Anti-counterfeiting technology patent round-up

SecuringPharma.com's periodic round-up of recent patent awards in the area of anti-counterfeiting technologies includes news from Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Hewlett-Packard, Silverbrook Research, AS Laser Diagnostic Instruments, Aegate, Panalytical and RFMarq.

Intelligent fridge for pharmaceuticals monitors contents (No. 7,775,056)

Merck Sharpe & Dohme has patented an intelligent refrigerator for storing pharmaceutical products at the point of dispensing that monitors the status of its contents using technology such as radiofrequency identification (RFID). The fridge identifies products as they are added or removed and makes a number of checks, for example if the items are "counterfeit, expired, suspect, spoiled, recalled or almost depleted," and if so delivers a warning to the operator.

'Noisy' method for authenticating packaging (No. 7,730,797)

Hewlett-Packard has been awarded a US patent for a technique that relies on taking an optical reading of a package and measuring the 'noise' - or deviation from normal - associated with one or more identifying characteristics. A threshold is used to determine whether the deviation is in the normal range and genuine or outside it and potentially counterfeit.

Tracking and identifying secure documents (No. 7,784,681)

Australia's Silverbrook Research has been granted a patent on the use of coded data on documents to allow them to be identified and tracked using a sensor device. The patent cites as potential applications "security document protection, object tracking, pharmaceutical security, supermarket automation, interactive product labels [and] web-browsing from printed surfaces."

Identifying liquids using encrypted markers (No. 7,763,469)

Estonia-based company AS Laser Diagnostic Instruments has been awarded a patent on the encrypted marking and identification of liquid products, including pharmaceuticals, based on markers with characteristic spectral features. Once added to the liquid the markers are read and an encrypted code is formed which can be used to identify the liquid later on.

Point-of-release authentication system (No. 7,757,948)

Aegate of the UK has been granted a patent on an authentication system for products at the point-of-release, covering the use of unique product identifiers such as numbers or codes, an authentication database, reading technology at a trusted location and the communication channels between each element.

X-ray detection in pharmaceutical packaging (No. 7,756,248)

This patent assigned to Dutch firm Panalytical BV covers the use of angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction (XRD) to test pharmaceutical products, such as a tablet in a blister pack, without having to remove them from the packaging. The measured X-ray signature is compared with reference X-ray signatures in a data library.

Management system for supply chain tracking (No. 7,784,688)

Californian company RFmarq Inc has been awarded a US patent for a management system which can be used to track elements through a supply chain using radiofrequency tags, with each point in the chain updated with information from all of the prior stages. The main application cited in the patent is in the semiconductor field, but also describes a pharmaceutical scenario.