The Amazon rainforest, beautiful beaches, the song ‘Garota de Ipanema’, race car drivers and football players all come to mind when one thinks of Brazil. Unfortunately, the enormity and diversity of a country the size of Brazil, and the challenges that arise from trying to govern it, have given way to a country that is also known for high rates of crime and violence.

Digimarc Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed provider of digital watermarking technologies, has announced new developments in two main areas: brand protection and plastics recycling.

Criminal activities involving counterfeit licence plates are increasing. In the United States, temporary plates have been misused for criminal activities, while in countries like Bolivia, the UK, France, and Australia, thousands of fake plates are reported annually.

The year 2024 has introduced notable advances and shifts in election authentication technologies globally. Earlier in the year, we looked at the US state of Georgia’s move towards watermarked ballot papers and away from the use of QR codes to count ballots. This month, we describe how the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Namibia are planning to secure their upcoming elections.

Intergraf's recent report 'Comparing Print and Digital Media’, provides an overview of studies comparing print and digital communication tools in the context of sustainability, efficiency, and consumer preference. However, some of the findings of the report are also relevant for authentication.

VDMA, the largest network organisation for mechanical engineering in Germany and Europe, has published its new study ‘Industrial Security and Product Piracy 2024’. The study reveals a significant decrease in the number of companies affected by product and brand piracy, but highlights the increasing need for measures against digital threats.

Following on from last month’s Authentication & Brand News™ article on the mass counterfeiting of barcoded postage stamps in the UK, a woman from California, USA, has pleaded guilty to defrauding the United States Postal Service (USPS) out of more than $150 million in a counterfeit postage scam in Los Angeles.

According to a new research report published in the journal Langmuir, scientists have successfully developed a new photopatterning technique that creates two light-reactive images in one material.

At the recent World Seed Congress in the Netherlands, the International Seed Federation (ISF) signed what is being hailed as an ‘historic agreement’ with 12 organisations to combat illegal seed practices.

Researchers at the Centre for Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence (CENPARMI), at Concordia University, Canada, have developed a novel framework that uses image-mining techniques and machine learning algorithms to identify flaws in counterfeit coins.