anti-counterfeiting
(3)
Padmakumar Nair and the art of leaving no trace
The Ennoventure co-founder built a business around a demanding brief: make product authentication invisible, keep the production line moving, and put the check in the customer’s hand.
Dan McKinnon and the trouble with a convincing N
At New Balance, Dan McKinnon defended a single letter across borders. At Proof Authentication, he is working to give buyers a way to check the product behind the logo.
Daniel McKinnon
Daniel McKinnon is the CEO of Proof Authentication, a Boston-based anti-counterfeiting technology company whose non-duplicatable printed marks and smartphone verification app are used by Fortune 500 brands. Before taking the top job in 2021 alongside the company's Series A round, he spent nearly a decade as Senior Counsel for Intellectual Property and Global Brand Protection at New Balance, where he led the sportswear maker's aggressive legal campaign against copycat brands in China. He is best known for helping secure a landmark $1.5 million damages award against the counterfeiter New Boom, at the time the largest such award granted to a foreign company by a Chinese court.