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Annual losses through counterfeiting, product
piracy and brand diversion are estimated to now
account for as much as 7% of world trade, costing
between £120 and £180 billion GBP
in lost revenue. This immense problem causes the
world largest brands serious headaches, and has
created an underground war between the brands
and the counterfeiters.
Consumers are used to see holograms
on banknotes and financial cards, and for some
time holograms
have been used on packaging to indicate authenticity.
However, generic “wallpaper” hologram
designs have now lost much of their effectiveness,
and only security printed “in register”
holograms are effective at deterring pirating,
especially when used in conjunction with other
techniques. In register holograms are applied
in exact registration, with the image being applied
with very specialised equipment with a clear border.
This makes them difficult to copy with even access
to specialised foil supplies.
An emerging technology is that of colour
shift inks. These inks are printed in larger
blocks to create an effect whereby the apparent
colour changes dependant on what angle you look
at the printed image. Famously adopted by Pfizer
the pharmaceutical company, colour shift inks
are notoriously difficult to copy and can be easily
incorporated into tamper evident labels.
User authentication is of course key to successfully
defeating counterfeiting, as if a consumer is
clearly aware that an article is counterfeit at
the point of sale, then it stands a much lower
chance of being purchased. For companies serious
about user authentication, thermochromic inks
are a very valuable tool.
Thermochromic
inks fall into 2 categories
· reversible thermochromic inks change
colour from normal to altered and back to normal
again many times
· irreversible thermochromic inks change
colour only once, from normal to altered, leaving
a permanent indication that the temperature has
changed
Typical applications for
thermochromic labels include security authentication
and brand protection, as labels can change colour
on contact with body heat . For example reversible
thermochromic inks that change colour at body
temperature can be printed as overt or covert
“patches” with instructions to the user
to apply skin contact to see if the printed patch
changes colour. This also enhances the value of
the product as the customer interacts with the
brand packaging. The key feature of thermochromic
inks to be aware of is that at normal temperature,
the majority of inks are solid colours (typically
red, blue or black), but change to become clear
at the designated change temperature. This allows
the normal printed image to be hidden at normal
temperature, and show at the colour change temperature.
Anti counterfeit printing and packaging is a
constant battle between brand owner seeking to
protect the value of their products, and the counterfeiter
offering an inferior product. It’s a battle
that currently has no clear winner, but by adopting
in register holograms and thermochromic
inks on your packaging, you may well defer
the counterfeiters interest elsewhere!
A specialist supplier of such technologies is
Mercian Labels (www.securitylabels.com)
who are the market leader in tamper
evident labels incorporating features such
as thermochromic inks and in register holograms
for specialised applications.
Dr Adrian Steele PhD is a leading researcher into
label technologies at Mercian Labels Ltd (UK)
- www.securitylabels.com/holograms.htm
and www.selfadhesivelabels.com/thermochromic_labels.html
Note: This article is provided for information
purposes only and the accuracy of the information
is not guaranteed. This article is Copyright of
Mercian Labels Ltd who are a label
printer.
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