QR-Codes (or „quick response codes“) are already on the market since several years and nowadays there are a large number of providers who distribute them in various forms. Today, it is the main representative of the 2D codes. But who actually was the inventor of the QR-Code?

The code was originally developed in 1994 by the company „Denso Wave„. Denso is a global automotive supplier in Japan, more precisely a subsidiary of the car brand „Toyota“.  And exactly this car manufacturer had a problem at the end of the 90s: they were looking for a way to mark the different car parts individually. This was supposed to happen in a cost-effective and space-saving way. Thereby, they expected an improvement in logistics. 

While searching for a suitable method, their subsidiary Denso Wave (responsible for the business area of automatic identification and data acquisition, industrial robots as well as special electronics for automation in manufacturing) then designed the first QR-Code-Generator. By now, there have been several further developments in addition to the original QR-Code. These have also been pioneered by other companies besides Denso Wave. 

In addition, some optical aspects are now customisable:

• It is possible to integrate one’s own logo into the code for easier identification
• The colour(s) of the code can be changed individually
• The shape of the entire code as well as the shape of the individual pixels can be modified

This makes the QR-Codes more and more individually adapted to the creator and also easier to recognise. 

The term „QR-Code“ is now protected by Denso Wave, so companies must always refer to them when using it.

Create your own QR-Code with our QR-Code-Generator here!