NEW YORK – Molecular tagging tech company, US-based Applied DNA Sciences, which offers apparel and cotton product authenticity and traceability solutions, is set to be granted a further patent for its cotton DNA tagging solution, CertainT. The patent covers methods of DNA-tagging cotton fibres while they travel through the forced air systems found at cotton gins, and later authenticating the DNA-tagged cotton fibres to prove their provenance and/or authenticity all the way to finished goods.
The move comes at a time when tracking and traceability is high on the agenda in the global apparel and textile industry, both as a means to better market and tell the ‘sustainability story’ of apparel products but also as a potential way to protect brands against forced labour and other transgressions finding their way into their supply chains. Ongoing controversies around Xinjiang have only reinforced this point, and we recently produced a white paper on this issue in collaboration with Applied DNA which can be found here: https://apparelinsider.com/supply-chain-transparency-your-free-white-paper/
The new allowed patent application from Applied DNA, which is expected to be issued as a US patent in the next few months, extends the company’s patent protection for its proprietary DNA Transfer System a key component of its CertainT®platform for cotton.
“The extension of our patent protection to cover our method of DNA-tagging cotton demonstrates our commitment to broadly protect our CertainT platform and ensure our ability to deliver supply chain security and authenticity to current and future CertainT customers,” said Dr. James Hayward, president and CEO of Applied DNA. “Despite the downturn in global economic activity that has impacted the global textile supply chains we serve, supply chain certainty and social responsibility remain fundamental to the textile industry’s long-term strategy.
“We believe the COVID-19 pandemic has increased consumer awareness of the need for authenticity in such textiles as those used in personal protective equipment. When economic activity within the industry ramps, we believe that our CertainT platform is well-positioned to address the critical issues of traceability and authenticity in our traditional home textiles base, as well as new apparel opportunities currently being explored.”
“The key to the CertainT platform for cotton is the ability to cost-effectively tag cotton in very large quantities while concurrently collecting data that informs the supply chain down to each individual bale – the date, time, location of tagging, the type of cotton being tagged, among others – through the use of our DTS to give brand owners the assurance that their cotton, their brand, and their supply chains are secure through to their end-customers,” said MeiLin Wan, vice president of Textile Sales at Applied DNA. “In addition, our DTS can be permanently or temporarily installed in essentially any gin, allowing the company to tag cotton worldwide, with DTS units already installed in the AUS, Egypt and Australia.”
