Ces travaux de thèse s'inscrivent dans le cadre d'un transfert vers l’industrie d’une technologie de marquage à base de nanoparticules photoluminescentes, développée au sein de l’équipe Nanotech du LPCNO et destinée au domaine de l’anti-contrefaçon. Ces travaux ont porté sur la réalisation de marqueurs micrométriques constitués d’assemblées de nanocristaux de CdSe/CdS présentant une émission de photoluminescence dans le visible avec un rendement quantique élevé et stable. Ces nanocristaux sont déposés de façon dirigée sur des surfaces par nanoxérographie: cette technique consiste à injecter des charges électrostatiques dans un matériau électret afin de former des motifs micrométriques servant ensuite de pièges électrostatiques pour assembler, en surface de l’électret, des nano-objets chargés et/ou polarisables depuis leur suspension colloïdale. Afin de permettre une production à échelle industrielle, l’injection de charges est assurée par la technique de « microcontact printing électrique » permettant la réalisation d’un grand nombre de motifs chargés en parallèle, grâce à un timbre microstructuré et conducteur. Des études portant sur la fabrication de ces timbres et sur l’injection parallèle de charges par leur intermédiaire ont permis de fiabiliser le procédé en termes de répétabilité et d’homogénéité d’injection. Des assemblages denses et multicouches de nanocristaux ont été réalisés grâce à la mise en place d’une stratégie d’assemblage visant à favoriser et maximiser les forces diélectrophorétiques. La photoluminescence émise par ces assemblées de nanocristaux est ainsi suffisante pour être observée à l’œil ou par la caméra d’un smartphone lors d’une excitation de faible puissance à 450 nm. Un protocole de transfert des marqueurs depuis leur substrat de fabrication vers un substrat de destination a été développé permettant ensuite de valider une intégration non-destructive au sein de documents officiels. / This work is part of a transfer to industry of a tagging technology based on photoluminescent nanoparticles, developed within the Nanotech team of the LPCNO and intended for the field of anti-counterfeiting. This work was focused on the realization of micrometric tags made of assemblies of CdSe/CdS nanocrystals exhibiting an emission of photoluminescence in the visible range with a high and stable quantum yield. These nanocrystals are selectively deposited on surfaces by nanoxerography: this technique involves injecting electrostatic charges into an electret material to form micrometric patterns which then serve as electrostatic traps to assemble, on the surface of the electret, charged and/or polarizable nano-objects from their colloidal suspension. In order to scale-up the tag production on an industrial level, the charge injection step is ensured by the “electrical microcontact printing” technique, allowing to charge a large number of patterns in parallel, thanks to a microstructured and conductive patch. Studies on the manufacture of these stamps, and the injection of charges through them, have led to make the process more reliable in terms of repeatability and homogeneity of injection of charges. Dense and multilayer nanocrystal assemblies have been realized through the implementation of an assembly strategy aimed at promoting and maximizing the dielectrophoretic forces. The photoluminescence emitted by these assemblies of nanocrystals is thereby sufficient to be observed by the eye or the camera of a smartphone for a low-power optical excitation at 450 nm. A transfer protocol of the photoluminescent tags from their manufacturing substrate to a destination substrate has been developed which then allowed the validation of a non-destructive integration within official documents.

