Guarding Against Brand Counterfeits

Sherwood Technology's Datalase colour change technique is being used in the fight against counterfeiting.

Sherwood Technology's Datalase colour change technique is being used in the fight against counterfeiting.

Datalase and Datalase Clear can be used for brand protection and security applications by providing products with their own unique mark.

Combining chemistry and substrate conversion, the colour change mechanism can be triggered by low power CO2 Laser light energy said Sherwood.

Anti-counterfeiting is a growth market, the objective being to identify luxury or high-value products in a way that minimises their fraudulent reproducibility.

Datalase is claimed to allow products to be tagged permanently and discreetly, without the mark being removable.

It can be used for a range of covert and overt security applications.

For example, Datalase has the ability to overtly mark a product with its own distinctive 'finger print'.

The 'finger print', such as a tiny 2D datamatrix code, is formed through films, such as polypropylene and polyethylene, allowing it to be permanently embedded or 'sandwiched' in laminates.

The Datalase chemistry is incorporated at the manufacturing stage and can be subsequently laser marked.

This technique can be used in products as diverse as cigarette and cosmetic packaging said Sherwood.

It is a particularly effective tool in preventing counterfeiters and grey market trading as the 'finger print' can not be easily reproduced or removed claimed Sherwood.

Datalase Clear enables the covert checking of a product's authenticity.

The product allows images to be transferred onto transparent media via a laser without interfering with the translucency of the underlying substrate.

Counterfeiters are unable to spot the presence of the laser responsive Datalase Clear material as it only becomes visible when exposed to energy from a low power CO2 laser.

The image remains undetectable up to the very point where authenticity needs to be verified, a feature not possible with other techniques said the manufacturer.

Steve Kelly, managing director of Sherwood Technology, commented: "The application of Datalase technology for the purpose of security features is a very new and exciting project.

Existing methods have become stagnant and predictable to counterfeiters who find ways around them, however, Datalase has the potential to revolutionise the market.

We expect brand protection applications to be key development areas for the Datalase technology." The Datalase security applications will be available as a result of new and existing application licensing agreements and strategic partnerships with security substrate manufacturers added the company.

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