Improvements deliver faster access to IHMA’s Hologram Image Register

The HIR is the only system of its type for the authentication community. The centrally held global database of secure holograms is operated on behalf of the IHMA by the Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau under the strictest confidence and security that supports ISO 14298.

ISO 14298: Management of Security Printing (and Security Foil) Processes specifies the requirements for the management of security printing processes. Its goals are to improve security for the industry in relation to security printing and aid the fight against fraud and forgery, and also to reduce trade barriers by encouraging uniform practices around the world, at the same time satisfying clients’ increasing security needs.

In essence, the HIR enables hologram manufacturers and producers to verify that their hologram design, or elements of a hologram design, don’t infringe copyright or allow the unintentional copying of existing security holograms. The image registration is completed once the design has received clearance.

The HIR is also available to law enforcement agencies to check for the provenance of a design when they need information on a suspect hologram.

Improving user efficiency

The changes are designed to improve user efficiency and effectiveness by enabling faster online registration and copyright checking of hologram designs and will come into full effect this month.

The streamlining of the Copyright and Intellectual Property section of the HIR secure portal offers distinct advantages to IHMA members. It will further (and significantly) reduce the time taken for registration, which is a fully online process where artwork is submitted electronically to provide quicker design checks.

In practice, the hologram manufacturer submitting a design search will be expected to have the authorisation of their customers to use copyrighted artwork provided for use in the final hologram.

This is achieved by acceptance in the portal of Warranties and Indemnities to that effect, in turn significantly speeding up the whole verification process and ensuring that copyright/Intellectual Property is clearly identified and protected for all parties involved.

Beneficial step forward

IHMA chair Dr Paul Dunn explained: “The new and easier-to-use features are a beneficial step forward, representing a significant update and redesign of the HIR requirements. The new features more accurately reflect the way in which current holograms are designed and used, undoubtedly facilitating an increase in the registration of images and securing their integrity.”

The HIR includes more than 10,000 registrations, a number that’s growing by the day. It has helped to prevent numerous attempts to source copy holograms and has also helped to confirm that suspect holograms are, indeed, fakes, which in turn has led to arrests and prosecutions of counterfeiters.

Moreover, registration of a hologram design with the HIR is increasingly a pre-condition of tenders and procurement processes, particularly when it comes to bodies such as central banks, revenue authorities and passport issuers, as well as brand owners, of course.