The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has come out with a comprehensive report on anti-counterfeiting solutions titled 'Technology Solutions: A Primer for Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy'. Union minister for science and technology Kapil Sibal released the new manual which provides an objective appraisal of available technology solutions in the world to counter the menace of counterfeiting.
Though it is now accepted by all stakeholders from brand owners, to consumer groups, to policy makers that brand counterfeiting and piracy represents a substantial problem that needs to be immediately tackled through a concerted effort by all parties, apprehensions about the effectiveness of the technology bar them from using the anti-counterfeiting technologies. The new CII report will come in handy for such managers as the manual concludes with a comparison to the various anti-counterfeiting technologies and an objective assessment of which ones are likely to be best suited for the Indian marketplace.
The objective of this manual is not to present a detailed analysis of the counterfeiting problem in India as the senior management of most Indian companies is already aware of both the nature and impact that counterfeiters are exerting on their brand equity, consumer confidence, and financial bottom-line. The purpose in creating this document is to assemble current information on technological solutions that are available to Indian companies and assist them in adopting a sound strategy for protecting their brands through effective technology application. So, this manual has been written with the twin goals of pedagogy and advocacy. The manual concludes with a comparison of the various anti-counterfeiting technologies and an objective assessment of which ones are likely to be best suited for the Indian marketplace.
The manual provides details about the currently available anti-counterfeiting technologies broadly in three categories of passive technologies, active technologies and mass encoding. The passive technologies include holograms and security seals, overt & hidden imaging and package modifications. The active technology solutions include Electromagnetic taggants (RFID) and forensic taggants. The mass encoding solutions discussed in the manual are Barcode application, Digital mass serialization (DMS), Digital mass encryption (DME).