Bank of Canada patents microfluidic security device

The Bank of Canada has been awarded a US patent on a security device – based on fluids that move within tiny containers and change their optical properties – that could be used to protect passports, banknotes and other items from counterfeiting.

The resulting structures would function a little like other optically variable devices (OVDs) such as holograms or diffraction gratings, but represent an entirely new class with some potential advantages including ease and low cost of manufacture and the ability to be incorporated into a wide range of substrate materials.

The patent covers the microfluidic devices themselves, security documents comprising them, as well as methods for their manufacture and use.

An abstract of the patent appears below:

Security display devices, their production and use

Abstract: Security documents often incorporate security devices to prevent or hinder counterfeiters. Disclosed herein are security devices that include a fluid or fluids within the devices. Such devices, and security documents that include them, afford new techniques to check whether a security document is a legitimate or counterfeit copy.

Patent No. 10,780,727

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