YPB launches first commercial document security tech

Australian brand protection specialist YPB has extended its product range with the launch of MultiSec Shield, an authentication feature designed to protect government documents from counterfeiting.

MultiSec Shield is an extension of YPB's MotifMicro technology, which made its debut in the US sneaker market earlier this year and can be used to authenticate items using a smartphone. The new version is an over-laminate that can be used with documents like passports, ID cards and drivers' licenses.

MotifMicro is based on a proprietary covert tracer based on rare earth elements, and MultiSec Shield incorporates that technology along with a system that allows unmodified mobile devices to determine the presence of the tracer and thus an item's authenticity.

The company said earlier this month that it had been awarded a key US patent on the system, which involves illuminating a portion of an item using a mobile device to activate the security tracer, capturing an image that is used to confirm whether the tracer is present.

YPB's executive chairmen John Houston said MultiSec Shield is a "breakthrough technology for YPB into the documentation authentication market."

Highlighting its ease of production and application, Houston said the anti-counterfeit feature "has negligible barriers to adoption, and it offers immediate implementation at marginal incremental costs."

YPB acquired the Motif Micro technology – licensed from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US – when it bought its eponymous developer back in 2015 in a $7m deal.