About QR Codes - UniqueMark.com
QR, "Quick Response," codes first hit the market as a way for automotive companies in Japan to track parts. These "Quick Response" codes can be read at high speeds and offer quick product information. Sensing that the full potential of QR Codes was still untapped, Japanese businesses and companies have embraced these 2-D codes as they fill a growing need for more product information to be represented on barcodes. In Japan, QR codes reign supreme. QR Barcodes offer extremely beneficial information, can be read at high speeds and are extremely accurate. Traditional barcodes are becoming obsolete with their limited amount of data they can hold and the limited number of characters available for use. The 2-D barcode allows for almost limitless amounts of information to be contained on a unique and easy to read code. Due to the unique way in which information is stored, QR codes can be smaller than traditional barcodes. The 2 dimensional storage space on a QR barcode is much greater than traditional barcodes; over 300 times more information can be stored on a QR barcode. They offer businesses the ability to implement product tracking management as codes can contain product information, company information and a direct link to business web pages or other URLs. The QR barcode does something that no barcode has done before, it gives you the opportunity to brand company services and provide your business and customers with multiple levels of product security and interaction.

Unique Mark has taken the latest in Japanese marketing and technological advancement to create a new product tracking system for businesses. The use of QR barcodes is the key to Unique Marks success of offering authentication software and providing superior customer support. These codes can be read with a QR barcode scanner during product packaging, which stores your product's unique fingerprint in your product tracking system. However, this technology is so advanced that customers can scan and read these codes simply with the click of their camera phone. Many Japanese phones are equipped with the necessary scanning and decoding software to click a picture of the QR code and then be sent to a browser page for the company and the product. Applications for QR code decoding are available for iPhone, Blackberry and other smartphones. These new technologies place your customers one click away from your homepage.

The unique points on the QR code help the camera align when it scans the code, which provides quick reading and response. The scanning software knows how to read the information based on these three points. This means that scanning and reading do not require specific angles.

When dealing with placing codes on boxes or multiple count packages, QR codes make tracking these products simple. One QR code (representing the entire case) can be split up into multiple smaller codes (one for each package in the case). These codes still contain the necessary tracking information but also allow you to link entire cases of product together. This ability lets you track and organize product information conveniently and effectively. The product tracking software allows you to use this information to ensure that your products aren't being diverged or being sold for less than what is set with M.A.P. pricing compliance. Customers gain confidence in their purchasing power. One scan of a QR code takes customers to a page that verifies company information and product authenticity. Because Unique Mark's one of a kind finger print, our QR codes cannot be replicated or reproduced by other businesses.

You spend a lot of time, money and labor trying to create a product that is unique and stands apart. Protecting it can be a challenge, and Unique Mark is eager and willing to take on the challenge. At Unique Mark, we understand that protecting your product means protecting your business and most importantly protecting your customers. That is why Unique Mark uses the QR code to provide a unique fingerprint to track your product from the moment it is packaged to the moment it reaches your customer's hand. However, the protection and security only starts there. QR codes allow your customers to verify their product's authenticity while also directly interacting with your company. This allows you to offer customer support and service and gives you an opportunity to show your customers that by securing your products you are securing their buying safety. Unique Mark, because protecting your product protects your customers.

UniqueMark News

Fake Viagra, and more, in Bangkok
Pharmo-piracy sweeps Thailand, and the rest of Southeast Asia. It's a deadly problem.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Little is real in Patpong, a glowing bazaar and sex district here in Bangkok. The Gucci is fake, the DVDs are pirated and the go-go girls tell every man he's handsome.
Drugs too are sold here openly. Not speed or cocaine, but Viagra - or at least diamond-shaped, blue pills that resemble the real thing. After dark, one aging female vendor displays dingy Viagra boxes at her stall to attract customers.
When a man shows interest, she dispatches a teenage runner to retrieve the pills from a secret location nearby. The price: $6 per tablet, $4 cheaper than the average U.S. cost.

"You want it?" asks the runner. "It's a good price."

It's likely too good to be true. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are widespread in Southeast Asia, sold for cheap on the street or in rural mom-and-pop markets.
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Inland Police Targeting Counterfeit Sellers
The underhanded sales hurt local businesses, police say, costing reputable retailers thousands of dollars.

Inland authorities are picking up the latest designer handbags, trendy clothes and hot new movies still in theaters -- but they might not be what they seem.
They are counterfeits, many of which are being sold at local swap meets and grocery store parking lots, being passed off as the real deal.
Some of the profits from the counterfeit and bootleg sales have been traced to criminal gangs and help fuel global terrorism, police said.

"If other crimes are associated, these are not everyday citizens we're seeing every day selling counterfeit goods," Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Zachary Hall said. "This is a very easy way to swindle people and make a quick dollar."
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