Passport security feature patented by Entrust Datacard

Entrust Datacard has been awarded a US patent for a new and simple way of protecting passports and other sensitive documents.

The document security specialist says the feature - which is suited to booklet-type documents such as passports - is very easy for security personnel to check but is tough for counterfeiters to reproduce. It involves printing complex designs or images across the spine of the booklet and onto adjacent pages and/or combining pre-printed and variable print using different printer technologies.

The feature "provides a number of advantages compared to a static security feature, such as hologram, that has been applied in the booklet manufacturing process and is the same on every booklet."

The abstract for the patent appears below:

Printed security feature for secure booklets

Abstract: A security feature for use with secure booklets, especially those having a spine, for example passports, identification booklets and other types of ID3-sized documents. In one example, the security feature is printed across the spine of the booklet onto two adjacent pages. Most conventional, commercially available printers are unable to print across the spine, and therefore would be unable to reproduce the security feature. In addition, in the case of a booklet, for example a passport, that uses a stitching thread to secure the pages together, ink from the printed image bleeds into the thread. The presence or absence of ink in the thread can then act as an indicator as to whether or not the booklet is genuine or a counterfeit. Another security feature includes registration of a pre-print portion and a variable print portion that is applied during booklet personalization to form a combined image.

US Patent No: 9,375,971