Three main categories of security features are used in product packaging: overt, covert, and forensic.
Overt security
Overt security contains visible features for quick validation, such as holograms and color-shift inks. Consumers can verify authenticity at the point of purchase without any tools.
Covert security
Covert security uses invisible features revealed through special tools or readers, including UV and infrared inks. Designed to be invisible to counterfeiters, these are typically verified by retailers, distributors, or regulators.
Forensic security
Forensic security requires laboratory analysis and includes chemical taggants and nanoparticles. This is the deepest level of brand protection, used to prove authenticity in legal disputes.
Why pharma is the canary
Pharmaceutical packaging is particularly vulnerable to counterfeiting due to high prices and profitable markets. The most commonly counterfeited drug globally is Viagra, while developing nations face counterfeits of life-saving medications like treatments for malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.
Track and Trace
In the United States, the Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) and the subsequent Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) have added Track and Trace functionality to the pharmaceutical packaging process, in the form of 2D matrix barcodes to ensure unique product identifiers on each package.
Manufacturers can embed security features into existing batch and date codes at minimal cost, offering affordable brand protection against increasingly sophisticated counterfeiting operations.