The launch of HP’s Mobile Authentication as part of a wider anti-counterfeit 
campaign allows point-of-purchase verification, whilst a European patent registered for a chip might potentially affect refillers.
HP have announced the launch of HP Mobile Authentication, which will enable customers to authenticate HP printing supplies at the point of sale. This comes as part of the global Anti-Counterfeit programme (ACF), an initiative designed to protect consumers from unlawful products, reports AMEinfo.
HP supplies in the Middle East are set to feature a security label that features a holographic element, difficulty and costly to emulate, and a QR (Quick Response) code, which can be scanned by smartphones and tablets with internet connectivity. Once scanned, HP Mobile Authentication is accessed and used to validate the label.
Consumers without the ability to scan QR codes can input the alpha numeric code printed next to the QR code that can input on the HP Mobile Authentication website.
Tina Rose, HP EMEA ACF Marketing Program Manager, commented: “HP has been making great strides to protect customers from mistakenly purchasing counterfeit printing supplies. HP Mobile Authentication is one of the many measures we have implemented as part of our wide anti-counterfeit initiative, which over the last four years has assisted authorities in the
seizure of nearly nine million pieces of fake printing supplies products and components in EMEA.”
The announcement follows the launch of the Global Authentication Services (GAS), a cloud-based track-and-trace solution originally developed by HP Labs that can monitor goods in HP’s supply chain.
HP has also recently been granted the EP1740385B1 patent which is set to enable printers to encode a non-volatile memory device on the cartridge with theft deterrent information.
Further information states “cartridges of consumable substances having integral electronic memory devices that are configured to be programmed by the user in a manner that essentially renders the cartridge useable only by specific individual units of utilizing equipment, thus reducing the potential for theft or misappropriation. Embodiments also include utilizing equipment configured to interact with such consumables and methods”.
This has led to speculation that said encoding may prevent the use of a refilled cartridges, although it is unknown whether HP intend to install the encoding on devices yet.