Anti counterfeit apparatus

Details Anti counterfeit apparatus Anti counterfeit apparatus

1996-11-08

1998-11-24

Font, Frank G.

Optics: measuring and testing

Inspection of flaws or impurities

Having predetermined light transmission regions

356388, 356394, 356 71, G01N 2100

Patent

active

058415289

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the covert identification of genuine and counterfeit articles, and has particular (but not exclusive) relevance to the retail trade.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Counterfeiting of articles is a long standing problem in, for example, the retail trades and credit card industry. Lost revenue, legal liability for claims and guarantees, and damage to goodwill can seriously affect a company. This is an international problem with virtually every country in the world a victim. Some recent estimates put the annual loss to, for example, the European motor parts industry at US$200 million. For perfume companies the estimated figure is US$70 million and for the record industry the estimated annual loss is at least US$1 billion.
The need for an effective means of combating counterfeiting has been the subject of considerable effort in the past. One of the most common ways of indicating the origin of goods is by the use of trade marks. Such marks, which are directed primarily at the customer, are obvious to the counterfeiter and readily lend themselves to copying. As a countermeasure some marks have become increasingly complex in design, sometimes incorporating sophisticated optical effects such as holograms, diffraction effects etc. Counterfeiting on a large scale however, is carried out by gangs of organised criminals with considerable resources and access to the most up to date technology and these have proved equal to the task of copying even the most sophisticated marks.
UK patent application no. GB 9324214.7 relates to a covert marking system in which genuine articles are endowed with a label whose appearance is very different when scanned using equipment which is sensitive to radiation in the near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. However, the need for such scanning equipment gives rise to some inconvenience.
European patent application EP 0 568 185 A2 describes an authenticity identifying structure for an article. By that invention, the article has an identification region and reflected light from said region is examined for certain properties in order to confirm the authenticity of said article. The invention requires a monochromatic light source and relies upon the plane of polarisation of the reflected signal.
Another problem associated with counterfeiting concerns the safety of any agent employed to check the authenticity of suspect articles. Experience has shown that the organisations responsible for large scale counterfeiting are capable of extreme measures in order to protect their operations.
There is, therefore, a long felt need for an effective means of differentiating between genuine and counterfeit articles. For a system which involves labelling the articles or imparting some code, a solution to the problem of copying is required. The ideal system could be used covertly, so that the activities of the agent checking the suspect articles could remain secret.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention offers a means for checking the authenticity of articles by observing said articles through simple apparatus. (Throughout this specification, reference to an "article" or "articles" should be taken to relate to said article or articles or the associated packaging or wrapping). The system readily lends itself to covert use and is effective under normal lighting conditions. It has the additional advantage that although the counterfeiter may be aware of its general use, the labels used and any codes contained therein, may be continuously changed so that copying becomes less worthwhile.
According to this invention, apparatus for checking the authenticity of articles comprises: filter through which suspect articles are examined, characteristic of each of the optical filters has a plurality of peaks or troughs.
Preferably one or more of the peaks or troughs present in the transmittance versus wavelength characteristic of the first optical filter corresponds in wavelength to a peak or trough in the transmittance ve

REFERENCES:
patent: 3281960 (1966-11-01), Gross
patent: 5504594 (1996-04-01), Yamazaki
patent: 5530772 (1996-06-01), Storey
patent: 5568251 (1996-10-01), Davies

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