Šiame darbe yra sprendžiama RFID žymų apsaugos nuo klastojimo problema, t.y. kaip neleisti žymų klastotojui išgauti originalios žymos ar visos RFID sistemos identifikacinius ir kitus svarbius duomenis, kurių atskleidimas leistų sukurti originalios RFID žymos klastotę. Darbo analizės dalyje yra plačiau apžvelgiama RFID žymų apsaugos nuo klastojimo problema, gilinamąsi į bendrus RFID technologijos veikimo principus ir RFID žymų kategorijas. Taip pat nustatinėjami galimi RFID žymų klastojimo būdai, jų išvengimo galimybės, apžvelgiami ir detalizuojami kitų autorių sukurti apsaugos metodai, pateikiamos rekomendacijos naujam RFID žymų apsaugos nuo klastojimo metodo sudarymui. Tolimesnėje darbo eigoje yra sudarytas naujas RFID žymų apsaugos nuo klastojimo metodas pagal analizės dalyje padarytas rekomendacijas ir suformuluotas išvadas. Pateikiama pradinė metodo saugumo analizė. Pagal sudaryto RFID žymų apsaugos nuo klastojimo metodo koncepciją ir detalų aprašą yra sukurtas programinis modelis, kuris imituoja metodo veikimą realioje aplinkoje. Naudojantis sukurtu programiniu modeliu ir jo generuojamais rezultatais, buvo atliekamas metodo atsparumo klastojimui įvertinimas. Darbo rezultatų dalyje yra analizuojami RFID žymų apsaugos nuo klastojimo metodo sudarymo metu gauti rezultatai, pateikiamos viso darbo išvados, įvertinamas darbo įvade iškeltų tikslų ir užduočių išpildymas. / This paper is addressed to RFID tags anti-counterfeiting problem: how to prevent significant counterfeiters get all important information from orginal tags or all RFID system. The disclosure of that information would provide a chance to create a genuine RFID tag means. A work analysis is a part of a wider survey of RFID tags against counterfeiting problem, explores the general principles of operation of RFID technology and RFID tag categories. It is also explores possible RFID tags manipulation techniques, the avoidance opportunities, an overview and details of other authors to create protection methods and recommendations for a new RFID tags anti-counterfeiting method. The next workflow is composed of new RFID tags anti-counterfeiting method according to the analysis of the recommendations made and the conclusions drawn, provide an initial approach to security analysis. The software model is created by concluded RFID tag anti-counterfeiting method and a detailed description of the concept. The model simulates the performance of the method in a real environment. The ratings of resistance to RFID tags counterfeiting were set using this software model and its generated results. The final part is dedicated to method‘s performance analysis, obtained results and conclusions. It also has objectives and tasks seen in the introduction to the work evaluation.

<p>Anti-counterfeiting and provenance determination are serious concerns in many industries, including automotive, aerospace, and defense. These concerns are addressed by ensuring traceability during manufacturing, transport, and use of goods. In increasingly globalized manufacturing contexts, one-size-fits-all traceability solutions are not always appropriate. Manufacturers may not have the means to re-tool production to meet marking, tagging, or other traceability requirements. This is especially true when manufacturers require high processing flexibility to produce specialized parts, as is increasingly the case in modern supply chains. Counterfeiters and saboteurs, meanwhile, have a growing attack surface over which to interfere with existing supply chains, and have a leg up when implementation details of traceability methods are widely known. There is a growing need to provide solutions to traceability that i) are particularized to specific industrial contexts with heterogeneous security and robustness requirements, and ii) reliably transmit information needed for traceability throughout the product life cycle. </p> <p><br></p><p>This dissertation presents investigations into tailorable traceability schemes for modern manufacturing, with a focus on applications in additive manufacturing. The primary contributions of this dissertation are frameworks for designing traceability schemes that i) achieve traceability through recovery of manufacturer-specified signals, from simple identity information to more detailed strings of provenance data, and ii) are tuned to maximize information carrying capacity subject to the available data and intended use cases faced by the manufacturer.</p> <p><br></p><p>In the vein of physically unclonable function (PUF) literature, these frameworks leverage the intrinsic information present in material structure, such as phase or grain statistics. These structures, being functions of largely random and uncontrollable physical and chemical processes, are by their nature uncontrollable by a manufacturer. According to the frameworks proposed in this dissertation, anti-counterfeiting and traceability schemes are designed by extracting large libraries of features from these properties, and designing methods for identifying parts based on a subset of the extracted features that demonstrate good utility for the present use case. Such schemes are customized to handle specific material systems, metrology, expected part damage, and other concerns raised by a manufacturer or other supply chain stakeholders.