This invention generally relates to a security label and method of labeling, and is specifically concerned with a detachably removable label laminate that requires the incorporation of only a very small percentage of marker material to reliably store and relay invisible information useful in authenticating and identifying a product.
If goods are not genuine, then product counterfeiting has occurred. If goods have been diverted from their intended channel of commerce by, for example, entering into a country where the goods are prohibited by contract or by law, then the goods have been subject to product diversion.
Product counterfeiting occurs on artworks, CDs, DVDs, computer software recorded on CDs or diskettes, perfumes, designer clothes, handbags, briefcases, automobile and airplane parts, securities (e.g., stock certificates), identification cards (driver's licenses, passports, visas, green cards), credit cards, smart cards, and pharmaceuticals. According to the World Health Organization, more than 7% of the world's pharmaceuticals are bogus. This percentage is higher in some countries, such as Colombia, where up to 40% of all medications are believed to be fake. Until recently, the percentage of bogus medications in the United States has been virtually negligible due to a tightly controlled regulatory system has made it extraordinarily difficult for counterfeiters to sell or distribute suspect medications. However, the recent explosion of Internet drug sales from other countries and increasingly sophisticated counterfeiting techniques have substantially increased the amount of fraudulent drugs entering the United States.
Product diversion has also occurred on many of the aforementioned goods. Such diversion could result in the sale and distribution of goods which do not comply with the product specifications required in the markets they are sold. For example, motorcycles intended to be sold without catalytic converters in a region with lower air pollution standards might be diverted to a region which does require such catalytic converters. Other negative effects include price inequities in certain markets, loss of exclusivity by some manufacturers or distributors, and damage to the goodwill, patent rights, and trademark rights of the manufacturer. Such diverted goods are sometimes referred to as “gray market” goods. Since the goods are genuine, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether the goods have been improperly diverted. This is especially true for a variety of goods such as, for example clothing, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.
Labels for authenticating the origin and intended market of a good are known in the prior art. Since the persons who counterfeit or divert goods are also inclined to counterfeit such authenticating labels, label structures incorporating covert, authenticating data have been developed. An example of such a label includes both visible data, such as a printed trademark, a manufacturing serial number, or human readable product information, and invisible information which can authenticate the label as one which originated with or under the authority of the manufacturer. Such labels use an invisible marker material which is incorporated in the label. The data stored in the marker becomes readable when the label is exposed to light of a particular wavelength.
While prior art labels incorporating invisible markers can provide authentication and identification data for a good, the applicants have observed a number of shortcomings associated with their use and manufacture. For example, the data in invisible, optically detected markers cannot be reliably detected or read when printed or placed over black text because of the black text's light absorption at ultraviolet, visible and infrared wavelengths. Reliable detection and reading of such data over specularly reflective backgrounds, such as silver foil, is similarly difficult because of light scattering. Detection over colored backgrounds is problematical because of the absorption of various wavelengths. Sometimes, the noise in the data signal caused by black text or specular reflection or colors can be compensated for by increasing marker levels to increase the strength of the signal. However, such a solution is expensive, as marker materials (which are often formed from rare earth metals) typically cost about between $1 and $10/gram. Since such prior art labels already require the invisible marker material to constitute as much as 5% of the weight of the label component that they are imbedded in, further increases in the use of such an expensive material is undesirable. Moreover, any substantial increase in the proportion of such marker material compromises the invisibility of the marker and/or detectability of the marker by non-optical means and can also adversely change the physical characteristics of the material that it is imbedded in. High marker concentrations can lead to a change in properties (viscosity, opacity, adhesion etc) of the materials that function as carriers. In addition, the final label/laminate system with high security marker concentrations may appear cloudy or stained depending on the marker and technique employed. Detection and ultimately unauthorized replication (counterfeit) risks increase with high marker loads.
