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By Felicity Ussher, 4 December 1998 14:01

NEWS UK start-up, Flying Null, is offering the manufacturing industry a technology it claims could prevent counterfeiting. Flying Null says its magnetic tags can be read remotely, and are cheap and small enough to be used in bulk products. "This is the only mass production product that doesn't require the scanner to be in contact with the tag," said MD, David Arnold. Manufacturers can embed the device into their products, and track them through the distribution chain, to ensure that only genuine products go on sale. "Companies want an invisible tag, so they don't have to change their packaging or let fraudulent distributors know they are being monitored," Arnold said. The International Chamber of Commerce estimates that around 15 per cent of products are counterfeit. Flying Null's technology was originally developed by Cambridge-based Scientific Generics. The firm is financed through venture capital, and holds all the patents on its technology. Jeff Watson, policy advisor at the UK Patent Office, commented: "In my experience, the technology is often very simple. It is the business issues that are complicated." European law on protecting brand names was clarified in July, by the Silhouette case. A European court ruled that branded goods can be resold freely within the EU only outside Europe can brand owners take steps to prevent the practice. Arnold said a European printing and packaging company and a major tennis racket manufacturer have already licensed Flying Null's technology. He said he is currently in negotiations with a New York-based cosmetics firm.