AlpVision awarded US patent for digital mark technology

Swiss security printing specialist AlpVision has been granted a US patent for its Cryptoglyph digital marking technology, used to prevent counterfeiting or alteration of a printed or engraved surface, including pharmaceutical packaging.

The patent (No. 7,684,088) covers "the incorporation of a signature in the form of a digital mark" onto the surface using regular visible ink, and rendering the signature invisible via an over-printing method called asymmetric amplitude modulation.

"This method can be applied to any type of printed material such paper, packaging, or any other surface. Visible information can also be printed over the digital mark," says the patent. It goes on to describe the use of low-resolution office document scanners to detect the signature.

AlpVision says it has now been awarded 35 patents on Cryptoglyph and its other proprietary technologies, which include methods to authenticate moulded plastic components, such as pharmaceutical closures, and even individual dosage forms.


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