The invention is an improved label and labeling method that substantially reduces the amount of marker material necessary to reliably store and relay invisible product data. To this end, the label of the invention comprises a laminate that includes a light transmissive layer of sheet material, a light transmissive layer of adhesive that detachably affixes the sheet material over the surface of a product, a product package or a label substrate, and an amount of invisible marker incorporated into the sheet material or adhesive that contains invisible information detectable by light having a selected wavelength. The amount of marker selected is sufficient to allow information in the marker to be detected only when the laminate is affixed over a surface that provides a selected optical background that maximizes the detectability of the marker. In the preferred embodiment, the selected background is a white background. The ability of the label laminate to be removed from the surface of a product, a product package or a label substrate and positioned over such a background eliminates the optical interference associated with most backgrounds and greatly reduces the amount of marker material required for reliable detection a reading. For example, in contrast to the 5 weight percent quantities of marker material used in the prior art, the label laminate of the invention requires a quantity of marker material of only between about 0.01 and 0.001 percent by weight or less.
The invisible information incorporated in the marker may be as simple as the presence of the marker, or it may take the form of a specific pattern formed by the marker. Examples of such patterns include one and two-dimensional bar codes capable of storing information in digitized form, as well as herringbone, alphanumeric and other repetitive patterns and patterns formed from varying densities of marker material capable of storing information in analogue form.
Marker in particulate form may be mixed directly with the material used to form the sheet material layer and/or the adhesive layer, or positioned between these two layers. A pattern of marker may also be printed on a surface of the sheet material layer or the adhesive layer by an ink or varnish containing fine particles of the marker. Any number of printing techniques may be used to print the marker on one of the surfaces of the label laminate, including thermal transfer, electro-photographic, flexography, gravure, offset, and inkjet.
The label may further include a label substrate that the layer of adhesive of the laminate detachably affixes the sheet material layer to, wherein the optical background provided by the surface of the label substrate interferes with the readability of the data contained within the marker. The background provided by the label substrate may be selected to conceal any visible traces of the existence of a marker on the laminate or to make detection of the marker difficult if not impossible, even when the label laminate is exposed to light of the selected wavelength that renders the information incorporated into the mark readable. The label substrate may also contain visible graphics or product information.
The marker may be a fluorescent or phosphorescent material, and the selected wavelength that the marker is exposed to may be the excitation wavelength of the fluorescent or phosphorescent material. The selected excitation wavelength may be within the ultraviolet, visible or infrared range. While the light emitted by the fluorescent or phosphorescent marker material will be a different wavelength than the excitation wavelength, the emitted light may also be within the ultraviolet, visible or infrared range. When the emitted light is in the visible range of wavelengths, the detection of the information incorporated in the marker may be readable by the unaided human eye or it may be machine-readable. The marker may also be a material that absorbs an ultraviolet or infrared wavelength, and the selected wavelength may be the wavelength that is absorbed by the marker. In such an embodiment, detection of the information would be by a reading device capable of “seeing” the dark patterns generated when the marker was exposed to the absorbed ultraviolet or infrared wavelength. Two or more markers with different excitation or absorption wavelength properties may be incorporated, imbedded, or printed onto one of the label laminate components to render counterfeiting of the label laminate more difficult.
Finally, the invention also encompasses a method for labeling products and product packages with invisible information. This method generally comprises the steps of (1) providing a layer of light transmissive sheet material with a light transmissive layer of adhesive that detachably affixes the sheet material layer to a surface; (2) providing an amount of invisible marker to either the sheet material or the adhesive that contains invisible information that is detectable by light having a selected wavelength, wherein the amount of marker selected is sufficient to allow information in the marker to be detected only when the laminate is affixed over a surface that provides a selected optical background; (3) detachably affixing the layer over a surface of one of a label substrate or product or product package; (4) removing the label laminate from the surface of one of a label substrate or product or product package and placing it over a surface having the selected optical background; and (5) exposing said marker with light having the selected wavelength and detecting the emitted light containing the information.