</p> <p><br></p><p>First, this dissertation presents a framework that leverages this intrinsic information, and models for damage that may occur during use, for designing schemes for genuinity determination. Such schemes are useful in contexts like anti-counterfeiting and part tracing. Once this framework is established, it is then extended to design schemes for dynamically and securely embedding manufacturer-specified messages during the manufacturing process, with a focus on implementation in additive manufacturing. Such schemes leverage both the intrinsic information inherent to the material / manufacturing process and extrinsically introduced information. This extrinsic information may include cryptographic keys, message information, and specifications regarding how an authorized user may read the embedded message. The resulting embedding schemes are formalized as "malleable PUFs.'' </p> <p><br></p><p>The outcomes of these investigations are frameworks for designing, evaluating, and implementing traceability schemes that can be used by manufacturers, academics, and other stakeholders seeking to implement secure and informative traceability schemes subject to their own unique constraints. Importantly, these frameworks can be adapted for a range of industrial contexts, and can be readily extended as new methods for in-situ measurement and control in additive manufacturing are developed.</p>

The objective of the proposed research is the design and fabrication of a novel stand-alone wireless robust system with enhanced hardware-enabled authentication and anti-counterfeiting capabilities. The system consists of two major components; the near-field certificates of authenticity (CoA), which serve as authenticity vouchers of the products they are attached to, and a microcontroller-enabled, low-power and low-cost reader. Small-sized passive physical three-dimensional structures that are composed of extremely cheap conductive and dielectric materials are shown to yield a unique and repeatable RF signature in a small portion of the frequency spectrum when brought in the reactive and radiating near-field regions of an array of miniature antennas. The multidimensional features of these CoAs, or in other words their signature or fingerprint, are cryptographically signed and digitally stored. The contactless signature validation procedure, in which an attempt to associate the near-field signature response of the physical CoA with the digitized signature, is carried out by the reader designed and fabricated. This low-cost reader operates autonomously and in an offline fashion. The feasibility and performance robustness of the system, in terms of accuracy, consistency and speed of capturing of the signatures, is rigorously assessed with a wide array of tests. Moreover, the entropy, or uncertainty, of the signatures generated by the system are empirically quantified and verified to achieve a virtually impossible false alarm. The aforementioned characteristics of the realized authentication system make it applicable to a vast array of physical objects that needs protection against counterfeiters.

Controlling the authenticity of a product in the supply chain has been a struggle formanufacturers, and increasing complexity of the chains intensifies the imitation andcounterfeiting threats. Indeed, counterfeiting is absent from effective control in supply chainand manufacturers are looking for a technology to supply this control. The ability of RFID toprovide a tagged item with unique electronic code, it’s characteristic to hold some historicaldata about the item and supply automatic, immediate and accurate data about the tagged itemattracts manufacturers to use RFID technology to provide the effective control throughout thesupply chain. In line with this issue, SToP1 (Stop Tampering of Products), an EU foundedproject, aimed at developing an anti-counterfeiting solution based on auto-identificationtechnologies for consortium companies concerned with or affected by fake products. SToP iscommitted to establish the business cases, do research and at the end issue applicationguidelines for using RFID technology against counterfeiting in particular business contexts.Under SToP’s umbrella, this master thesis is initiated with the purpose to design a practicalguideline for choosing an appropriate RFID system for anti-counterfeiting in the aviationindustry that is one of the affected industries.The conclusion of the thesis consists of a number of sections, which altogether fulfill thepurpose of the thesis. The thesis forms a base for continues challenge of implementing RFIDas an anti-counterfeiting device focusing on the aviation industry, proposes solution scenariosbased on RFID technology, suggests applicable standards and proposes a secure RFID methodto prevent counterfeiting specially in the aviation industry. Jointly, these sections fromguidelines as a foundation for decision-making for kind of RFID system for anti-counterfeitingapplication in the aviation industry. / Uppsatsnivå: D

