Question 1

Are Q-ID®s really impossible to counterfeit?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each Q-ID® is unique at the atomic level. A fingerprint created by quantum physics, not by design. Independent adversarial testing has confirmed it cannot be copied, and no equivalent smartphone authenticated solution exists anywhere in the world.

Question 2

How do Q-ID®s compare to holograms, QR codes, and print uniqueness?

Accepted Answer

Print defect, print uniqueness, taggants, and machine learning approaches can all be copied, eventually, by someone with the right equipment. Q-ID® can’t. It verifies uniqueness at the atomic level, and integrates without changing a single step of your production line.

Question 3

Who is using Q-ID®s?

Accepted Answer

Security printers and government revenue agencies worldwide. Most engagements are confidential, which is typical in this industry, but the numbers speak for themselves: over 2 billion Q-ID®s are live in market today.

Question 4

Can Q-ID®s be authenticated on any smartphone?

Accepted Answer

150+ device models are supported as standard, and the Q-ID® app and SDK run on almost every iOS and Android phone still supported by its manufacturer. No dedicated readers. No specialist hardware. Just the phone already in your pocket.

Question 5

Can Q-ID®s be any shape and colour?

Accepted Answer

The off-the-shelf format is 7×7 mm. Bespoke shapes and sizes are available for specific applications. Quantum ink is fluorescent yellow as standard, with a covert UV variant in advanced R&D for applications that need to stay invisible.

Question 6

Do Q-ID®s need to have a 2D barcode?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the standard Q-ID® offering pairs the quantum-active ink patch with a 2D barcode for authentication.

Question 7

How are Q-ID®s printed?

Accepted Answer

Like any other ink, on standard litho or flexo presses. No retooling, no new supply chain. Each Q-ID® is fingerprinted at line speed of up to 1,000 per second, using a Machine Vision System as it comes off the press.

Question 8

Can they be printed directly on a product?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Q-ID® has been proven on logos, labels, boxes, plastic, metals, use-by codes, and polycarbonate for IDs and banknotes. If it can carry standard ink, it can carry a Q-ID®.

Question 9

What Machine Vision System do I need?

Accepted Answer

A system capable of capturing a 600 dpi, blur-free image per tag is recommended for registration at full line speed. If you don’t already have one, Quantum Base can arrange an MVS through our image partners.

Question 10

As a partner, what will I receive?

Accepted Answer

The quantum-active ink, manufacturing software for your line, the Mobile Authentication SDK or app, plus full onboarding and ongoing support.

Question 11

Do I need an app to authenticate them?

Accepted Answer

No, not on iOS. App Clip technology authenticates a Q-ID® without downloading anything at all. App-free Android authentication is in development; in the meantime, Android users authenticate through the Q-ID® app, or your own app via the SDK.

Question 12

What is a Physical Unclonable Function (PUF)?

Accepted Answer

A PUF is a security feature whose uniqueness comes from physical variation during manufacture that can’t be controlled precisely enough to reproduce, not from a stored secret or a printed code. Q-ID® is the first PUF built directly into standard printing ink.

Question 13

What data is collected when a Q-ID® is scanned?

Accepted Answer

Timestamp, location (with consent), and device type available in real time through the Q-ID® Data Platform. That data turns every authentication into supply chain intelligence: grey market detection, counterfeit hotspots, and genuine engagement, all from a single scan.

How Q-ID® worksPrint. Scan. Authenticate

Q-ID® is a Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) that uses the quantum properties of atoms to create unique unclonable printed fingerprints.

$2.8 trillion lostto counterfeitsevery year

$2.8 trillion lostto counterfeitsevery year

It touches every category. But in regulated markets, the damage runs across three fronts.

It touches every category. But in regulated markets, the damage runs across three fronts.

Safety

Fake medicine reaches patients. Counterfeit components enter aerospace and automotive supply chains. More than 350,000 people are seriously injured by counterfeit goods every year. The consequences aren't commercial, they're physical.

Revenue

Straight sales losses. Grey market goods undercutting global pricing strategies. Authorised channels bypassed. The damage compounds at every level.

Trust

Every fake that reaches a consumer erodes confidence in the real thing. Quietly. Permanently.

Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals in some markets

WHO estimate, low and middle-income regions

Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals in some markets

WHO estimate, low and middle-income regions

Annual cost of counterfeits

OECD / EUIPO estimate, 2023

Annual cost of counterfeits

OECD / EUIPO estimate, 2023

Of global trade is fake

Up from 2.5% a decade ago

Of global trade is fake

Up from 2.5% a decade ago

Atoms make it unique.Algorithms make it readable.

Atoms make it unique.Algorithms make it readable.

In nanoscale semiconductor physics, imperfections are usually a problem. Tiny variations in materials that frustrate engineers who need every device to behave identically.Quantum Base turned that problem into an advantage.

In nanoscale semiconductor physics, imperfections are usually a problem. Tiny variations in materials that frustrate engineers who need every device to behave identically.Quantum Base turned that problem into an advantage.

Five steps.Zero complexity.

Print

Quantum active ink. Standard press. Millions of atomic molecules, unique at the atomic level, not by design, but by physics. Creating an identity that is distinctive at the atomic scale.

Print

Quantum active ink. Standard press. Millions of atomic molecules, unique at the atomic level, not by design, but by physics. Creating an identity that is distinctive at the atomic scale.

Capture

Machine vision captures each Q-ID® at up to 1,000 per second. Every product registered before it leaves the line.

Capture

Machine vision captures each Q-ID® at up to 1,000 per second. Every product registered before it leaves the line.

Excitation

A smartphone flash excites the atoms on the Q-ID® surface.

Excitation

A smartphone flash excites the atoms on the Q-ID® surface.

Emission

Excited atoms emit photons in a fingerprint unique to that precise atomic arrangement. The smartphone camera captures it.

Emission

Excited atoms emit photons in a fingerprint unique to that precise atomic arrangement. The smartphone camera captures it.

Authentication

Emission matched against the registered Q-ID® in under three seconds. The result is binary. The science is absolute. Certain. Every time.

Authentication

Emission matched against the registered Q-ID® in under three seconds. The result is binary. The science is absolute. Certain. Every time.

The atoms willnever match

The atoms will never match

The atoms willnever match

Each Q-ID® is unique at the atomic level

Each Q-ID® is unique at the atomic level

Every printed surface contains a quantum level pattern unique to that single print. Copy the design. Copy the ink. Copy everything.

The atomic variation cannot be replicated by any industrial process, anywhere in the world.

Other anti-counterfeiting technologies make copying difficult. Q-ID® makes it physically impossible. That's the law of physics.

Every attack.Same result.

Every attack.Same result.

How Q-ID® defeats every counterfeit attack method and can be authenticated by smartphone in seconds

How Q-ID® defeats every counterfeit attack method and can be authenticated by smartphone in seconds

Fits your line. Not the other way around.

Already atindustrial scale

Already atindustrial scale

Q-ID® is printed on products today, protected by a deep IP portfolio, and pointed at a problem worth trillions.

Q-ID® is printed on products today, protected by a deep IP portfolio, and pointed at a problem worth trillions.

Authenticated

Authenticated

Patents

Patents

Seconds to verify

Seconds to verify

Live Q-ID® counter

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Frequently askedquestions

Add Q-ID® to your portfolio, or protect your products against counterfeits.

Add Q-ID® to your portfolio, or protect your products against counterfeits.

Are Q-ID®s really impossible to counterfeit?

How do Q-ID®s compare to holograms, QR codes, and print uniqueness?

How Q-ID® works
Print. Scan. Authenticate

$2.8 trillion lost
to counterfeits
every year

$2.8 trillion lost
to counterfeits
every year

Atoms make it unique.
Algorithms make it readable.

Atoms make it unique.
Algorithms make it readable.

In nanoscale semiconductor physics, imperfections are usually a problem. Tiny variations in materials that frustrate engineers who need every device to behave identically.

Quantum Base turned that problem into an advantage.

In nanoscale semiconductor physics, imperfections are usually a problem. Tiny variations in materials that frustrate engineers who need every device to behave identically.

Quantum Base turned that problem into an advantage.

Five steps.
Zero complexity.

The atoms will
never match

The atoms will
never match

Every attack.
Same result.

Every attack.
Same result.

Already at
industrial scale

Already at
industrial scale

Frequently asked
questions

New clients, new contracts, new revenue.
On your current printing press.