Abstract: The invention provide retailers, distributors, purchasers, end-users and others in a commercial product's distribution chain with systems and methods for product activation at a specific point in the distribution chain (such as at the point of retail sale), for product validation and/or product maintenance (for example when the product is brought in for service or maintenance) and for product authentication (for example upon resale of the product). These capabilities, when added to the basic capability of an RFID-based system to provide an identity and a location for a tag attached to an object, endow commercial products with functionalities such as theft deterrence, product tracking and inventory management, inventory control and perimeter security, product maintenance and recordkeeping of service, and for high-end commercial products, a method of easily identifying a genuine item from a counterfeit.