According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2013, consumer electronics accounted for 20 percent of intellectual property rights seizures – second only to apparel (IPR Stats). In addition, a private sector 2013 study (Canon Study) indicated that a significant percentage of U.S. consumers lack a full understanding of the possible safety risks and the true long-term costs of counterfeit electronics.PolyOne GLS Thermoplastic Elastomers announced that Versaflex CE TPE materials for consumer electronics are now available in combination with Percept Authentication Technologies. This material innovation has been developed to help brand owners combat counterfeiting and reduce the risks associated with fraudulent goods such as phone cases, smart watches, headphones, earbuds and other wearable electronics.
"When designing innovative consumer products, it is extremely important to protect brand equity, differentiated offering and overall revenues," said Charles Page, director of global marketing, PolyOne GLS Thermoplastic Elastomers. "Our new solution combines Percept's anti-counterfeiting ability with the haptics and durability of Versaflex CE TPEs. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security logged $145 million worth of counterfeit consumer electronics entering the country, and this material was developed to help counteract the trend."
Percept technologies can be tailored to a wide variety of processing conditions, end-use applications, and authentication techniques based on overt, covert, or forensic-based approaches. These solutions enable brand owners to readily identify counterfeit products with easy-to-use methods based on additives and unique identifiers called taggants.
PolyOne is featuring Percept Authentication solutions for Versaflex CE consumer electronic applications this week at the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) 2014 conference in Austin, Texas.
