Secure Products: Clients

Secure Products is the established technology leader in the field of covert currency anti-counterfeiting marking systems, counting among its clients the largest currencies in the world. Working with central banks, and other U.S. and international government organizations, its work is highly confidential, based on years of collaboration and the depth of Secure Products’ capabilities. Secure Products continues to work closely with these organizations’ in-house advanced development groups creating the next generation of tools to thwart currency counterfeiting in all its forms.

Companies sometimes lose market share to themselves. When counterfeit products are sold under a company’s brand name, the owner of the brand loses twice: first there is the lost revenue from the sale -- losing market share to oneself; and second, the brand experiences erosion of both price/value and quality. It is appropriate to speak of the “counterfeit” use of a company’s trademarks when referring to the practice of a manufacturer that uses a cheaper grade of a product fiber, but then promotes the finished product under the “brand name” of a superior company. The buyer of the fabric (garment manufacturer), or of the garment (retail store or consumer) believes they are purchasing a genuine article made from the legitimate product, when, in fact, they are purchasing counterfeit merchandise sold under the company’s trademark.

One Secure Products’ customer significantly increased the active investigation and prosecution of the counterfeit use of its specialty fiber. When the anti-counterfeit program was begun, they discovered that 20% of the apparel bearing their trademark was, in fact, counterfeit, using a competitive fiber. Initially, the anti-counterfeiting process was cumbersome and an expensive process, requiring extensive destructive testing at specialty laboratories. Secure Products developed for this customer the ability (1) to economically “tag” 100% of the genuine products produced and (2) to perform quick, inexpensive and non-destructive tests on sample or suspect products for “in the field” (versus in the lab) testing with detectors specially developed by Secure Products. These tests provide results that are easy to use as evidence for prosecuting counterfeiters. As a result of this testing program and combined with aggressive prosecution, several textile manufacturers (counterfeiters) were shut-down and trademark violation was reduced from 20% down to 2%. With annual revenues of over $1 billion for this single product, this is a significant savings / increase in revenue and market share.

Another Secure Products’ customer had identified a $3 billion per year counterfeit parts problem. This represented 25% of their market share for which they received no revenue. Their product managers initiated a successful counterfeit deterrence program using Secure Products systems as the least expensive method to re-capture their own market share and significantly increase profits. The application of the Secure Products system provided this customer with a covert but easily identifiable Authenticator feature, delivering the following benefits:

Easy, inexpensive and covert application in their manufacturing facility. None of their manufacturing floor personnel are aware of the application of the secure feature to the finished product;
Covert mark is easy for company investigators to detect in warehouse or other distribution locations;
Covert mark is easy to detect by customs inspection;
Covert feature provides easy to understand evidence in court when counterfeit cases are brought to trial.

The presence of the covert mark on 100% of the company’s products versus the counterfeit product is easy to demonstrate in court without resorting to complicated analysis of differences in packaging, printing, or part fabrication. This has made the prosecution of counterfeiters much easier.

Secure Products’ materials and systems have successfully been used in document verification protocols ranging from check anti-fraud authentication (both manual and high-speed automated verification systems), to negotiable instruments, certificates, and identification systems. The Secure Products’ Authenticator System meets the multiple requirements of:

affordability;
ease of authorized application;
impregnable to unauthorized replication; and
ease of authorized detection.

Secure Products offers the ideal solution for next level covert authentication security for ID cards for both government and industry. As part of the full Secure Support System Service, Secure Products offers:

materials manufacturing and development in a secure facility;
auditable materials manufacturing trail;
proprietary marking systems for specific applications;
customized detectors to meet specific requirements.

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and their licensed and authorized Parts Manufacturers often find that unauthorized replacement parts manufactured by others which do not meet specifications, are sold to customers as “genuine replacement parts”. The unknowing use of counterfeit parts results in lost revenues and, more importantly, if the parts fail during normal operation, exposes the supplier of “genuine” parts to potential product liability claims and damage to their reputation or “brand image” with their customers.

Example: An aircraft manufacturer needed to ensure that only genuine replacement parts were used in their aircraft in order to maintain safety and warranties on their aircraft. Secure Products provided a field deployed system to detect and verify the authenticity of all components. Secure Products supplied proprietary materials, verification systems, procedures and training to apply a special covert I.D. marks to all critical parts which forever identifies those parts as “genuine” and which a counterfeiter cannot buy or copy. These Authenticator marks are extraordinarily robust and even survive, for instance, the extreme wear and tear of parts like brake shoes.