Abstract: Methods and systems for manufacturing microdots are disclosed. One such method comprises the steps of: causing one or both of a substrate and a computer controlled laser apparatus (810) to move relative to the other; using the computer controlled laser apparatus to write selected data at regular intervals on the substrate (820); and cutting a plurality of microdots from the substrate (830). Each of the microdots comprises a portion of the substrate having the selected data written thereon.

Abstract: Methods and systems for identifying items are disclosed. One such method comprises the steps of: subjecting at least a portion of the item to a predefined activating condition (610); determining the location of at least one taggant associated with the item by detecting a response to the predefined activating condition (620); retrieving data from the at least one taggant using the determined location (630); and processing the data to uniquely identify the item (640). The at least one taggant is adapted to be substantially imperceptible by a human being in the absence of the predefined activating condition.