Product pirates notch up increasing profits – and they don’t even run the risk of being caught in most cases. Their attacks are no longer limited to perfumes or sportswear – pharmaceutics, shoes, accessories and increasingly also food and beverages have become almost ordinary aims.
According to recent studies, about 50 % of the companies manufacturing these products are confronted with counterfeiting today. Imitations tend to come in packages that look so authentic that the user cannot tell the difference between genuine and falsified product – a fact that causes serious damage to brand names and corporate images. Apart from the products, counterfeiters also imitate the accompanying safety labels and packages. The market for highly sophisticated anti-counterfeiting technologies is therefore very large already and will continue to grow in future. This has also been confirmed by a study performed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK.
In a recently concluded research project, scientists of Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS) have developed a transparent ink that can be used as safety feature for counterfeit protection. „The completely new type of product protection is based on antigen-antibody reactions using nanosol immobilisation on paper“, explains Sabine Hottmann, a graduate engineer working at PTS in Heidenau. Bio molecules are used as markers that can be identified by means of specifically reacting antibodies in a rapid colour reaction test based on the induced fit concept (lock-and-key principle). Sol-gel materials based on SiO2 serve as matrices for the molecules - they are perfectly suitable for the immobilisation of bio molecules.
„The detection reaction is highly specific, and the code can only be cracked by an extremely difficult and expensive protein analysis“, stresses Ms Hottmann. The transparent safety feature can be applied directly on other safety features to provide extra protection. The printing ink developed by PTS has a shelf life of at least three months. Once applied, the safety feature is highly specific and effective and can be verified for at least four months by means of a simple rapid test system. „Our research work has led to important findings about the optimum application method and functionality of the ink. Especially small- and medium-size companies can obtain the relevant characteristics of the safety feature from us to quickly protect their intellectual property against brand piracy. The transparent printing ink has been optimised for both inkjet and flexo printing“, the PTS scientist summarises the project results and how the innovative method benefits companies wishing to avert economic damage.
More info:
www.pts-paper.de