Screen Europe has leaned into the anticounterfeiting market through the use of its inkjet digital printing expertise in partnership with Scantrust to create secure QR codes that make it possible for anyone to instantly check authenticity.
Whilst Screen develops inkjet digital printing equipment, Scantrust has created a software platform that leverages product packaging and secure QR codes for anticounterfeiting, packaging compliance, product traceability and customer engagement. Their combined technologies makes it possible for anyone to instantly check whether a secure code is authentic or not. A smartphone camera is all that’s needed to authenticate a Scantrust secure QR code.
Scantrust anticounterfeiting technology uses a secure graphic that is embedded into a QR code. The secure graphic has a high information density, which naturally degrades during any printing or copy attempt. As counterfeits rely on a second printing, there is an additional information loss that can be detected in unauthorised reproductions. This subsequent loss is in turn used to discern copies from originals. As such, printing technologies that can produce consistent, high-quality prints are essential to setting up this anticounterfeiting technology.
Nathan J Anderson, CEO and co-founder of Scantrust, commented, ‘Screen Europe’s Truepress Label 350UV is ideal for printing Scantrust secure QR codes on labels, as it is designed to produce the high-quality prints required for Scantrust’s patented copy detection process.’
In addition, Screen’s proprietary Equios workflow software is able to handle the amount and size of variable data required to print unique and serialised QR codes at scale.
Demand for printing secure and serialised QR codes is noted by Screen as ‘rapidly increasing’, as brand owners seek to protect their products against counterfeits as well as build a closer relationship with consumers through connected packaging. Having experienced a resurgence in the use of QR codes during the Covid-19 pandemic, companies that depend on selling physical goods in an increasingly online, connected world have taken note that smart packaging and QR code use gained more attention. As secure QR codes are built on regular QR codes, they contain all the convenience and functionality users have come to expect but they go beyond standard QR codes with a robust copy detection feature. Additional, optional features like dynamic URLs and serialisation are also available with Scantrust secure QR codes.
Screen Europe marketing director Juan Cano said, ‘After Covid-19, the use of QR codes has been widely accepted as an everyday occurrence and it is on the rise. Our partnership with Scantrust is crucial to meet growing demand for connected packaging through the use of unique serialised QR codes for product authentication, brand-to-consumer engagement and supply chain visibility.’
Mr Anderson concluded, ‘Screen Europe’s inkjet label printer does so in a cost-effective way, making it a perfect system for protecting brands and consumers from counterfeit products.’
