The best defense against counterfeit products entering the supply chain is a comprehensive offense, experts say. Legislation, litigation, anti-counterfeiting tools and technologies, and participation in supply chain-wide anti-counterfeiting efforts all can combine to make intellectual property theft a tougher task for IP thieves.
To that end, action to stem counterfeiting continues on multiple fronts. Legislation to update the United States' IP enforcement laws continues to trundle through Congressional channels. In February, the international policing organization Interpol launched a database on intellectual property crime to enable international cooperation on IP protection. Supporting that effort was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a partner in the anti-counterfeiting initiative. Additionally, Interpol and the U.S. Chamber in late May announced a major counterfeiting investigation in South America had netted $115 million in seizures and 185 arrests.
These large-scale initiatives are backed by efforts at individual companies and institutions to provide security measures to aid others' anti-counterfeiting efforts, or to enhance their own. Recent tools and strategies introduced include:
Hewlett-Packard's Specialty Printing Systems has expanded its offerings to the pharmaceutical industry with the introduction of a new ink cartridge. The Pharma Black CB935A inkjet cartridge is for branding, dosage and security requirements, and allows individual capsules or tablets to be marked. Potential benefits of the product include an additional anti-counterfeiting measure. Additionally, it helps comply with California's ePedigree pharmaceutical requirements when used with other HP Product Tracking and Authentication offerings.
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