YPB inks contract with Chinese government

Recently-listed brand protection company YPB says it has started shipping anti-counterfeit products for use by the Chinese government under the terms of a new supply contract.

YPB - which is registered in Hong Kong and also has offices in Australia and Beijing - listed on the Australian stock exchange last month and has just launched a company website.

It focuses on the development of forensic tracers that can be added to materials such as plastics, paper, inks, textiles and coatings, a proprietary scanner system to detect the tracers and a smartphone app that when launched later this year will allow consumers to authenticate products.

The supply contract with China's Ministry of Public Security is for the provision of invisible tracer products and T1 scanners, which will be piloted by the MPS' First Research Institute in a project focusing initially on "access control and personnel identification".

Earlier this month, YPB announced a supply contract with China's largest shirt manufacturer, that will make use of its anti-counterfeit fibres and scanners, and has also started shipping anti-counterfeit stamp pads.

The company also announced on August 19 an agreement to acquire US-based authentication app specialist Brandreporter to help accelerate its developments in that area.

"The Brandreporter acquisition will fit perfectly into YPB's web and app strategy to develop a global database of counterfeit goods through mass adoption of mobile and web applications," said the company in a statement.