Kodak Security Solutions creates virtual fortress to fend off counterfeiters

Eastman Kodak Company has announced the launch of Kodak Security Solutions, a suite of products and services designed to help protect against the growing global problem of counterfeiting and piracy. Kodak’s proprietary technologies include new invisible markers embedded during the manufacturing or printing process that can be instantly and reliably authenticated in the field in a way that no counterfeiter can bypass.

Targeting everything from currency to product safety labels, Kodak’s technology can help diminish counterfeiting, which is estimated to cost the global economy as much as $700 billion annually because it touches virtually every industry and market. Counterfeiters have access to technologies that can be as good as those used by authentic producers and, according to law enforcement and business trade groups, they are using them to defraud consumers, businesses and governments worldwide on an unprecedented scale.

‘Counterfeiting undermines the confidence people have in the products they buy, the medicines they take, and the financial and government systems that help society operate,’ said James Langley, president, Kodak’s graphic communications group and senior vice president, Eastman Kodak Company. ‘Kodak is in a unique position to combat this activity because nobody knows more about imaging and materials science than we do. We are harnessing our experience with specialty materials and the power of our digital technology, delivered through the printing process, to build a virtual fortress that will help the world fend off counterfeiters.’

At the highest level of protection, Kodak launches the Kodak Traceless System, a forensically invisible authentication technology that deploys a combination of proprietary markers and handheld readers. The Traceless System creates items with unique material properties that can only be detected using Kodak’s reading technologies.

The Traceless System marker materials can be mixed with inks, toners, varnishes and other items for analog and digital printing, as well as paper pulp, plastics, powders, pigments, liquids and textiles. The Kodak system’s markers have no affect on the characteristics of the end products or packaging. Users license the Kodak technology under multiyear agreements, and have secure control of the markers, the readers and associated software. This system prevents counterfeiters from duplicating the products or their packaging.

Kodak Security Solutions technologies can be deployed into offset and Kodak digital printing applications. Kodak is already working with customers in a wide range of industries that are affected by counterfeiting, including pharmaceuticals, apparel, cosmetics, identification documents and premium wineries.

In addition to the highly covert Traceless System, Kodak security technologies are utilized to implement other hidden features, such as digital watermarks, magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), and a variety of forensic markers. Measures such as these are useful to prevent document fraud via counterfeiting or alteration.

‘Kodak has a long history of producing sophisticated technologies that are easy for people to use,’ said Bill Lloyd, chief technical officer and senior vice president, Eastman Kodak Company. ‘Our wide range of innovative security offerings allows us to deliver tailored solutions for each customer at competitive prices. Users can start with simple solutions today and know that there is a Kodak pathway to higher levels of security in the future.’