Counterfeiting has always been a major problem, not only in the furniture sector, but also in the wood panel industry. Design counterfeiters cause an estimated annual loss of millions of euros, which is why many companies have been investing in effective countermeasures in recent years. One of these is Schattdecor, a leading decorative printing company, which started to address this issue as early as 2012.
The theme “New copyright protection in the industry“ was at the centre of the meeting organised by Schattdecor AG and Surteco GmbH in cooperation with FiliGrade, a company specialising in the creation of individual watermarks, during interzum as part of the Speakers Corner.
The three speakers, Roland Heeger, Technical Director Intergroup Schattdecor, Dieter Baumanns, CEO of Surteco and Johann Kerver, CEO of FiliGrade Watermarks, analysed the problems and consequences of decorative copies for the industry and the companies operating in it, but also presented a new form of copyright.

Comprehensive copyright protection for the entire industry sector

This is a particularly interesting form that is invisible to the customer and copier, but promising in terms of traceability.
As Johann Kerver, General Manager of FiliGrade, explained very clearly: “The principle is similar to that of a QR code deposited here as a watermark in the drawing. During the scan, the data is read by a server, transmitted and reproduced in the application or on the corresponding website, for example in the form of information on the decorations“.
The implemented watermark should not only serve as a protection against copies, but should offer, through devices, an added value for the customer.
Two years ago, at interzum, Schattdecor had already relied for the first time on designs protected by the method developed by FiliGrade. This application allowed to obtain, by scanning, all the necessary information about the design: the name of the decorative, the corresponding code or the colors of the collection. Now Schattdecor wants to define this service as an industry app and share it with other companies in the same industry.
For four years,“ said Roland Heeger, Intergroup Technical Director at Schattdecor, “we have been working with our partner FiliGrade on the development and implementation of a new form of copyright protection. Of course the copies will continue to be there, but with the new protection system we have defined the lines and the bases for an effective legal action, even in court. Our goal is to make this protection system available to other competitors in the industry, in order to achieve maximum effect and the widest possible range thanks to a single copyright for all, thus fixing the product piracy. Because counterfeiters have an easy time where every year important and serious printers invest in research and development of successful trends and designs for their customers and their market. Copies are always made only after these designs have become popular.

Trackability and legal action

Surteco's design developer is also relying on this new system. “Each of our competitors - explained Dieter Baumanns, Managing Director of Surteco - is faced with the same problem, that of counterfeiting. For this reason, we see the standardized system of copyright protection as a great advantage for the entire industry. Ultimately, we are all pursuing a common goal: to form a united front against piracy.
In conclusion, the objective of the two design manufacturers is for the customer to receive information at any time on their mobile device quickly and easily via a free application regardless of the supplier, displaying the company's profile and custom content. This is certainly an added value for both parties.