Patent of the Month

The IHMA Patent Newsletter is a monthly review of patents issued in the fields of security, decorative and data storage holography, along with holographic techniques, processes and displays.

In the ‘Security & Optical Effects’ category of May’s edition of the newsletter, the Banque de France disclosed a method for producing a security document.

The invention relates to a method for producing a security document, which comprises the steps of:

• a – forming microstructures (21) in a substrate by pressing a die having microreliefs against a surface of the substrate, the microstructures having alternating projections and depressions

• b – coating the microstructures (21) with an index step layer (16) so that the microstructures can reflect incident light radiation, the index step layer having a thickness that is less than a depth of the microreliefs, and 

• c – covering the surface of the substrate, including the microstructures (21) and the index step layer, with a protective film (23) of polymer material. The protective film (23) comprising a layer of polymer material and a layer of adhesive, so that the layer of adhesive at least partially fills the depressions and matches the shape of the projections of the microstructures (21) coated with the index step layer, wherein the index step layer has a refractive index different from a refractive index of the protective film (23) of polymer material.

Tender Alert Service

The tender alert service sends email notifications directly to the inbox of members, giving a description of the goods or services to be supplied, the deadline for submission and the outline details of the buyer – enough information to make a quick value judgement as to whether this opportunity is worth chasing. A link on the notification takes you to the Member’s Area of the IHMA website where you can learn more about the tender using the unique code that identifies each procurement.

An example of a recent notification from the Election Department, India (deadline passed at time of publication) was for the manufacture and supply of pre-printed and personalised colour Electors’ Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) with security features and hot stamping of hologram and printing of voter manual kit including envelope, welcome letter and voter guide.

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