The illicit trade in counterfeit products and Intellectual Property (IP) theft in goods and services is a continuously changing phenomenon especially with the rapid growth of E-commerce platforms, that is further catalysed by third-party online marketplaces at present. Such fraud and counterfeit activities are currently curbing economic growth and threatening brand credibility.
Today, what remains constant is the opportunity for companies and brand owners to implement secure solutions to authenticate products that will strengthen overall IP enforcement and position themselves to remain globally competitive.
Authenticating your Product is Protecting your Brand
Product Authentication provides actors in the supply chain with a fast, reliable and secure authentication of genuine products to:
- safeguard critical revenue
- prevent brand identity erosion
- protect public health and safety
- maintain consumer confidence
However, authenticating solutions such as adding an overt security feature on the product and packaging are only a piece in the puzzle of what goes on to truly ensure that brands are fully protected.
Inspect to Protect
Inspection of products at various stages of the product life cycle is just as vital in ensuring the authenticity of products before and after they hit the market. The ability of inspectors to authenticate genuine products or locate fake ones is a central capability, especially for situations in which trained inspectors cannot rely on their senses to perform product authentication due to the high quality of counterfeits.
Covert security features (i.e. invisible marks allowing authentication with a dedicated portable detector) can be useful tools to restore the authentication capability that should be:
- Robust: Provide a high level of confidence that what is shown as not authentic is a counterfeit.
- Fast: Establish if a given product is genuine or fake within seconds in order to trigger swift actions with law enforcement officials.
- Remote: Can be performed where the product is found or sold, or in an area close to this location if inspection-on-the-spot is impossible or too risky for the inspector’s security.
Prevention is Key with SICPA’s Brand Protection Strategy
Any product at present is vulnerable and is at risk to the consequences of counterfeiting activities. As the use of invisible technologies has become more widespread, so too has the awareness of counterfeiters. Brand owners are therefore more inclined to prevent any issues by selecting security features from trusted technology suppliers offering proven proprietary solutions and enabling inspection at different levels and locations.
SICPA’s range of proven and patented invisible authentication solutions guarantee a secure line of defence against counterfeiting threats throughout the supply chain. Our secure technologies include unique, tailored and sophisticated visible, invisible and connectivity features to help companies:
- Authenticate products
- Protect against liability
- Ensure supply chain integrity
- Engage and retain customers
- Safeguard their reputation and consumer trust