With reference to
The light transmissive sheet material 3 is preferably transparent, and may be a flexible film formed from an, extrudible polypropylene resin such as bi-axially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). Such film has good clarity, resistance to UV light, excellent chemical and abrasion resistance, and a smooth surface. Polyester and polyolefin films may also be used. Film thickness preferably ranges from 0.5 to 2 mil, although smaller and greater thicknesses are also within the scope of the invention. Specific examples of films which may be used to form layer 3 include THERMLfilm, Select 10852, 1 mil, available from Flexcon located at www.flexcon.com, and 2 mil clear BOPP sold by Fasson Roll North America located at www.fasson.com, and Fasclear 350, 3.4 mil polyolefin film also available from Fasson Roll North America.
The light transmissive layer of adhesive 5 can be any one of a number of transparent pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs), including alkyl (meth)acrylate based adhesives and latex based adhesives, and is preferably transparent. A specific example of such an adhesive is 3M Fastbond™ Pressure Sensitive Adhesive 4224NF (Clear) available from 3M Company located in Minneapolis, Minn. Film thickness of the adhesive layer 5 preferably ranges from 0.5 to 2 mil, although smaller and greater thicknesses are also within the scope of the invention. While both the layer of transmissive sheet material 3 and the layer of adhesive 5 are preferably transparent, they may also be translucent.
The label laminate 2 also includes an invisible marker 7 that contains information. In the case of the first embodiment label 1 illustrated in
The label 1 further includes a label substrate 11. The label substrate 11 is preferably the same size and shape of the label laminate 2 such that the outer edges of the label laminate 2 are concealed when it is removably affixed to the upper surface of the label substrate 11 via the layer of adhesive 5. The substrate may be formed from any one of a number of paper or plastic sheet materials and preferably provides a background which conceals the presence of the marker 7. Such concealing backgrounds include specular (i.e. metallic or glassy) backgrounds, variable ink backgrounds and hologramic backgrounds for the printed information 13. The label substrate 11 may have printed information 13 on its upper surface that provides optical interference that further impairs both the detection and the reading of the information in the marker 7. Such printed information 13 may be printed in a visible, dark saturated color ink or carbon-black based ink or a combination of both. The combination of the light absorptive properties of the printed information 13 and the light scattering properties of the upper surface of the label substrate 11 renders the marker 7 difficult, if not impossible to detect either visually or with a specialized light source.
Finally, the label 1 includes a second layer of adhesive 15 for affixing the label 1 to the surface 17 of either a product or a product package. The layer of adhesive 15 may be either permanent or temporary and need not be transparent or light transmissive. Any one of a number of commercially available adhesives may be used to form the second layer of adhesive 15.
The following table summarizes the nature of incident and emitted wavelengths of light for emissive markers 7:
In the case where λB<λA, an up-converting property of a security marker is utilized. Materials that exhibit this property include certain phosphors and organic dyes. Typically high power incidence radiation, such as obtained with laser sources is required to obtain an up-converted emission. Wavelength shifts include IR to shorter IR, IR to visible, visible to shorter visible. Examples of such materials include, anti-Stokes pigments “A274” (IR to green), “A225” (IR to red) available from Epolin, Inc., Newark, N.J. USA (www.epolin.com). In the case where λB>λA, the emissive material is functioning in a down converting mode. Lower power light sources, such as light emitting diodes, incandescent and fluorescent bulbs can be used to excite down converted emission responses. Many dyes and phosphors exhibit this property. Wavelength shifts include UV to visible, visible to longer visible, visible to IR, IR to longer IR wavelengths. A few examples of such materials include “L-142, L-212, L-88”, (UV to visible) available from Beaver Luminescers, Newton, Mass. USA (www.luminescers.com). A variation on excitation emission utilizes the variation in temporal profile of the intensity of emitted light over time. The unique time signature of the marker 7 is thus confirmed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,996,252 provides an example of the use of decay time differences to verify authenticity of a document. All emissive materials can be verified by relative intensity decay measurement, with a reader designed to detect responses in the appropriate time regime.
In the case where the marker 7 is light absorptive, both the incident 36 and the emitted light 38 will be of the same wavelength, the image signals resulting from differences in absorption of incident light 36, and thus differences in diffuse reflectance of that incident light 36. A properly designed and calibrated imaging device, or reader, will provide image information and will confirm or deny the presence of security maker. An example of a light absorptive marker 7 is FHI9072 from Fabricolor Holding, www.fabricolorholding.com.
