ACT Now to Protect Your Intellectual Property Rights
This month’s editorial makes a longitudinal study of the shifting geo-political forces that have formed the nature of brand protection. Another, more direct, hypothesis is that counterfeiting and other types of brand fraud are straightforward criminal activities with no respect for borders, treaties or the law.
To help enterprises that might be interested in learning how to protect against such criminal activities, the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights, with support from the Anti-Counterfeiting Technologies Expert Group (EGACT) and the Impact of Technology Expert Group, has recently published the Anti-Counterfeiting Technology Guide 1 (ACT).
The guide takes companies, both large and small, through the steps they can take to protect against fakes by taking advantage of the numerous technical solutions out there to protect ownership rights and supply chains. ACT sets out the main types of anti-counterfeiting technologies, including electronic identification or tracking devices, how to place markers on products or packaging, and other chemical, physical, mechanical, and digital tools. It shows the most cost-effective and practical ways of protecting IP rights, describes implementation requirements and the costs involved.
ACT was prepared by the Observatory on the basis of the research and documentation provided by the Italian Patent and Trade Mark Office, and with the support of contributions from members of EGACT who produced the first version of the guide, creating a knowledge base of the existing anti-counterfeiting technologies.
The Observatory adapted that document into the present guide for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and general users. The Expert Group on the Impact of Technologies collaborated in the validation of some of the technologies.
According to ACT, anti-counterfeiting technologies provide tools to help determine whether a product is genuine or fake, or has otherwise been subject to fraudulent activities. They may use different methods to do this – from attaching remote sensors to products to embedding covert identifiers within them – but, essentially, they do it by performing one or more of the following functions: authentication, tracking/tracing, anti-tampering/anti-alteration. Definitions of these essential functions are given in the Glossary of ACT.
The guide goes on to note that anticounterfeiting technologies differ according to the combination of essential functions they perform, the methods they use to perform them and their mode of inspection – whether they can be verified by human senses or whether a special device is required. However, the characteristic shared by all anti-counterfeiting methods is the use of specific marking devices, known as markers. These are joined inseparably to the products (by various techniques) and contain the specific information that enables the technology to perform its essential function.
The handbook covers all the main types of anti-counterfeiting technology currently on the market, gives a clear definition of each, describes their main characteristics and sets out practical implementation requirements at a glance. It should be an invaluable guide for both experts and those exploring market opportunities for the first time.
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