Serialized products have been around in many industries for decades. Examples of products that have been produced using serial numbers are Cars (the VIN), TV's, Computers, Cellular Phones (IMEI), Airplanes etc. In general, the serial numbers have been deployed in order to link various things to the end product, like raw material and intermediate components, service contracts and events, owner details etc. etc. Very few of these have been used to help reduce counterfeiting.