In the second and third steps of the method illustrated in
In the fourth step of the method illustrated in
Incident light source 40 may be simple illumination devices such as UV lights of varying form, (black lights, UV tubes, UV diode array “flashlights”), IR diode arrays, IR pens, visible LEDs, and laser diodes. When the emitted light 38 is both visible and human readable, the light source 40 may also constitute the reader 42, as the information embodied within the marker may be gleaned from simple visual observation. When the emitted light 38 is either invisible to the human eye, or if the emitted light is visible, but the pattern 9 is machine readable only, then the combination of an incident light source 40 and a reading device 42 constitutes the reader, as both a light source 40 and a reading device 42 are necessary to read the information embodied within the marker 7.
Thermal transfer ribbon is prepared with a UV excitable material, UVXPBR. This particular material has the property of emitting red visible light after excitation with UV light, as described at www.maxmax.com. The UVXPBR is mixed with a clear resin (15% resin, 85% solvent, primary component 2-butanone) at a concentration of 1000 parts per million (ppm). This is accomplished by dissolving 0.03 g UVXPBR in 30 g resin solvent mixture and stirring to solution at room temperature. The resulting clear solution is hand coated on pre-slit 4″ wide thermal transfer ribbon with a number 4 Mier rod. Coated thickness after solvent evaporation is about 1 micron and the marker content in the resin is about 6667 ppm. Several hand coatings are completed in series and the ribbon is wound, coated side out, on a new 1″ core.
The freshly prepared ribbon was threaded onto a Zebra model ZM400 thermal transfer printer. Along with this ribbon, 1″ round clear label laminates 2 produced by laminating a clear polyester base-liner label with Flexcon Thermlfilm select 10852 1 mil gloss polyester film are threaded into the printer. A data-containing pattern 9 consisting of 10×10 DataMatrix 2-dimensional bar code, with an edge length of 1.25 cm, was printed on the label laminate 2 via thermal transfer.
The average marker surface density in a single square of the barcode, containing in the bar code area was 666.7 nanograms/cm2. The average marker density across the barcode area was about 360 nanograms/cm2 (since only about 46% of the bar code area was covered with marker). The average marker density across the 1″ round clear laminate 2 was 110 ng/cm2.
The procedure described above was repeated, but with a marker level one-tenth that just described. This procedure produced label laminates 2 where the average marker surface density in a single square of the barcode, containing in the bar code area was 66.7 nanograms/cm2. The average marker density across the barcode area was about 36 nanograms/cm2 (since only about 46% of the bar code area was covered with marker). The average marker density across the 1″ round clear label laminate 2 was 11 ng/cm2.
The resulting transparent label laminates 2 containing marker 7 at the two different levels were applied to four different optical background surfaces 34 to compare the detectability of the marker 7 and the readability of the data-containing pattern 9. The first optical background was a white 3×5 card that had been treated with optical brightener. The second optical background was card stock that did not contain optical brightener. The third optical background was metallic poly sheeting, and the fourth optical background was black construction paper.
The marker printed pattern 9 for the label laminates 2 containing marker 7 at the two different levels was detected and read over the four different backgrounds by three different methods.
In the first method, incident light 36 was directed toward the surface of the label laminate 2 at an angle a of 45° and the resulting emitted light 38 was read at an angle of 90° as illustrated in
In the first detection method, data was collected as a function of wavelength. The UVXPBR marker has a single emission at 614.26 nm and the intensity of the emission detected by the Ocean Optics spectrometer at this wavelength is reported in Table 1A as the marker signal. In Table 1A, it is clear that this emission was diminished when the clear label was read over a black or metallic background and enhanced over a white background. An enhanced signal was obtained when a white reading background was used and an optimum signal was obtained if the white background was itself non-emissive, in other words, if it did not contain optical brightener. (Optical brightener is added to most white paper to enhance appearance.) The signal enhancement was most noticeable at the higher marker level. The lower marker level, especially on black, gave signals close to the detection limit of the spectrometer. A blank measurement was made on a white Spectralon sample. This sample is highly, diffusely reflective.
