GB2341845A

GB2341845A - Compact disc pack with a security feature

Info

Publication number: GB2341845A
Application number: GB9922767A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Keith Reginald Pike; Susanna Pike
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-10-07
Filing date: 1998-06-08
Publication date: 2000-03-29
Anticipated expiration: 2018-06-08
Also published as: GB2330130B; GB2330130A; GB9922767D0; GB9812185D0; GB2341845B

Abstract

The card from which a compact disc pack is produced includes a security feature. For example, the card may be in the form of a laminate comprising a layer of board and a layer of paper formed with the security feature, e.g. a metallic strip or a fluorescing logo. The pack may be formed from two blanks, one (10) of which incorporates the security feature.

Description

2341845 COMPACT DISCS

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to compact discs.

A major problem facing the compact disc industry is the production of counterfeit discs, i.e. unauthorised copies produced by "pirate" manufacturers and distributed in contravention of the rights of the original manufacturer. This is estimated as costing the industry billions of dollars.

Such counterfeit discs can be difficult to identify, i.e. to distinguish between a genuine disc produced by the original manufacturer and an unauthorised copy. The original manufacturers thus face substantial problems when attempting to stop the distribution of the counterfeit copies.

2 It is accordingly an object of the present invention to facilitate the identification of genuine compact discs and thereby enable the identification of counterfeit discs.

Summarv of the Invention According to the present invention there is provided a compact disc packaged within a pack produced from printed card, which pack incorporates a security feature facilitating the identification of genuine compact discs.

The pack may be produced by, for example, the methods described in Patent Applications Nos. 9723442.1 and 9804544.6, to which reference should be made. Thus, the principles of construction of the pack will be such that it is difficult for a counterfeit disc manufacturer to produce a pack having the same principles of construction.

The card from which the pack is produced may itself incorporate a security feature. For example, at least one metallic, fabric or heat- responsive strip may be incorporated in the card. If a metallic or fabric strip is employed, it may be stitched into the paper from which the card is made. It may alternatively be in the form of a continuous strip embedded in the card, but located close to the surface of the card so as to be visible. The metallic or fabric strip may be contained in a sheet of paper which is laminated with a layer of board. The metallic or fabric strip may alternatively be 3 incorporated in a sheet of paper forming part of an insert, e.g. a booklet or instruction leaflet, contained within the pack.

If a heat-responsive strip is used instead of or in addition to a metallic or fabric strip, the heat-responsive strip is preferably contained within a sheet of paper which is laminated with a layer of board to form the card from which the pack is produced. The heatresponsive strip may alternatively be incorporated in a sheet of paper which forms part of an insert, e.g. a booklet or instruction leaflet, contained within the pack.

To make copying of the pack more difficult, the metallic or fabric strip, when used, may be marked or embossed with logos or other insignia, which logos or other insignia are changed by the original disc manufacturer at regular intervals. Two or more metallic strips may also be employed. In such case, the metals from which the strips are formed may either be the same or different, and may be varied for different kinds or types of disc, or at regular intervals, all to make copying more difficult for counterfeit disc manufacturers.

As an alternative, or in additon, to the use of the at least one metallic or fabric strip andlor the heat-responsive strip, the card from which the pack is made may be in the form of a laminate which includes a sheet of paper which is impregnated with a dye which fluoresces when, for example, it is exposed to ultra violet light. The dye may be applied in the form of a logo or other indicator which is changed at regular intervals. The colour of the dye may also be varied.

4 The pack for the compact disc is preferably formed from a number of layers of card appropriately bonded together and one or more of the layers of card may be embossed with projections or depressions or impregnated with a fluorescent dye, again arranged in the form of a logo or other indicator which can be changed at regular intervals.

The presented surfaces of the pack, i.e. those surfaces of the card which are visible in the completed pack, will normally be printed with information concerning the contents of the disc, with eye-catching designs and the like. Such designs may be made deliberately complicated to render copying of the designs more difficult for a potential counterfeiter.

A hologram may also be applied to the raw board prior to (or after) printing, again to make copying more difficult.

A watermark may be included in one or more of the sheets of informative or instructional material contained in the pack and such watermark may be produced using a semi-fluorescing dye excited by ultra violet light.

Various numbering or other sequential marks may also be added to the pack.

A clear or semi-opaque patch or window (with or without a design) may be included, again to make copying more difficult.

The various security devices referred to above may be used singly or in combination.

The compact disc may be a musical disc - since the music industry is currently subject to very large volume piracy - but the invention is equally applicable to compact discs carrying computer software, for example, CD Roms and computer games programmes, which are also subject to large-scale copying. The invention is also applicable to CDs containing the spoken word and to video discs (DVD) and any other CD format, of which different variations are appearing all the time.

Brief Description of the Drawims,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a first blank for use in the manufacture of a compact disc pack, and Figure 2 is a plan view of a second blank for use in conjunction with the blank of Figure 1 in the manufacture of a compact disc pack.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

The blank 10 shown in Figure 1 is formed of thin high-quality card of such nature that sophisticated multi-colour printing can be applied to it. Such printing may comprise, for example, logos, insignia and information concerning the contents of the disc. The 6 designs of the logos and insignia are made deliberately complicated in order to render copying of the designs more difficult for a potential counterfeiter. A hologram may also be applied to the card prior to (or after) printing, again to make copying more difficult.

