The world’s first hologram-toting IC tag combines the best of two great technologies. While a special embossing prepress technique enables latent images which cannot be seen with the naked eye to be hidden in graphics.

What happens when holograms and RFIDs – two proven anti-counterfeit and brand protection technologies used by many companies – come together in a combo pack? The “IC hologram” – double protection that prevents pirates from selling counterfeits – and it arrives in Japan next month, thanks to printing expert Toppan and electronics giant Hitachi.

The IC hologram was designed to make tracking and verifying the authenticity of a product as watertight as possible. Here’s how:

·         The hologram element is costly to fake without large-scale facilities.

·         The RFID data is encrypted, making the task to crack it even more challenging than it already is.

·         The sticker these ICs are rooted to cannot be peeled off a product without having it break into pieces, hence you will be able to tell whether a specific item has been tampered with or not.

While currently intended to track designer perfumes, handbags and other fashionable items, future applications could include securing medicine batches as well.

Toppan’s "special embossing prepress technique" could make copying using scanners and color printers virtually impossible. Until now, a similar special embossing prepress technique has been used to produce latent lettering or graphics that appear when the viewing angle is changed. Now, Toppan adds texture to paper using a special embossing plate to produce fine and diverse lettering and graphics. With this new technique, latent images which cannot be seen with the naked eye are concealed in the graphics – and the risk of the image itself being forged is reduced. Counterfeiters can’t use scanners or printers, which cannot copy the rough texture that has been applied to the paper.

The patent-pending technology can be used for regular paper and color printed paper - and applied mainly to security-sensitive items like gift and stock certificates, certificates of authenticity for luxury goods such as gems and precious metals, and packaging for luxury goods and premium products.

According to Toppan, "tens of trillions of yen (£100 billion+)" are lost to counterfeiters every year. The company’s new technologies may yet stem this bleeding that could potentially weaken business and the economy.