L’objectif de cette thèse était d’étudier les mécanismes responsables de la luminescence des ions lanthanides dans des polymères de coordination. Pour cela, des séries d’alliages moléculaires à base d’acide 4 carboxyphénylboronique ont été synthétisées, en faisant varier les proportions relatives des ions lanthanides. Les produits synthétisés ont été étudiés dans la perspective de leur application dans les domaines de la lutte anti-contrefaçon et des thermomètres moléculaires. D’autre part, de nouveaux systèmes utilisant d’autres dérivés d’acide boronique ont été synthétisés. Une nouvelle structure cristalline a été obtenue à base de l’acide 2-carboxyphénylboronique. La seconde partie de cette thèse a porté sur la synthèse et la caractérisation de poudres microcristallines de type coeur-coquille. Il s’agit de la première micro-structuration de polymères de coordination réalisée à l’échelle micrométrique. Les poudres synthétisées ont été caractérisées par microscopies électroniques à balayage, à transmission et par analyses EDS. Leurs propriétés optiques ont été comparées avec celles des alliages moléculaires. Les résultats obtenus ont mis en évidence l'intérêt de la micro-structuration de ces poudres concernant les transferts d'énergie intermétalliques. Cette technique de synthèse basée sur la croissance épitaxiale, est rendue possible par les propriétés chimiques similaires des terres rares. Nos travaux ont montré que lorsque les constantes thermodynamiques et\ou cinétiques le permettent, la phase cristalline de la coquille présente la structure cristalline du cœur même lorsque le composé constituant la coquille cristallise dans une autre phase lorsqu'il est synthétisé seul. / The aim of this thesis was to study the luminescence mechanisms of lanthanide ions in coordination polymers. Series of molecular alloys (hetero-lanthanide compounds in which lanthanide ions are randomly distributed) based on 4-carboxyphenylboronic acid were synthesized, by varying the relative contents of the lanthanide ions. The synthesized products have been studied from the perspective of their application in the fields of anti-counterfeiting and molecular thermometers. On the other hand, new systems using other boronic acid derivatives have been synthesized. A new crystal structure was obtained based on 2-carboxyphenylboronic acid. The second part of this thesis focused on the synthesis and characterization of core-shell microcrystalline powders. This is the first time that micro-structuration of a coordination polymer is achieved at the micrometric scale. The synthesized powders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and EDS analyses. Their optical properties have been compared with those of the corresponding molecular alloys. The obtained results highlighted the interest of the micro-structuration concerning intermetallic energy transfers. This strategy of synthesis based on epitaxial growth, is possible because of lanthanide similar chemical properties. This work demonstrates that in the case where the thermodynamic and\or kinetic constants allow it, the shell crystallizes according to the same crystal structure than the core even if its crystal structure is different when it is synthesized alone.

Communications scholarship faces a convergent crisis. Research on networks includes the role of information networks in supporting social movements, networked civil society, the information society, and new forms of communication. But while communications literature utilizes a variety of approaches to describe the impact of networked communications, a dearth of technical expertise permeates scholarship. Despite the discourse on networks potentially bridging previously distinct disciplines, the lack of a fundamental understanding of communications networks and relationships between technical and socio-political networks remains a consistent gap. This thesis will investigate the extent that opposition to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Europe constitute a networked public sphere. Through studying the role of civl society and the networked public in the European ACTA debate, the horizontal and vertical dimensions of socio-political and communications technology networks are not only illuminated, but the importance of analyzing the mechanisms through which vertical hierarchies enclose the public sphere become abundantly clear. This research provides the foundation for an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the relationship between information technology and socio-political networks and offers lessons for information policy makers, communications scholars, and networked civil society within the context of European democracy.

Binder jetting (BJT) is a powder bed based additive manufacturing (AM) process where the interaction of inkjetted droplets of a binder and particles in the powder bed create 3D geometries in a layerwise fashion. The fabricated green parts are usually thermally post-processed for densification and strengthening. BJT holds distinct advantages over other AM processes as it can fabricate parts with virtually any materials (metals, ceramics, and polymers) in a fast and cost-effective way, while achieving isotropic material properties in the parts. However, broad adoption of this process for production is still lagging, partially due to the lack of repeatable part quality, which largely stems from the limited understanding of the process physics, namely binder-powder (B/P) interaction. To bridge this knowledge gap, it is necessary to understand the implications