The blank 10 has two fold lines 11 and 12 which divide the blank 10 into three portions 13, 14 and 15. Portions 13 and 14 are solid and form the front and back covers respectively of the completed pack, whereas portion 15 acts as the top sheet of a holder for the compact disc. Portion 15 is formed with an aperture or cut-out 16.

The upper boundary 17 of the aperture 16 comprises a semicircle with two arcuate lobes or notches 18 symmetrically arranged relative to the vertical centre-line of the aperture 16. The lobes or notches 18 are directed towards the upper corners of blank portion 15 so as to be spaced from the edges of blank portion 15, and thereby avoiding weakening the part of the blank portion 15 surrounding the aperture 16.

The lower boundary 19 of the aperture 16 is of curved wave form as shown so as to provide a lobe or notch 20 at the centre of the circle from which the arc forming the upper boundary 17 is struck. This lobe 20 is positioned between two arcs so that the visual impact of the aperture 16, particularly when a compact disc is contained within the pack, suggests a "smiling Teddy Bear".

7 The blank 21 shown in Figure 2 is formed from a card which is thicker and heavier than the card from which blank 10 is formed, typically being twice as thick as the card of blank 10. Only the edges of blank 21 are visible in the completed pack and the card from which blank 21 is formed does not, therefore, need to be of print quality.

Blank 21 is formed with an aperture or cut-out 22 which is of circular form with the same radius as the circle of aperture 16 in blank portion 15. The aperture 22 is formed with two arcuate lobes or notches 23 which are symmetrically positioned relative to the vertical centre line of blank 21 and are directed towards the upper corners of blank 21. The formation of the lobes or notches 23 thus does not weaken the border surrounding the aperture 22, which has a diameter slightly greater than that of the compact disc which it is intended to receive.

Blank 21 is of the same height as blank 10 and its width is the same as that of portion 15 of the blank 10. The mode of production of the pack from blanks 10 and 21 is as described in Patent Application No. 9723442.1, to which reference should be made.

Blank 10 can be produced from card which is formed as a laminate comprising a sheet of paper having a security feature and a layer of board applied to the sheet of paper during production of the card. The security feature incorporated in the sheet of paper can comprise one or more of the following:- a) a single metallic strip, 8 b) two or more metallic strips of either the same metal or different metals, c) a heat-responsive strip or strips, d) one or more fabric strips, e) an embossed or like security marking, and a logo formed using a dye which fluoresces when subjected to ultra violet light.

The security features referred to above can be varied as required by the CD manufacturer and can be combined with a numbering system so that the maker of counterfeit CDs does not know in advance what security feature(s) will be employed for a particular CID. The makers of the laminated card will also exercise control over the customers to whom the laminated card is supplied, thereby reducing the possibility of counterfeiters obtaining access to the required form of card. The above security features can also be combined with an "active device", such as the "Flying Null" strip or a programmable micro-chip embedded or otherwise included in the pack.

The CD pack can contain a booklet attached to the inside face of the front cover of the pack, i.e. to the inner face of blank portion 13 and the booklet (as well the card from which blank 10 is formed) may include a security feature such as a watermark, metallic strip, heat-responsive strip or logo formed from a fluorescing dye.

Claims

Claims:-

1. A compact disc packaged within a pack produced from printed card, which pack incorporates a security feature facilitating the identification of genuine compact discs.

2. A compact disc as claimed in Claim 1, in which the pack is as claimed in any one of the claims of Patent Application No. 9723442.1.

3. A compact disc as claimed in Claim 1, in which the pack is as claimed in any one of the claims of Patent Application No. 9804544.6.

4. A compact disc pack produced from printed card, which pack incorporates a security feature facilitating the identification of genuine compact discs.

5. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 4, in which the card from which the pack is produced itself incorporates a security feature.

6. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 5, in which the security feature is at least one metallic strip incorporated in the card.

7. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 6, in which the at least one metallic strip is stitched into paper from which the card is made.

8. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 6, in which the at least one metallic strip is in the form of a continuous strip embedded in the card.

9. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 6, in which the at least one metallic strip is contained in a sheet of paper which is laminated with a layer of board.

10. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 6, in which the at least one metallic strip is marked or embossed with insignia.

11. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 6, which includes two or more metallic strips formed from different metals.

12. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 5, in which the card from which the pack is made includes a sheet of paper which is impregnated with a fluorescing dye.

13. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 5, in which the pack is formed from a number of layers of card appropriately bonded together and one or more of the layers of card is embossed with projections.

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14. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 5, in which the printed surfaces of the pack are printed with information concerning the contents of the disc and a hologram is applied to the raw board from which the card is produced, either prior to or after printing.

15. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 4, which contains informative or instructional material in the form of a bookletproduced from paper having a security feature.

16. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 15, in which the security feature is in the form of a watermark, metallic strip, heatresponsive strip or a logo made using a fluorescing dye.

17. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 5, which includes a clear or semi-opaque patch or window.

18. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 5, in which the security feature is or includes a heat-responsive strip.

19. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 5, in which the security feature is a fabric strip.

20. A compact disc pack as cJaimed in Claim 19, in which the fabric strip is contained in a sheet of paper which is laminated with a layer of board.

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21. A compact disc pack as claimed in Claim 20, in which the fabric strip is stitched into the paper from which the card is made.

22. A compact disc pack substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

23. A compact disc as claimed in Claim 1, having a security feature substantially as hereinbefore described.