Charms Microtaggants

A groundbreaking covert security product

Charms™ are printable taggants that covertly incorporate customized logos and are easily identified using a low-cost, portable microscope

Charms are printable microstructured taggants -- miniscule particles two to three times the size of a red blood cell -- that can be customized with a customer's logo or graphics and then added to printing ink for documents, labels or packaging. It is the first covert product of this nature that is useable in standard printing ink, and the first solution able to offer very high-resolution graphics on micro-flakes in this particle size range. The easily verified presence of marked micro-flakes on genuine non- counterfeit material provides an additional and unique factor for authentication.

Because they are invisible to the naked eye, Charms can easily be added to documents, packaging or product without affecting any of the visual aspects of the graphic design.

Successful Track Record
VIAVI Charms solution has already been proven, extremely successful pre-release deployment on more than 100 million electronic products. VIAVI security pigments are currently used on more than 90 different currencies, as well as on many pharmaceutical and other products.

Ease of Authentication
With Charms, non-experts now have a quick and reliable way to distinguish counterfeit from genuine product -- one of the essential components in the battle against counterfeiters.

Key Benefits

  • Security feature can be applied with a standard printing press.
  • Authentication in the blink of an eye: a single low-cost, portable microscope works for authentication across different documents, products and/or brands, which is crucial for investigators, customs and law enforcement.
  • Protection does not rely on restricted access to the authentication tool.
  • Configuration of specific marks at various levels, distinction by brand, product, region, manufacturer or converter.
  • Usable in combination with an overt solution, mixed in VIAVI color-shifting ink, or as a stand-alone covert solution.
  • Can be added "just in case," and verified only when and where required. Protection does not require a minimum for sampling volume, as is the case with serialization.
  • Low per-unit cost enables effective protection of extremely high volume, fast-moving consumer goods.

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