Its Illuminate fluorescent print was debuted at Packaging Innovations, at Birmingham NEC, in the UK, last month, and gives brands an invisible technology that is revealed when exposed to ultra violet light.
Designed to help brands with the problem of product copying
Chris Bridges, technical director, Spectra, told BeverageDaily, ‘Illuminate’ is another example of Spectra's desire to deliver packaging that can make a difference.
"Counterfeiting is a major headache for customers. They devote a huge amount of time, money and effort developing their products and reputations; sadly product copying undermines this investment,” he said.
“Unfortunately, as counterfeiters become more sophisticated, consumers can often find it difficult to identify the difference between the genuine product and the imitation.
“We believe this print technique will help with this growing problem within the industry."
Jonathan Powell, sales director, Spectra, added its in-house decoration department continues to develop ways to give products added value. Designed to help brands with the problem of product copying,
As well as Illuminate glow in the dark ink finish that lights up under ultra violet light, it has created Chameleon, a print finish that changes colour, depending on the angle of the light.
It has also further developed its Elevate raised print finish for Braille printing within its Touch range.
"To be able to print Braille onto packaging using our raised varnishing technique as opposed to potentially expensive tooling is extremely exciting for us,” said Powell.
Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market
“Much like our advances in Biopolymer environmental materials, we are determined to forge ahead with packaging technology that make a genuine difference."
According to the OHIM (Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market - Trade Marks and Designs), counterfeit products are often relabelled or repackaged to make them appear genuine.
In terms of food and beverages, Europol’s 2013 mandate to investigate counterfeit products has been extended to cover ‘food. The European Council also mandated ‘Counterfeit goods, violating health safety and food regulations and substandard goods’ as one of the key organised crime priorities for 2014-2017
“The production of counterfeits is generally thought to be an external phenomenon. Indeed, customs statistics clearly indicate the majority of source countries for counterfeits are outside the EU,” said António Campinos, president, OHIM.
“The main countries involved include not only China, which remains a major source although it is increasingly attempting to tackle its counterfeit production, but also other Asian countries that are specialised in certain categories (e.g. India for medicines, Egypt for foodstuffs, and Turkey for perfumes and cosmetics).
“Transit points for transportation of goods from Asia to Europe, which act as major hubs for container traffic because of their large free trade zones (FTZs), have also become significant enablers for the activities of counterfeiters.
“Another worrying consequence of product counterfeiting is the potential health risks to consumers. Fake products are not subject to the same stringent testing that genuine products undertake before they are allowed on to the market.”
OHIM will be renamed the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) from March 23, 2016 and the Community trademark will be renamed the European Union trademark.
The amending EU Regulation also revises the fees payable to the Office, including an overall reduction in their amounts, particularly in the case of trademark renewal fees.