SmartLabels, Smarter Shoes: Combatting Counterfeits with Chronicled, Inc.

By Phil Montgomery

Did you catch Jason Hart’s (Identiv CEO) blog yesterday? It hinted at today’s reveal of a really exciting partnership. We’ve partnered closely with Chronicled, Inc. to combat counterfeiting and secure the identity of everyday items, in this case, wearable items, and to be specific, collectible shoes. Chronicled eliminates knock-off sneakers from the market by tracking authenticity, ownership, and provenance of brand name shoes.

What’s Been Brewing at Identiv Labs
Wearable sensors — or SmartLabels — protect against counterfeiting of consumer goods, starting with collectible sneakers. Chronicled worked with Identiv Labs to develop a solution that validates each sneaker with innovative, high-security technology including NFC, Bluetooth, and digital certificates, integrated into a tamper proof SmartLabel. Chronicled joins more than 30 existing Identiv Labs customers who have partnered to bring their products to the Internet of Things (IoT), securing objects against the $250 billion counterfeit market.

“The Sneaker models with the highest prevalence of fakes include the Air Jordan 1, Air Jordan 3, and Air Jordan 11, as well as the annual Doernbecher special editions and the Nike Air Yeezy.”
– Sean Medcalf, Chronicled, Inc. VP Business Development

A Best-of-Breed Solution
The solution combines Identiv’s expertise in identity verification through digital certificates and purpose-built secure hardware, establishing a trusted SmartLabel for each item. Chronicled’s identity for products is paired with a consumer mobile application, allowing users to check authenticity, track products as they are resold, and understand the full item history. The Chronicled platform will be supported by an open-source registry upon which developers, partners, and third parties can build.

More Information
Chronicled plans to launch its authenticated consumer platform utilizing SmartLabels near the end of 2015 and is initially targeting more than 15,000 pairs of sneakers. Find out more about Chronicled at chronicled.com. Explore the latest innovations happening at Identiv Labs at identivlabs.com.