains a constant worry for Vietnamese businesses. As the technology of forgery has grown more sophisticated, there have been many cases where the fake product carried a faked anti-counterfeit seal as well. Many businesses have suffered heavy losses in both revenue and brand reputation because their products were counterfeited.

Mr Trịnh Hồng Sơn, manager of the Hasufood clean food store chain: At the moment some products carry a traceability seal with a QR code and a barcode, but those two are purely for looking up information; they do not authenticate the goods. Which means they cannot tell you whether the item is genuine or fake.

Mr Trần Trọng Vinh, Chairman of the Asian Professional Security Association: Counterfeiting is an extremely painful problem for Vietnam and for other countries around the world, and the technologies to counter it are still limited and not widely applied. One earlier anti-counterfeiting technology was the anti-counterfeit seal, but producing such a seal relies on a great many technologies and the results have not lived up to expectations.

Report: According to experts, although Vietnam has introduced many penalties for trading in counterfeit and imitation goods, they are still not enough to deter those who make them. Choosing effective anti-counterfeiting solutions therefore remains a top priority for businesses. At present, applying advanced technology to create such solutions is regarded as one of the most effective measures available.

VIETNAMESE TECHNOLOGY APPLIED AGAINST COUNTERFEITING: iSeal

Presenter Bao Phong: To help you understand today's subject better, we have invited two guests to the studio.

Our first guest is Associate Professor Dr Nguyễn Minh Vy, Director of the Vietnam Anti-Counterfeiting Technology Centre. Our second guest is Mr Nguyễn Khương Tuấn, Chief Technology Officer of Onyx Vietnam Joint Stock Company.

First, thank you both for taking the time to join us in the studio today. Over many years in Vietnam, state agencies, associations and above all technology solution companies have put a great deal of effort into fighting counterfeit and imitation goods, and we have achieved some very positive first results. My first question is for Associate Professor Dr Nguyễn Minh Vy. What is the state of counterfeiting in Vietnam today, and what basic solutions do we have?

Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Minh Vy: Counterfeit and imitation goods are everywhere on the market today. The government has called on the whole population to join in fighting them. The situation has become alarming: agencies, organisations and production facilities are all encountering counterfeit and imitation goods on a large scale. Industrial plants find their products counterfeited. In food and in medicine especially, counterfeits are very dangerous, because they affect health directly and can even threaten life. Counterfeiting is therefore a social problem. That is why our Vietnam Anti-Counterfeiting Technology Centre is concentrating on research into applying science and technology, and into anti-counterfeiting solutions, so as to limit the spread of counterfeits as far as possible.

Presenter Bao Phong: Clearly, applying new technology in anti-counterfeiting solutions has been a priority in recent years. From the point of view of a company developing those solutions, Mr Nguyễn Khương Tuấn, what are your thoughts?

Mr Nguyễn Khương Tuấn, CTO, Onyx Vietnam Joint Stock Company: Technology in general has to move towards convenience and accuracy. In anti-counterfeiting, the trend is to build mobile applications so that users can check for themselves. In my view an anti-counterfeiting technology has to meet three criteria. First, it must actually defeat counterfeiting. Second, it must be reusable many times, so that every party in the supply chain can take part in checking. Third, it must be accessible. Very few technologies today meet all three. That is why this field needs a breakthrough if the problem is to be solved completely.

Presenter Bao Phong: Counterfeiting has become very sophisticated lately, with convincing packaging and design, and tracing origin is genuinely difficult. Mr Nguyễn Minh Vy, how do you assess the contribution of science and technology in recent years to protecting consumers from counterfeit goods?

Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyễn Minh Vy: Many sophisticated methods and forms are entering the market. The profits from counterfeiting are very high, and fakes are sometimes finished better than the genuine article, so consumers are easily deceived. Applying technology in the most effective anti-counterfeiting solutions will therefore bring great benefit to consumers and, above all, protect the brands of organisations and businesses. We think businesses must be the ones leading the way in creating, searching out and researching the most effective solution. Our Vietnam Anti-Counterfeiting Technology Centre brings together experts to research and apply those solutions. The centre has a science and technology council that reviews, appraises and assesses fairly and objectively, choosing the best approach to apply, so as to limit as far as possible the spread of counterfeits on the market.

Presenter Bao Phong: Thank you both for the first part of today's discussion. From what our guests have said, applying technology against counterfeiting is all but mandatory, both worldwide and here in Vietnam. Which technologies are being developed and applied in Vietnam, and in particular which come from the minds of Vietnamese businesses, is what we will look at in the next part of the programme. Please stay with us for the next report.

Report: With counterfeit goods widespread, a number of new technology solutions have appeared on the market recently: digital anti-counterfeiting, or the use of artificial intelligence and blockchain. One such solution attaches an RFID chip and works on the principle of collecting and protecting data. The data covers origin, provenance and the product's journey through circulation, collected automatically along the way and protected by the data encryption of the TrueOrigin solution, whose core is the iSeal identity technology

Mr Trần Đình Ngọc (Director, Onyx Vietnam Joint Stock Company): Why does the TrueOrigin origin authentication solution solve the counterfeiting problem completely? Because it starts from the nature of the traceability system itself and is a breakthrough in the principle on which the system works. That is what solves counterfeiting completely for a product.

Mr Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng (Chairman of the Vietnam Consumers Protection Association): This method is scientific and highly practical. With nothing more than a smartphone in hand, anyone can use it and get a clear answer as to whether the item is genuine or fake.

Report: The technology combines blockchain with an NFC chip into a blockchain chip seal that cannot be forged. Whatever it is attached to, it gives that thing an identity, pairing it one to one between the physical world and the digital one. In the digital realm, mathematical logic can distinguish right from wrong and genuine from fake. The great challenge is how to pair the physical world one to one with the digital one.

Mr Trần Trọng Vinh, Chairman of the Asian Professional Security Association: Onyx's TrueOrigin solution applies a modern technology, blockchain. Applied this way it cannot be forged. If it goes into real use, it is fair to say counterfeiting can be defeated completely and detected immediately, because the seal cannot be faked. Previously there were anti-counterfeit seals, but those seals could be faked. TrueOrigin's technology has been certified as an invention by WIPO.

Report: Applying anti-counterfeiting and digital technology also makes product information transparent, which helps management, supports the fight against trade fraud, and lets enforcement agencies reach accurate information quickly to find and remove counterfeit and substandard goods — all of which protects consumers.