of B/P interaction on process-structure-property relationships and discover ways to achieve new functionalities for enhanced properties. Thus, this research is broadly focused in establishing understanding in (i) binder-powder interaction and (ii) the impact of binder on part densification. Prior studies have focused on the effects of powder interaction with micro/meso-scale binder droplets, despite commercial BJT systems featuring picoliter-scale droplets. These studies have explored the effects of B/P interaction on printed primitive formation, but it's implication on final part properties have not been studied. In this work, the effects of particle size distribution and droplet size variation on final part properties are explored. Additionally, the effects of B/P interaction on accuracy and the resolution of the printed parts are investigated. Densification of parts is a primary focus of many BJT studies as it dictates the final part properties and is influenced by factors from both the printing process and post-processing treatments. Binder plays an integral role in the shaping of parts and maintaining part integrity until densification through sintering. Prior studies on the effects of binder content on densification are inclusive. In this work, a new approach termed as "shell printing" is introduced to vary the binder content in the parts. The process-structure-properties influenced by this approach are investigated. It was found that binder hinders densification, and through the selective variation of binder content throughout the part volume, this new approach is introduced as a means for enhancing part properties. Finally, the insights from the impact of binder on densification are leveraged to create an anti-counterfeiting tagging strategy by controlling the pores and grain microstructures inside a part. In this novel approach, binder concentration is controlled in a manner that the stochastically formed pores are clustered to create a designed domain that represents a secret 'tag' within the part volume. The created tagging domains, and the feature resolvability of this approach are investigated through metallographic characterization and non-destructively evaluated through micro-computed tomography. / Doctor of Philosophy / Binder jetting (BJT) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process to create 3D geometries from powder particles. Liquid droplets of binder from an inkjet printhead are jetted on a bed of packed powders, binding the particles. The as-printed parts, known as green parts, are generally fragile and require thermal post-processing (through sintering) for densification and strengthening. BJT holds distinct advantages over other AM processes as it can fabricate parts with virtually any powdered materials (metals, ceramics, and polymers) in a fast and cost-effective way. However, broad adoption of this process for production is still lagging, partially due to the lack of repeatable part quality, which largely stems from the limited understanding of the process physics, namely binder-powder (B/P) interaction. In this study the implications of B/P interaction on part quality (e.g., density, strength) and dimensional accuracy are studied. Additionally, the impact of binder on sintering densification is studied. Specifically, the effects of varying amount of binder on sintered part density, strength and internal pore and grain microstructures are empirically investigated. Finally, a novel anti-counterfeiting method for BJT printed parts is introduced based on the insights gained from the study of the impact of binder on densification. Through control over binder placement throughout the part, porous regions can be generated selectively throughout the part volume, which can be detected through x-ray computed tomography. Overall, an improved understanding of BJT processing conditions is achieved through this research, which can guide future designers to fabricate BJT parts with enhanced part properties and functionality.

自19世紀以降，各國體認以國內法律為基礎的保護方式具有侷限性，因此開始嘗試以國際條約的方式對智慧財產權進行規範，產生了巴黎公約、伯恩公約、羅馬公約等國際協定，可定位為智慧財產權保護多邊貿易架構形成的第一階段，也是第一次各國國內立法朝國際保護靠攏的現象。1967年WIPO成立使多邊貿易架構顯得較為完備，然而在WIPO之運作架構下又因為不同國家的立場分歧未能進一步修正智慧財產權公約，多邊架構發展出現瓶頸，已開發國家未因此退出多邊貿易架構，反而選擇持續完善此多邊架構。TRIPS於1995年烏拉圭回合後生效，規定了嚴格且具體的執行規範，但是多邊架構未能於TRIPS後再取得重大成果，已開發國家和開發中國家在智慧財產權利益之立場分歧使得多邊架構之發展陷入僵局。已開發國家於TRIPS後時期選擇了另一種途徑，本文舉美國FTAs貿易政策為例，發現此時出現了暫時偏離多邊架構，改以雙邊架構為政策重心的分離，惟雙邊貿易政策經本文分析並無法產生美國的預期效果。 ACTA的發展可以定位出美國目前的政策走向，改採協商複邊貿易協定的方式，希望可以循FTAs政策的途徑，企圖讓ACTA此複邊架構的成果可以擴張到多邊架構中。本文認為2010年12月公布最終版本的ACTA能否順利生效仍屬未知數，即便順利生效，依其談判成果可以推定，已無法達到所有參與談判國的預期。不論已開發國家之後的政策走向為何，我們可以發現擁有智慧財產權利益國家的最終目標仍是提升國際間智慧財產權保護水準，過程中則變動地、持續地在多邊、複邊貿易架構中，選擇性執行能達成最終目標的政策，國際智慧財產權保護貿易架構中存在著各國政策反覆於多邊、複邊架構間來回擺盪的分合現象。 