In the second method of detection, no optical component holder 47 was used. Instead, the arrangement illustrated in
In the third method of detection, the same orientation between the light source 40 and reader 42 was used as described with respect to the second method. Again, a flashlight comprised of five 365 nm LEDs and with a output power of approximately 8 to 10 mW was used to illuminate the label laminate 2 in a darkened room. However, emitted and reflected light from the label laminate 2 was examined by eye for each of the four background surfaces 34 of black, reflective, white plus optical brightener and white sheet materials. Results are summarized in Table 1C. In this method of detection, the black background was optimum for a readable barcode. This is because the human eye has difficulty distinguishing a weak red signal superimposed on stronger blue-white emissions from optical brightener. The metallic background also gave a sharper image, as perceived by eye, than the white substrates. This example demonstrates that the optimal background for reading may depend on the method of detection.
A thermal transfer ribbon is prepared with A-225 up-converting IR excitable material available from Epolin, Inc. This particular material has the property of emitting green visible light after excitation with IR light, as described at www.epolin.com. The A-225 material is mixed with a clear resin (15% resin, 85% solvent, primary component 2-butanone) at a concentration of 1000 ppm. This is accomplished by mixing 0.03 g A-225 with 30 g resin solvent mixture and vigorously stirring to dispersion at room temperature. The resulting mixture is hand coated on pre-slit 4″ wide thermal transfer ribbon with a number 4 Mier rod. Coated thickness after solvent evaporation is about 1 micron and the marker content in the resin is about 6667 ppm. Several hand coatings are completed in series and the ribbon is wound, coated side out, on a new 1″ core. The freshly prepared ribbon is threaded onto a Zebra model ZM400 thermal transfer printer. Along with this ribbon, 1″ round clear labels, produced by laminating a clear polyester base linered label with Fasson 2 mil clear BOPP 7525/S4900, are threaded into the printer. Patterns 9 are printed on the label laminate 2 via thermal transfer.
The resulting transparent label laminates 2 were applied to a series of optical background surfaces 34 including white 3×5 cards, metallic poly sheeting, and black construction paper. Each sample label laminate 2 was illuminated with a light source 40 in the form of a hand held infrared laser, and visually observed. Marked patterns 9 were visible and were green in color when viewed on the label applied to white 3×5 cards. By contrast, when freshly printed label laminates 2 were applied to metallic poly sheeting, green emission was not visually detectable. Similarly, no emission was visually detected when infrared laser light was applied to a label laminate 2 overlying black paper.
This example illustrates that an invisible pattern 9 of marker 7 could be printed on a laminate that overlies a highly reflective or black surface, which could be either the surface of a label substrate 11 or the surface of a product or product package. Detection would be accomplished by removal of the marked label laminate 2, affixing the laminate on white paper followed by illumination with IR light and visual detection with a human eye or a camera or other reading device 42.
In this example, an IR absorbing dye was dissolved in 2-butanone, then mixed into a removable acrylic adhesive mixture at a concentration of 5000 ppm. The dye used was FHI9072, described on www.fabricolorholding.com. The adhesive mixture was coated on 2-mil polyester film to a thickness of 1 mil., thus forming the adhesive layer 5 of a label laminate 2. This resulted in a marker concentration of 12.5 microgram/cm2. The resulting label laminate 2 was then adhered over a polyester label substrate 11 and die-cut to shape. The resulting label 1 had no apparent visible colorations due to the IR dye.
Detection of the dye was accomplished via IR reflectance. The light source 40 was a digital Nikon 995 camera modified to remove the IR filter that normally covers the CCD array. The reader 42 used was a digital Nikon 995 camera in which a 650 nm long pass filter was placed in front of the lens in order to reduce noise in the signal. The camera was placed in a tripod approximately 2.4 in from the sample. An array of 910 nm IR LEDs was used to irradiate the label laminate 2 in a darkened room. Images of the sample label laminate 2, comprised of the reflected light from the sample, were captured using ISO800, 1-second exposures. When a marked laminate was applied over a black surface, all incident IR light is absorbed and no signal is detected. When the removable laminate/adhesive system was removed and applied to a white background, the IR reflectance scan indicated the presence of dye due to low reflectivity as compared to the black surface.
