Cambridge, UK, 23 June 2026 – Pragmatic Semiconductor, has announced the launch of its new tamper detection NFC Protect PR1311 chip, designed to help brands protect customers, safeguard product integrity, and strengthen reputation and trust. NFC Protect provides a simple way for consumers to verify that a product is intact, genuine and safe at every stage of its lifecycle. Flexible and imperceptible to the touch, the new chip integrates seamlessly into products and packaging, including on curved surfaces, enabling brands to build trust while preserving aesthetics and maintaining consumer experience.
Counterfeiting, tampering, and grey market diversion erode consumer confidence and brand reputation, and most critically, expose customers to potential harm. Sectors where product integrity is directly linked to consumer safety are most vulnerable to these growing problems, including wine and spirits, pharmaceutical and wellness products, beauty and cosmetics, industrial products, baby foods and pet food. NFC Protect provides integrated sensing to detect tamper incidents, enabling consumers and brands to instantly verify a product’s status and seal integrity with just a tap of a smartphone.
The new NFC chip and technology provide clear, accessible proof of product integrity throughout the customer journey, helping reduce risk for consumers, retailers and brands while increasing transparency and trust across the supply chain. A persistent product identity is created through a unique serial number programmed and locked at manufacture combined with real-time tamper status to enhance traceability through the product lifecycle.
The technology extends value beyond first-use verification by enabling ongoing, contextual consumer interactions tailored to the product’s tamper status, delivering a richer, long-term brand engagement. The chip is manufactured using an advanced low-carbon production technique, NFC Protect combines sustainability, cost efficiency, and mass market scalability to enable brands to rapidly deploy protection across more products and markets.
James Davey, SVP Sales, Business Development and Product Management at Pragmatic Semiconductor, said, “The value of global trade in counterfeit goods is estimated at almost half a trillion dollars annually1, with the growth of eCommerce creating new opportunities for product tampering and fraud. Pragmatic NFC Protect PR1311 enables brands to invisibly embed authentication and data integrity throughout the product lifecycle, from production to consumption. Our partners can now expand their product portfolios to provide customers with secure digital proof of a product’s status, giving consumers control and confidence wherever and however they choose to purchase.”
Avery Dennison is a strategic investor in Pragmatic. Mathieu De Backer, the company’s VP of Intelligent Labels Innovation, added, “The future of connected products depends on more than proving authenticity – confidence and integrity are required throughout each stage of the supply chain. NFC Protect has the potential to unlock a new generation of trusted, intelligent packaging and products. As a long-term strategic partner of Pragmatic Semiconductor, we’re excited to explore how this pioneering innovation can make item-level tamper detection accessible at true mass market scale.”
Frank Lehmann, Vice President of Corporate Venturing and Open Innovation at Amcor, a global leader in packaging solutions for consumer and healthcare products and another strategic investor in Pragmatic Semiconductor, said, “Consumers need to trust that the products they purchase have not been opened or compromised before use. By making tamper detection practical at scale, this innovation could help brands strengthen trust while unlocking new opportunities for protected packaging, particularly in high-risk industries like beauty, wellness and healthcare industries.”
Qiao Luyun, Chairman at Jinjia Group, said, “Smart packaging has emerged as a critical touchpoint for brands to foster consumer trust. By enabling seamless consumer interaction via NFC tags, brands can deepen connections with audiences and boost brand awareness. This solution also captures user behavioural data and consumer feedback to power targeted marketing campaigns, expand service portfolios, and refine pricing strategies. Integrating tamper detection, product authentication, and digital interactive capabilities into conventional packaging marks an inspiring milestone for the whole industry.”
Sebastian Münscher, Senior Product Manager RFID/NFC Solutions, Schreiner MediPharm, said, “Brands are increasingly looking at packaging as a strategic opportunity for consumer engagement and brand protection. Pragmatic’s latest tamper detection technology has the potential to make product integrity solutions commercially viable at a scale that opens entirely new opportunities for both brand owners and consumers. We see a great potential to include Pragmatic’s new tamper detection technology in our solutions for digital first-opening indication such as our Cap-Lock Labels for syringes and vials, or our Autoinjector-Labels.”
1. ‘Counterfeit goods accounted for an estimated US$ 467 billion in global trade in 2021’: source OECD
Register your interest in joining the Pragmatic NFC Protect PR1311 early access program here.
