In the last edition of Authentication and Brand News™, we described Italy’s new state seal adorned with the national flag for wine authenticity. Produced by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), the new seal symbolises Italian patriotism as well as designation of origin. In this article, we look at how IPZS is working as a quiet but formidable guardian for Italian trust and authenticity.

‘I really need help,’ posted a brand owner who used Amazon to ship its products, referring to the serialised ‘Transparency’ QR codes that brands apply to individual product units to verify authenticity and combat counterfeiting.

At various industry events and meetings, and on diverse platforms, a perennial question surfaces: what is the true market size of anticounterfeiting technologies in the brand protection domain? Despite this editor’s long experience in this sector, the anticounterfeitingw question has consistently presented a significant challenge.

In response to the growing threat posed by high-quality counterfeit pharmaceuticals, Alliance Pharmaceuticals has partnered with TrueMed to strengthen its brand protection strategy.

In June, police officials in India exposed a counterfeit postage stamp scam worth INR 25 million ($290,000), while last year, in the US, a California resident pleaded guilty to defrauding the United States Postal Service out of more than $150 million through fake stamps. Similarly, in the UK, Royal Mail investigated the mass counterfeiting of its new barcoded stamps after customers reported being forced to pay a £5 penalty to collect mail due to counterfeit stamps.

A new World Economic Forum report1 has identified generative AI watermarking as one of the top 10 emerging technologies of 2025.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is actively advancing its Strategic Plan 2030, which aims to build a strong, inclusive, and sustainable intellectual property (IP) system across Europe. A recent milestone in this effort was a high-level conference held on 1-2 July 2025, co-hosted with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) at EUIPO’s headquarters in Alicante, Spain.

Photonic crystals (PCs) are optical nanostructures that affect the propagation of light by the periodic variation in their refractive index. As counterfeiting techniques become ever more sophisticated, PCs offer physically unclonable functions (PUFs) due to their defect-sensitive optical behaviour and structural colours that cannot be reproduced accurately by traditional printing or scanning techniques.

US-based Lumenco, together with its subsidiary in brand protection (Nanopixel®), has announced a strategic alliance with UK-based XRD Nano to co-develop new-generation solutions for manufacturing microlens arrays and high-performance UV chemistry for brand security.

Crane Authentication has launched two distinct solutions: InsightPulse™ and Digital Asset Watermarking. Each aims to address different challenges in today's complex phygital threat landscape.

From April 2025, every bottle of Italy’s finest DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) and DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) wine features a new state seal adorned with the national flag. The tricolour flag is displayed next to the emblem of the Italian Republic, transforming the seal into a symbol of patriotism as well as a designation of origin.

Book piracy and academic fraud present significant threats to education worldwide. Counterfeit textbooks flood the market, while fake diplomas erode trust in qualifications. As publishing increasingly transitions to digital platforms globally, pirates are discovering new methods to exploit vulnerabilities. In response, governments, publishers, and regulatory bodies are adopting innovative technologies. This article examines recent initiatives.

Crane Authentication has launched two distinct solutions: InsightPulse™ and Digital Asset Watermarking. Each aims to address different challenges in today’s complex phygital-threat landscape.

South Korean startup NexpotSolution is emerging as a key player in the anticounterfeiting industry with its proprietary authentication solution, AllmyTAG. Central to this solution is a technology known as the Layer QR Code, designed to address the vulnerabilities of traditional QR codes.

TOPPAN Digital has expanded its Illumigram™ offering with a new colour version. Originally available only in white, the enhanced hologram now delivers multi-colour 3D text and images that appear when illuminated by strong light – such as a smartphone torch.

Pakistan faces a significant challenge from illicit trade and counterfeiting, a reality starkly reflected in the ‘2025 Illicit Trade Index’, published by the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), where Pakistan ranked 101 out of 158 countries.

Upcoming EU regulations are expected to transform the fashion resale market by potentially doubling the lifetime value of products. Research from Bain & Company and eBay suggests that consumers could reap up to 65% of these benefits. This shift offers a unique opportunity for brands to enhance their value chains through increased transparency, trust, and circularity, moving beyond mere regulatory compliance.

A new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the EU Intellectual Property Office, have revealed that, in 2021, global trade in counterfeit goods was valued at approximately $467 billion, or 2.3% of total global imports. This absolute value represents an increase from 2019, when counterfeit trade was at $464 billion, although its relative share decreased compared to 2019 when it accounted for 2.5% of world trade. For imports into the EU, the value of counterfeits was estimated at $117 billion, or 4.7% of total EU imports.

Labubu fever is everywhere, but with that popularity comes an influx of fakes. The quirky monster doll is making headlines again - this time for all the wrong reasons. Labubu, the wide-eyed creature popularised by the Chinese toy brand Pop Mart, is now at the centre of a growing counterfeit crisis.

In time for World Anticounterfeiting Day, the US-based resale platform StockX has released its second annual Brand Protection & Customer Trust Report, showcasing the company's significant advancements in verification, fraud prevention, and anti-counterfeiting measures throughout 2024.