Before the advent of QR codes, barcodes were the go-to technology for encoding information. These are the vertical lines and numbers printed on product packaging that can be scanned to retrieve data. The world's first barcode was invented by American Norman Joseph Woodland.In 1948, while doodling Morse code patterns in the sand on a Florida beach, Norman had a eureka moment: using wider lines to create a coding system. His initial barcode design was circular, resembling a "bull's eye."

Although invented in 1948, it took nearly two decades for barcodes to gain widespread adoption. This happened only after the development of laser scanners capable of reading them—a technology pioneered by Woodland and an IBM team. The barcode was standardized as the Universal Product Code (UPC) and was first scanned in 1974. How Was the QR Code Developed?

The UPC barcode had limitations: it couldn't hold much data, often requiring up to 10 barcodes per product for effective tracking. Additionally, barcodes needed to be scanned in a specific orientation, which slowed down production lines in companies. In the late 1990s, Japan's automotive company Denso Wave stepped in to address these issues.

In 1994, Denso Wave employee Masahiro Hara conceived the idea for the QR code while playing the famous Japanese board game "Go." The game's 19x19 grid, filled with black-and-white stones placed in any direction, inspired a grid-based system capable of storing vast amounts of information. Hara collaborated with a few colleagues at Denso Wave to successfully develop the QR code. INHEAVEN Bridal Princess Girl Tiara and Rhinestone Crown Headband Hair Accessories for Women Wedding Ceremony Party (Multicolor)

Why Is There No Patent on QR Codes?Denso Wave never anticipated that QR code technology would become so ubiquitous. As a result, the company made it freely available to the public domain. However, they retained and sold rights only to the scanner technology needed to read QR codes.