Within the aggressive realm of banknote manufacturing and safety, Oberthur Fiduciaire stands out as a number one participant. Every year, this industrial powerhouse produces tens of thousands and thousands of banknotes, guaranteeing their safety due to a cutting-edge analysis and improvement operation.
With a big portfolio of patents, bolstered by the acquisition of the Swedish agency Rolling Optics in 2023, Oberthur continues to innovate and lead within the subject of mental property. This text delves into the corporate’s dynamic strategy to mental property and its relentless pursuit of superior safety applied sciences for banknotes.
Maybe extra so than different sectors, the banknote printing trade was severely shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic. Around the globe, questions have been being requested in regards to the very idea of money amid (unfounded) considerations that banknotes may very well be vectors of viral transmission. In a world sliding relentlessly in direction of digitalisation, some have argued that banknotes are dealing with an existential disaster. Thomas Savare, CEO of famed French banknote and safety printing agency Oberthur Fiduciaire, will not be one in all them. “Cash is a time-honoured instrument, appreciated by people at large, and which has given every proof of proper functioning,” he said in an interview with the journal Politique Internationale.
Certainly, Oberthur Fiduciaire, a outstanding industrial entity famend for its intensive manufacturing capabilities, has remained steadfast in its dedication to enhancing and growing banknotes and, particularly, banknote safety features with a purpose to safe the way forward for bodily foreign money. The agency is a outstanding industrial entity famend for its intensive manufacturing capabilities, producing banknotes for international locations around the globe and is a frontrunner in innovation, holding dozens of patents that underscore its dedication to advancing technological options and enhancing the safety features of banknotes. This twin give attention to large-scale manufacturing and cutting-edge R&D solidifies Oberthur Fiduciaire’s place as a key participant within the world banknote manufacturing sector.
The significance of mental property
“The banknote is by its very nature a high-security and highly technological product. The security aspects of banknotes are under constant development,” stated Thomas Savare. To keep up its main place inside this area of interest trade, the agency has persistently prioritised analysis and improvement, inserting vital emphasis on mental property. This strategic focus ensures that the corporate stays on the forefront of innovation and technological development, regularly enhancing its services and products.
Savare, greater than most, understands the aggressive nature of the trade, with comparatively “few players compared with other sectors, [and] the need for innovation is pushed to the limit.” Firms should constantly innovate to remain forward of counterfeiters and distinguish themselves from rivals, which is essential for sustaining the belief of central banks and the billions of people that use banknotes every day. “The market is changing, and security features, starting with high security threads, are at the heart of our business. Oberthur Fiduciaire is gradually transforming itself into a supplier of top-quality intellectual property. Our numerous patents are available under license to satisfy the needs of other papermakers or printers, but also to central banks which would like one or more of our innovative solutions,”he provides.
Innovation by means of patents
Oberthur Fiduciaire has all the time positioned actual significance within the acquisition of corporations which can be one step forward of the competitors by way of innovation, patenting state-of-the-art applied sciences that assist construct belief in an infamously cautious trade. This course of has included a number of strategic acquisitions, notably the acquisition of VHP Safety Paper, a specialised agency primarily based within the Netherlands, in 2017. The buy-out enabled Oberthur to bolster its provide chain resilience in the course of the financial disaster triggered by the pandemic. “VHP Security Paper has been producing and supplying state-of-the-art banknote paper throughout the world for more than 200 years. It was the right choice and the perfect match for both Oberthur and VHP,” stated Savare following the deal.
Extra lately, the agency acquired a 71% stake within the Swedish firm Rolling Optics, specialists in micro-optic expertise. Talking following the buy-out, Thomas Savare stated was delighted to announce the event of a brand new product – AnimaTM – “This thread is extraordinary because it offers spectacular and unique movement with different variations that make it virtually impossible to copy. This new product complements our range of offerings in the premium thread and foil segment to the banknote market. With Relief and its unique 3D effects, and Pulsar which integrates ingenious micro-optics, to name but a few, Oberthur Fiduciaire holds now a key position in the field of innovative solutions”.
Oberthur Fiduciaire is acutely conscious that securing its future and way forward for the trade depends on a strong coverage on the subject of R&D and securing its mental property in such a aggressive, area of interest trade. “I am convinced that banknotes and coins will continue to be used on a massive scale for a very long time to come, despite the proliferation of digital payment methods. The banknote has been used for centuries and Oberthur Fiduciaire intends to be part of this adventure for the decades to come. We have the means to achieve our goals, it is up to us to use them efficiently,” affirms Savare. The way forward for money nonetheless appears to be like vivid, as a result of regardless of the rising variety of digital cost strategies, money nonetheless enjoys the belief of customers. A belief which, as we will see, has nothing to do with likelihood.