Chander S Jeena
Regional Director, Reconnaissance International

Friday, May 22, 2026

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Strategy

PWPW Scales Up R&D and Intellectual Property Investment

According to a recent social media post, Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych (PWPW) is emphasising research and development (R&D) and intellectual property (IP) as central to its future growth strategy.

Celebrating its 107th anniversary (25 January 1919) this year, the company revealed that it filed 23 patent applications during 2024-2025, more than twice the number submitted in the previous two-year period. In the same period, PWPW expanded its trademark portfolio by registering 30 trademarks, representing a 2.5-fold increase compared to 2022-2023.

PWPW’s innovation profile was further strengthened by its inclusion in the European Patent Office’s EPO Technology Dashboard 2025, where it ranked joint fourth among Poland’s leading patent applicants. In 2025, PWPW submitted nine patent applications, demonstrating the increasing pace of internal technology development.

Among its latest physical security developments are:

  • PhotoShield™, which enhances the protection of personal data in identity documents
  • VivID®, which enables the integration of multiple optical variations within a single security feature, 
  • InsID®, which improves consistency between document layers and safeguards images against advanced tampering and forgery.

Recently, the European Patent Office (EPO) granted PWPW patents for two authentication solutions: ALICE ID® (Alternating Image Change Effect) and RALF ID® (Rainbow Anti-copy Laser Feature) (see HOTN March 2026).

In addition to physical security innovation, PWPW is investing in digital and hybrid authentication technologies: 

  • ScanSafe™ integrates cryptographic verification with mobile-based authentication for secure 2D code validation
  • AVIA™ links document photographs with encrypted digital reference patterns to detect manipulation attempts RastCode™ employs steganographic graphic structures to conceal personalised information within microscopic raster and microstructure patterns.

PWPW is currently engaged in a diverse range of innovation projects, including optical security, secure identity, cryptographic verification, and digital authentication systems.