Hong Kong Customs has started a three-month pilot scheme under the new duty stamp system to tackle illicit tobacco sales and ensure tax compliance.

At the recent LUXEPACK Monaco (29 September-1 October), Rolling Optics, a subsidiary of Oberthur, unveiled Fidaro™ – a micro-optic-based brand protection solution for packaging, labels, and product integration.

The Bank of Botswana has unveiled a 50 pula banknote commemorating its first Olympic gold medallist, sprinter Letsile Tebogo, who won the 200 metres, and the men’s 4 x 400 metre relay team that he anchored to a silver medal, at the Paris Olympic Games last year.

Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) has announced its new family banknotes series in the denominations of BND1, BND5, BND10, BND100 and BND500, scheduled to enter circulation in the first half of 2026.

Spectra Systems announced its first-half yearly performance for 2025, with revenues surging 54% to $34.97 million, up from $22.74 million in the same period last year.

Giancarlo Vimercati, the founder of Pilot Italia, passed away in July 2025. In 1968, Giancarlo Vimercati founded Pilot Italia, a label converter that gradually became well-known in the Italian label business.

KURZ Banknote Security’s production site in Sulzbach-Rosenberg in Germany celebrates its 30th anniversary this year (see HOT News August 2025), in honour of which the company has produced a series of celebration ‘Tree of Life’ notes themed around the beauty and strength of nature and the passage of time.

Diffractive optically variable image devices (DOVIDs) are widely used to protect documents against counterfeiting and misuse. They are commonly integrated into multilayer holographic foils, which are either hot-stamped onto documents such as credit cards, driving licenses, identity cards, passports, and banknotes or embedded into laminates that are heat-sealed to a document’s surface.

Koenig & Bauer Vision & Protection has entered a strategic cooperation with Bosch Secure Authentication GmbH – a subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH and part of the Bosch Group – to advance technologies in brand protection and traceability for protectable printed products.

Colombia’s Health Regulatory Body Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos – INVIMA has issued a health alert after uncovering a counterfeit batch of oncological drug MABTHERA® (500 mg/50 mL) circulating in the market.

The International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA) announced the winners of its inaugural Excellence in Optical Technologies Awards 2025 during a special ceremony held at the Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS) Conference in Warsaw, Poland.

The demand for high-security document features has driven research into optical technologies capable of producing effects that are both visually striking and extremely difficult to counterfeit.

‘Optical Document Security’, the book by Rudolf (Ruud) van Renesse, is recognised as the most authoritative guide to the science, techniques and use of optical security features on security documents.

At the recently held Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS) conference, the International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA) reaffirmed its leading role in promoting the global optical security ecosystem.

Reconnaissance, publishers of Holography & Optical Technology News™ and organisers of the High Security Printing™ (HSP) conferences, have announced the full programme for the upcoming HSP Asia 2025, taking place from 1-3 December 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA) revealed the winners of its inaugural ‘Excellence in Optical Technologies Awards’ 2025 during a special ceremony held on 16 September at the Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS) conference, Warsaw, Poland.

Transforming the secondary image into a primary security feature, OVD Kinegram presented KINEGRAM PHOTOGRAPH at Identity Week America, which took place 10-11 September in Washington, DC.

This September in Warsaw, the International Optical Technologies Association (IOTA) unveiled another milestone – organising the first ‘Excellence in Optical Technologies Awards’. Now, almost 30 years on, the wheel has turned once more with a broader optical lens.

Crane Authentication – a Crane NXT business unit – has unveiled its latest innovation in overt security: PROFOUND® TruSpectrum™, which extends the colour palette of its micro-optic labels to match the spectrum of colours integral to a brand’s visual identity.

A new advance in optoelectronics from the University of St Andrews could accelerate the arrival of holographic technology in consumer devices, including smartphones, wearables, and entertainment platforms.