In today's global economy, almost every company that produces best-selling products has to face a variety of brand protection issues. Whether it is shampoos, high-end watches, or drugs and food, there is a danger of counterfeit products.
Therefore, brand owners must find effective ways to ensure the safety of their products from the factory to the shelf sales, while also preventing the theft or misappropriation of important components of the product. This is not only to protect the company's brand and market reputation, but also to reduce risk and avoid liability.
Protecting a product is not a simple matter, and it is not easy even for companies that have experience in this area. Some criminals can not only imitate the packaging of products, but also use the packaging manufacturer's anti-counterfeiting technology to prove the authenticity of the product.
Any kind of anti-counterfeiting technology that appears on the packaging has the danger of being copied. Therefore, many companies are willing to protect their products with a combination of technologies, such as holograms, color-changing inks, RFID, and two-dimensional bar codes.
However, all of these are visible forms of protection. They also have the potential to be damaged, and criminals separate the products from the packaging, and they will not be able to do so.
Anti-counterfeiting technology that is invisible to the naked eye
In view of the above, hidden identity authentication technology has gradually attracted people's attention. Stealth marks or micro-tags can store a large amount of customer information in a 30-110 micron diameter space. These tags, which are smaller than human hair, can accommodate authentication information that only flat brand owners know, such as lot codes, country codes, trademarks, and other important information.
In addition, this technique is almost impossible to copy or modify, so the safety factor is particularly high. Because the human eye can't see it, this stealth mark can only be watched by a hand-held portable device before it can be viewed. Its entire verification process takes only a few seconds to complete, and it does not cause any damage to the sample.
Another advantage of stealth mark technology is that it is very flexible in use and can bring many benefits to brand owners. Micro tags do not require any additional investment or equipment modification, so manufacturers can easily apply this tag to existing workflows.
Using this technology, manufacturers can use “inside and outside” certification to transform these information elements into films, bottles and blister packs, and apply them directly to products through spray, coating or ink. This allows verification even if the product and packaging are separated.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently adopted a technical guide to increase people’s confidence in the use of invisible marks. This guide provides pharmaceutical manufacturers with advice on the choice of molecules for inks, pigments, flavors and other tagging agents.
The cost of most anti-counterfeiting technologies can still be accepted by enterprises. However, it is sometimes difficult for them to show their return on investment to users. Security spending is often seen as an additional product cost.
There may be a way to eliminate the prejudice of investment in anti-counterfeiting technology, which is to regard it as a tool to protect the brand image, customer interests and reduce the risk of potential liability. Companies should assess the potential risks in sales revenue and measure the reputation and economic losses that the product may suffer if it is counterfeited.
Brand owners should understand the cost of investing in anti-counterfeiting technology and the damage that a non-protected product may bring to their own. If they understand this, they will certainly be able to win the final victory in the fight against criminals and counterfeit products.