關鍵字：TRIPS、反仿冒貿易協定、智慧財產權保護、TRIPS-Plus / Countries found out that the protection of intellectual property based only on national law was insufficient. They chosen to base on international agreement from 19 century and concluded important treaties such as Paris Convention, Berne Convention and Rome Convention. This is the first phase in the process of which the intellectual property protection under the multilateral trade framework forming. WIPO was established at 1967 and completed the multilateral trade framework a little further. But countries had different positions thus could not obtain mutual recognition on specific issues. The developed countries did not walk away from the framework; nevertheless, they worked even harder to try to get some result. TRIPS came into force at 1995 after the Uruguay Round which is the most important multilateral agreement at the present day. The multilateral trade framework was stuck after TRIPS resulting from the gap between the developed and developing countries. The former began to work in other direction. We took the U.S. bilateral trade policy of FTAs as an example and found out there is a temporary departure from the multilateral trade framework at this phase. The U.S. policy of FTAs however didn’t achieve the goal expected. We could point out the next step of U.S. by observing the negotiation of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). U.S. took a different approach by negotiating the ACTA and hoped there will be a spillover effect from the plurilateral agreement to the multilateral framework. Negotiating parties announced the final draft of ACTA on December 3rd, 2010. After analyzing the final draft, we could make a conclusion that the result from the negotiation is not outstanding; moreover, it is not clear whether the agreement will come into force in time. No matter what kind of action will the developed countries take in the next, their final and utmost goal is always trying to protect the intellectual property and their related interest. Changing policy becomes the normal condition. This leads to the phenomenon that the intellectual property protection is continuously swaying from the multilateral side to the bilateral or plurilateral trade framework, and vice versa. Key Words: TRIPS, Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, Intellectual Property Protection, TRIPS-Plus

Ce travail s’inscrit dans le cadre du développement de nouvelles stratégies d’anti-contrefaçon. Des marqueurs oligouréthanes à séquences définies ont été étudiés comme nouvelles stratégies dans la traçabilité et la lutte contre la contrefaçon. Ces oligouréthanes à séquence définie ont été préparés par chimie itérative en phase solide. Leur synthèse est basée sur l'utilisation de deux étapes chimiosélectives successives; la formation d'un carbonate activé et sa réaction sélective avec la fonction amine primaire d'un aminoalcool. L'utilisation de différents blocs constitutifs d'aminoalcools avec différents groupes latéraux comme de monomères de base permet la synthèse de polymères codés en séquence. Par conséquent, chaque oligouréthane a une séquence de monomère unique qui constitue une identité exclusive du produit. Dans ce travail, les marqueurs oligouréthanes ont été incorporés dans différents types de matériaux hôtes, tels que des films plastiques, des implants biomédicaux et du bois. L'extraction des marqueurs, par spectrométrie de masse en tandem (MS / MS) ont été étudiées en collaboration avec un laboratoire de spectrométrie de masse. Pour tous les matériaux étudiés, les différents marqueurs ont été extraits efficacement et leurs séquences ont été décryptées par MS/MS, démontrant ainsi la robustesse et la polyvalence de la stratégie de marquage basée sur l’utilisation de oligouréthanes à séquence-définie. Dans ce travail, il a été également démontré que ces marqueurs peuvent être stockés avec succès et utilisés in vivo. Sur la base de ces résultats forts prometteurs, des stratégies de marquage plus perfectionnées (donc plus sécurisées) ont également été étudiées dans ce travail. Par exemple, le développement de marqueurs codés en séquence 2D et l’intégration de manière covalente des marqueurs aux réseaux de polymères sont également décrits dans cette thèse. / This PhD thesis deals with the development of a new anti-counterfeiting strategy. Sequence-defined oligourethane taggants were studied herein as a novel option for anti-counterfeit and traceability applications. These oligomers were prepared by iterative solid-phase chemistry. Their synthesis is based on the use of two successive chemoselective steps; the formation of an activated carbonate and its selective reaction with the primary amine function of an amino alcohol. The use of different amino alcohol building-blocks with different side-groups allows synthesis of sequence-coded polymers. Therefore, each oligourethane has a unique monomer sequence, which constitutes an exclusive product identity. In this work, oligourethane taggants were included in different types of host materials such as model commodity plastic films, biomedical implants and wood. The extraction and detection of the taggants by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) was studied in a collaboration with a mass spectrometry laboratory. In all cases, the coded oligourethanes were efficiently extracted from the host materials and their sequences were deciphered by MS/MS, thus evidencing the robustness and versatility of the taggant strategy. For instance, it was even demonstrated in this thesis that the taggants can be successfully stored and used in vivo. Based on these successful results, more complex (thus more secure) tagging strategies were also studied in this work. For instance, the development of 2D-sequence-coded taggants and the covalent attachment of the taggants to polymer networks are also described in this thesis.