Tech Talk: Covert Product Marketing
What You Can't See Might Help You
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If you want to establish a product as your own, you put your mark on it: a
signature, a label, a logo. Years ago, village craftspeople had no need of
marks-the product itself would speak for the person who made it. Customers
could tell who had produced the work from the way a shirt was cut, for
example, or how a shoe was sewn. But as the village developed into the town
and then the city, the marketplace expanded. Soon, producers could no
longer be distinguished based on their work alone, and the trademark was
born.
Trademarks are how we represent the bond between a producer and a product.
What counterfeiting does is weaken this bond. It often leaves manufacturers
feeling powerless, because they can no longer rely on their name to
represent the work they have produced.
But now, instead of using overt markings such as labels, which can be
counterfeited, manufacturers can mark their products covertly. One of the
companies at the forefront of covert marking systems is Nocopi
Technologies, based in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Nocopi offers businesses a
variety of ways in which to discreetly mark products to guarantee
authenticity. A clothing designer, for example, could include Nocopi in the
production process, weaving a reactive thread into each garment or label.
Determining whether an item was legitimate or not would then simply be a
matter of testing the garment for that thread. Product quality would not be
affected, but product authenticity would be secure.
Nocopi can also print reactive invisible inks on paper, plastic, cardboard,
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a simple test kit, helping businesses determine where diverted product
entered the channels of distribution. Nocopi also has color changing inks,
and Rub and Reveal papers, to meet other security protection needs.
Another reputable company that offers covert surface marking is Biocode.
They have developed over 30 marker-antibody pairs and they can be used in
numerous combinations to mark liquid, solids, powder or granulated
substances. Biocoding technology is still new, and the companies behind it
see no end to the applications possible.
The Tracer Detection Technology Corporation, based in Syosset, New York,
also brings cutting-edge technology to the aid of corporate clients and law
enforcement officials. Tracer is an advanced stage R&D company exploring
the use of perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs) as part of a chemical vapor tag
system. Using PFTs is like using bloodhounds, except that the chemicals
being hunted are present in levels as low as parts per trillion, which no
bloodhound could detect (instead of dogs, Tracer uses gas chromatography
equipment). The people, vehicles and rooms that were in close proximity to
the object can also be located, as they will have trace amounts of the PFTs
on them for a fixed length of time. Each Tracer system will be designed to
meet the needs of the situation.
Computer technology and high-resolution printing systems made
counterfeiting and diversion much easier crimes to commit. The new wave of
covert product marking technologies is expected to tip the balance in favor
of concerned businesses once again.
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New Law Helps Fight Counterfeits
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On July 2nd, President Clinton signed the Anti-counterfeiting Consumer
Protection Act of 1996, S. 1136 (Public Law 104-153). This law, which had
the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition behind it, was drafted to
make counterfeiting a more heavily penalized crime.
Under the new law, trafficking in counterfeit goods will be a RICO
(Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act, which results in
increased jail time, higher fines, and
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asset forfeiture. According to
Senator Hatch, who co-sponsored the Act in the Senate, the bill "adds teeth
to existing statutes by providing for further civil remedies, including
civil fines pegged to the value of genuine goods, and statutory awards of
up to $1 million per mark."
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Federal and local law enforcement traditionally would not get too involved
in anti-counterfeiting operations because the weak penalties
didn't justify the time and effort of the officers involved-other crimes
were given priority. With S. 1136, that is expected to change. John Bliss,
president of the IACC, states, "This is the most significant update to
federal anticounterfeiting law in over a decade. We applaud Congress for
getting tough on pirates both in the U.S. and abroad."
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No Party for Third-Party Suppliers
Did you know
that if a company knowingly provides raw materials for counterfeiting,
it may be held liable, even if it doesn't directly engage
in counterfeit production? This past March, Judge Laughlin
E. Waters of the U.S. District Court for the Central District
of California, ruled that Mohammed Abdallah and his company,
General Audio Video Cassettes, had knowingly assisted counterfeiters
nationwide by providing them with the audio cassettes needed
to make unauthorized copies. Judge Waters granted A&M Records
and 25 other Recording Industry Association of America member
companies a landmark $7 million judgment.
The case is noteworthy not only
because of the record-breaking settlement, but also because
there was no evidence that Abdallah or his business were
involved in the actual production of illegitimate copies.
They merely sold the tapes to the counterfeiting operations.
Other businesses interested in going after third-party suppliers
may want to establish this case as a precedent.
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