Described is a method for managing and providing
provenance of a product using
blockchain technology. There is disclosure of the association to the product of a unique
product identifier as well as the optional association to the product of an anti-counterfeiting device also having a
unique identifier as the product moves along the supply chain from its source phase, through the transformation phase and undergoes the transportation phase. There may be more than one
product identifier or anti-counterfeiting device as the product is sometimes joined, sometimes partitioned and sometimes packaged. To manage and facilitate the generation and association of identifiers as the product moves along the supply chain there is a
data memory device for storage of the
unique identifier for the product and association by the
server in the
data memory device of the
unique identifier for the product with the unique identifier of the anti-counterfeit device and other associations. The
server is also adapted to receive and store in the
data memory device one or more characteristics of the product existing or created as the product moves along the supply chain.
Receipt by the processor of the unique identifier of a product or anti-counterfeit device with a query for the
provenance of the product, makes available at least one characteristic associated with that product. The use of
blockchain permits the creation of a block for each recorded characteristic and the retrieval of the
record associated with a block and to verify that the recorded characteristic is the same as that retrieved from the block in the
blockchain uniquely associated with the particular product.