These examples demonstrate the usefulness of detecting security markers by reading through a clear label placed over an optimal optical background. This invention can be applied to any type of emissive or reflective optical marker 7 and any type of detection system that measure reflected and/or emitted light. If more sensitive detection systems are used, the level of marker 7 used will be lower. If less sensitive detection systems are used, the concentration of marker 7 used will be higher.
Some examples of detection systems are given in the following references: U.S. Pat. No. 7,030,371; EP Patent No. 1 043 681; U.S. Pat. No. 7,079,230; U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,534; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,296. Commercial devices which could be used as detection devices for this application include document examination and verification devices such as the VSC5000, VSC6000 and VSC4 sold by Foster and Freeman. Examples of emissive and absorptive dyes and pigments are also available on the websites of vendors Epolin (www.epolin.com), Fabric Color Holding Inc. (www.fabricolorholding.com/browse.php), Beaver Luminescers (www.luminescers.com/products.html), and LDP LLC dyes and pigments (www.maxmax.com/aSpecialtyInks.htm).
Organic markers may be compounds of the following type: indanones, metal dithiolenes, oxazoles, thiazoles, thiodiazoles, thiazenes, triazoles, oxadiazoles, pyrazolines, oxinates, benzoxazinones, benzimidiazoles, benzthiazoles, phthalazines, thioxanthenes, triarylamines, triarylmethanes, tetraaryldiamines, stilbenes, cyanines, rhodamines, perylenes, aldazines, coumarines, spirooxazines, spiropyranes, cumene, anthranilic acids, terephthalic acids, bartituric acids, and derivatives thereof. Examples of inorganic emissive materials are given in U.S. Pat. No. 6,436,314 and in the reference T. Soukka et al., Journal of Fluorescence, Vol. 15, No. 4, July 2005. Examples of inorganic emissive materials containing rare earth elements are CaWO4:Eu; CaMoO4:Mn, Eu; BaFBr:Eu; Y2O2S:Tb; Y2O2S:Er, Yb; Y2O2S:Er; Y2O2S:Eu; Y2O3:Eu; Y2O2S:Eu+Fe2O3; Gd2O2S:Tb; Gd2O2S:Eu; Gd2O2S:Nd; Gd2O2S:Yb, Nd; Gd2O2S:Yb, Tm; Gd2O2S:Yb, Tb; Gd2O2S:Yb, Eu; LaOF:Eu; La2O2S:Eu; La2O2S:Eu Tb; La2O2S:Tb; BaMgAl16O27:Eu; Y2SiO5:Tb, Ce; Y3Al5O12:Ce; Y3Al2.5Ga2.5O12:Ce; YVO4:Nd; YVO4:Eu; Sr5(PO4)3Cl:Eu; CaS:Eu; ZnS:Ag, Tm and Ca2MgSi2O7:Ce. Examples of inorganic emissive materials that do not contain rare earth elements are: ZnS:Cu, ZnS:Cu, Au, Al; ZnS:Ag; ZnSiO4:Mn; CaSiO3:Mn, ZnS:Bi; (Ca, Sr)S:Bi; (Zn, Mg)F2:Mn; CaWO4; CaMoO4; ZnO:Zn; ZnO:Bi, and KMgF2:Mn. Examples of emissive dyes which can be used in the application are given in U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,617. Infrared absorbing and emitting dyes which can be used as markers for this invention are referenced in the following table of U.S. Pat. No. 7,068,356 (see below):
This invention provides a solution to the problem of poor security marker signal response due to substrate optical interferences. Improved optical reading is accomplished by physical separation of a transparent label laminate 2 containing the marker 7 from the rest of the label 1. Once separated, the security-marked label laminate 2 is transferred to a non-interfering optical background surface 34, and an appropriate device 40, 42 reads the information contained in the pattern 9. An indication of authenticity is obtained in a manner which requires only very small quantities of marker material.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the scope of the invention.