COUNTERFEITERS BE GONE !

[Anonymous]

Counterfeiters Be Gone
Strategies to stymie IP thieves include well-placed technologies.

June,
2008 — The best defense against counterfeit products entering the
supply chain is a comprehensive offense, experts say. Legislation,
litigation, anti-counterfeiting tools and technologies, and
participation in supply chain-wide anti-counterfeiting efforts all can
combine to make intellectual property theft a tougher task for IP
thieves.

To that end, action to stem counterfeiting continues on
multiple fronts. Legislation to update the United States’ IP
enforcement laws continues to trundle through Congressional channels.
In February, the international policing organization Interpol launched
a database on intellectual property crime to enable international
cooperation on IP protection. Supporting that effort was the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, a partner in the anti-counterfeiting initiative.
Additionally, Interpol and the U.S. Chamber in late May announced a
major counterfeiting investigation in South America had netted $115
million in seizures and 185 arrests.

These large-scale
initiatives are backed by efforts at individual companies and
institutions to provide security measures to aid others’
anti-counterfeiting efforts, or to enhance their own. Recent tools and
strategies introduced include:

    *  Technologies to help
undermine counterfeiting include Hewlett-Packard’s new inkjet
cartridge, which allows individual capsules to be marked (above), and
Eastman Kodak’s Traceless System (below), which uses undetectable
markers and handheld readers to improve security.

  *
Hewlett-Packard’s Specialty Printing Systems has expanded its offerings
to the pharmaceutical industry with the introduction of a new ink
cartridge. The Pharma Black CB935A inkjet cartridge is for branding,
dosage and security requirements, and allows individual capsules or
tablets to be marked. Potential benefits of the product include an
additional anti-counterfeiting measure. Additionally, it helps comply
with California’s ePedigree pharmaceutical requirements when used with
other HP Product Tracking and Authentication offerings.

    *
Eastman Kodak Co. announced it will implement its Kodak Traceless
System for anti-counterfeiting on its branded rechargeable lithium-ion
digital camera batteries supplied by Sanyo Electric Co. Kodak says the
system uses “forensically undetectable” markers that can be put on
printed materials, product packaging or product components. Only
handheld Kodak readers can detect the markers, the company says.
DonRuss Playoff and Liz Claiborne are among other firms deploying this
anti-counterfeiting technology.

    * In April Philip Morris USA
filed two federal lawsuits to stop the importation, distribution and
sale of counterfeit cigarettes and unauthorized use of its trademarks.
The company has filed 30 other cases against counterfeit importers in
federal courts over the past four years.

    * NanoInk announced
the creation of a new business unit, NanoGuardian, aimed at the life
sciences and other industries subject to heavy counterfeiting.
Anchoring the business unit is the company’s NanoEncryption technology,
which incorporates semi-covert, covert and nanoscale forensic features
at the unit dose level, according to the firm.

    * 3M reports
that it has expanded its pharmaceutical collaboration with TAP
Pharmaceutical Products for 3M’s pharmaceutical track-and-trace
technology. The anti-counterfeiting approach uses an encrypted digital
signature combined with a unique identifier at the manufacturing site
to establish product authenticity. That combination is decrypted and
read at the dispensing site to validate authenticity. RFID chips store
and transmit information. The collaboration extends a relationship that
started as a pilot program in 2006.

    * The U.S. Bureau of
Engraving and Printing introduced into circulation new $5 bills. The
new security features include splashes of purple in the middle of the
bill, relocation of the security thread and two watermarks instead of
one.

http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=16523&SectionID=1

[Author]

June 12, 2008 at 10:39 AM