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How can you make your products counterfeit-proof? Product protection is an important issue for manufacturers in all industries. It is often not only about trademark protection and preventing damage to reputation, but also about protecting consumers from dangerous counterfeit products. It must also be possible to clearly differentiate a copy from the original in the event of an unjustified product liability claim. Labelling plays an extremely important role in anti-counterfeiting. Weber Marking Systems can show you how to reliably apply identification and security features to your products and packaging.
The pharmaceutical industry must comply with strict anti-counterfeiting guidelines by 2019 at the latest. The packaging of prescription drugs must then bear both an individual, encrypted serial number for tracking purposes and be provided with first-opening protection. Similar approaches are also required in the food industry and among automotive suppliers, for example.
There are various labelling solutions for effective product security. Some examples are explained below:
Security labels have difficult-to-reproduce, sometimes invisible security features, such as
In addition, the labels can be printed with encrypted variable information at a later stage to create another barrier.
Sealing labels eave visible residues when a product is opened for the first time or cause the packaging to be irreversibly destroyed. Such "first-opening evidence" is also called tamper evident.
Special security inks are fluorescent and only visible under UV light. Recent developments such as different colours make it increasingly difficult for counterfeiters to copy these features. For certain applications (e.g. food and cosmetics), an MEK-free UV ink is available.
Individual data such as identification numbers can be encoded in machine-readable barcodes or data matrix codes to save space. These are then either applied by label or written directly onto the product using inkjet printing or laser labelling. To ensure that the codes can be reliably recognised by different reading devices, they should comply with the global standards of GS1
During serialisation, each product is given a unique, random serial number. The associated data (e.g. manufacturer's name and location, batch number) is stored in a database. To verify or trace an individual product, the serial number is compared with the database. The number is encrypted in a barcode or 2D code, which makes it automatically scannable.
With the help of RFID technology, individual product information can be stored in labels with tiny transponders. Using an RFID reader, this data can be read accurately and without contact. One major advantage of this is that the reader and the product do not need to be in visual contact for the check. Many data carriers can be recorded simultaneously.
