After three decades as a leading source of information for the authentication industry, Authentication & Brand News™ (ABN) is entering a new chapter. Starting in October 2025, ABN will merge with its sister publication, Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ (TSTN), to form a single, expanded publication: Tax Stamp & Authentication News™ (TSAN).

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has announced a budget of KRW 7.248 billion ($5.2 million) for 2026, representing a 2.7% increase from the current year.

The pharmaceutical industry continues to evolve, adopting new technologies and optimising resources to meet authentication and anticounterfeiting challenges.

Warsaw, Poland, played host to the Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS) 2025 conference from 15-17 September. The event confirmed once again that ODDS is the world’s leading forum (some would argue only forum) for the science and technology of secure documents.

Global agribusiness leader Bunge has strengthened its partnership with Bangkok Produce Merchandising (BKP), a subsidiary of Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), to improve soya traceability from Brazil. This initiative represents a significant step toward creating more transparent, responsible, and sustainable agricultural supply chains in Southeast Asia.

US startup MarqVision has completed a $48 million second-round financing that will be used to roll out its AI-based engine for detecting and removing counterfeit and pirated goods across online platforms.

Guinea-Bissau has enacted a national mandate for pharmaceutical traceability, establishing a regulatory system that requires the tracking and authentication of every medicine throughout the supply chain.

Crane Authentication – a Crane NXT business unit – has unveiled its latest innovation in overt security: PROFOUND® TruSpectrum™, which extends the colour palette of its micro-optic labels to match the spectrum of colours integral to a brand’s visual identity.

US startup MarqVision has completed a $48 million second-round financing that will be used to roll out its AI-based engine for detecting and removing counterfeit and pirated goods across online platforms.

The Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA), in partnership with Accenture, has released its first-ever industry report, ‘Indian Traceability & Authentication Industry Study’, which projects the sector will grow at a CAGR of 11.3% to reach £1.3 billion by 2028-29.

The Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA), India’s leading industry body for authentication and traceability solutions, has announced its newly elected board members for the 2025–2027 term. The appointments were confirmed at ASPA’s annual general meeting (AGM), held on 10 September in New Delhi.

The UK is home to world-class science, cutting-edge authentication technologies and a regulatory tradition that commands global respect. Yet, counterfeit medicines continue to infiltrate the country’s supply chains. Recent incidents reveal that even a country celebrated as a hub of anticounterfeiting innovation is struggling to keep ahead of the criminals.

The Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS) conference, taking place from 15-17 September in Warsaw, Poland, and supported by the International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA), is the key technical forum for physical, digital, and virtual document security. All arrangements are now in place, and attendance is expected to reach capacity for the three-day event.

Researchers at Cornell University, New York, have created an innovative method for detecting altered or fabricated videos, which consists of embedding invisible watermarks in the light sources used in the production of genuine videos. They call this new type of watermarking ‘noise-coded illumination’ (NCI).

In Authentication & Brand News™, March 2024, we reported on the US state of Georgia’s decision to adopt watermarks and reject QR codes on ballot papers. In May 2025, we highlighted Mohave County’s approval to add security features to its ballots for the 2026 midterm elections, in an effort to restore voter trust.

Almost one year ago, Authentix completed the acquisition of the authentication operations of the Canadian group Meta Materials, specifically involving Nanotech Security Corp, for circa $10 million.

Traditionally, the technologies used to catch counterfeit goods and those used to monitor food safety have had little in common. Anticounterfeiting relies on complex visuals – holograms, microtext, or colour-shifting inks – designed to be hard to copy. Food safety, on the other hand, focuses on detecting chemical changes that signal spoilage, like rising acidity or the release of gases.

Vietnam has developed a government-backed national product identification and traceability solution known as NDATrace (‘NDA’ stands for ‘National Digital Authentication’) to address the increasing issue of counterfeit and substandard goods in the country. The solution aims to combine previously fragmented systems into a single, trusted platform for data verification across government and private sectors.

According to estimates, in recent years, Pakistan’s illicit economy – which consists of everything from drugs, consumer goods, tobacco, foreign currency, to oil and lubricants – has thrived, costing over PKR. 2 trillion (about $7 billion) annually to its economy (see also ABN June 2025). Tax evasion related to illicit trade in tea, tyres, automotive lubricants, and pharmaceuticals has grown to c. PKR 160 billion per year. In such a scenario, brand protection becomes more critical than ever. This article covers Shell Pakistan’s strategy to combat this growing fight against fakes.

Researchers from the University of Brighton, UK, have developed a handheld, general-purpose sensor device for verifying the authenticity of medicines quickly, accurately and affordably.