"Quantum Base is a great example of how IP is important to any business, especially spin-outs and start-ups, where IP can be, and often is, the biggest asset of the new business."
Richard Bray
Leading UK and European patent and trade mark attorneys, Appleyard Lees http://www.appleyardlees.com, has awarded a Growth Fund grant to specialist quantum security start up, Quantum Base http://quantumbase.com The award will help Quantum Base bring to market the world’s first 100% secure identity or authentication tag that can be used to protect anything, from mobile phones or pharmaceutical products to trainers.
This is the latest grant from the Appleyard Lees Growth Fund, which awards funds to suitable businesses applying to that Fund, those businesses having innovative ideas and a sound strategic approach.
The Quantum-ID (Q-ID) technology, which was developed by Quantum Base, a Lancaster University spin out company, generates an identity that cannot be copied, cloned or simulated, and is thus a 100% secure ID based on the unique arrangement atoms, which can be used to authenticate or identify any object or product. Four years into the development and with a significant investment in Q-ID, Quantum Base are now working with Appleyard Lees on patent filings on both this and a wider portfolio of high tech security products, and Quantum Base are already in discussions with a number of global brands and manufacturers to begin product trials.
The ID tags, which are 1/1000th the width of a human hair and cost about a penny to produce, use graphene-like sheets that incorporate atomic imperfections unique to each device, making them impossible to copy, clone or simulate. They are available as an electronic version or an optical version, which can be used to authenticate anything using a smart phone, from designer trainers and pharmaceuticals to holograms. The track-and-trace capability of the Q-ID also allows supply chain management and the ability to turn the devices off or on anywhere up to the point of consumption, in case of theft or product recall.
The global scientific community has been quick to recognise the enormous potential of this new product, with the Royal Society choosing this research as one of its tips for future success in its innovative Labs to Riches series. Quantum Base’s co-founder Dr Robert Young has also been published in Nature magazine amongst many other high impact journals.
Quantum Base Co-founder Phil Speed said: “Not since the arrival of the microprocessor 30 years ago will anything have as significant an impact on the consumer technology landscape as quantum technologies. As our IP partner and in granting us their Growth Fund grant Appleyard Lees is enabling us to take what is a real world first and a great British scientific invention and to begin to commercialise it on a truly global scale.
“The world we live in today is connected in a million different ways by technology and yet we still haven’t managed to find a 100% secure way to protect our data, transactions and conversations – passwords can be cracked, signatures forged, products faked. Our quantum security solutions can be incorporated into any product and are guaranteed by the laws of physics to be 100% provably secure.”
Appleyard Lees Partner Richard Bray said: “It is really very rare to be working with a spin-out like Quantum Base operating in this highly technical area, and it’s particularly special to be involved right from the outset. This means that I really do feel part of the team, and can help them in ways that might have been difficult or impossible had I been involved much later on in the project.
“A genuinely exciting client to work with, Quantum Base is also a great example of how IP is important to any business, especially spin-outs and start-ups, where IP can be, and often is, the biggest asset of the new business. The Appleyard Lees Growth Fund allows us to help such new businesses at these crucial early stages, and in return we hopefully get to help the business grow and develop, and build strong, long term relationships.”
More information for businesses interested in applying to the Appleyard Lees Growth Fund is available at http://www.appleyardlees.com
Appleyard Lees, which has offices in Manchester, Leeds and Halifax, offers a breadth of expertise covering a wide range of IP and related issues, from building and managing portfolios to risk assessments, patent landscaping and due diligence. Services include patents, trade marks, design and copyright. Further information on Appleyard Lees can be found at www.appleyardlees.com @AppleyardLees
