Hot stamping is the process of transferring a very thin coating (typically metallic) onto paper or plastic through a combination of heat and pressure. Typical decorative applications of hot stamp foils include greeting cards, book covers and packaging media, such as labels and folding cartons. Transfer foils can also be found embellishing writing instruments, cellular telephones and cosmetics. In these cases, the hot stamp foils are primarily for promotional purposes or aesthetic appeal.

They are built up in layers, not unlike the various layers that make up a semiconductor, except that the foils are processed on a thin film, not on a thick substrate, so the manufacturing skill involved is very complex. Foils start with a carrier film, often a polyester, onto which are placed layers of embossing, metallization, release, protection and an adhesive layer to bond it to the item being protected. If an attempt is made to remove all or part of the layers, this tampering becomes visibly evident.

Hot stamp foils are used in high security applications, including optically variable devices (OVDs) on driver's licenses, travel visas, passports, travelers' checks and banknotes. Hot stamp foils are also used in a wide variety of other security applications, including credit cards (holographic images, magnetic stripes and signature panels), ticketing (for transit and for events), and in packaging expensive goods such as pharmaceuticals, original and replacement parts (automotive, electronics, aviation, etc.), DVDs, CDs, video cassettes, computer software and other products subject to counterfeiting or tampering.

The KINEGRAM® is an optically variable device (OVD), created using special origination technology which incorporates such features as the unique 180° diffractive watermark, micro- and nano-text, as well as secure optical codes, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to counterfeit or copy. The nature of the materials and technologies used makes it impossible to remove once in place and precludes it from being photocopied or copied by holographic means. As such, it represents the best document, card and banknote security protection available today.

The most technically advanced OVDs in the world and those used on the majority of the world's visas, passports, immigration and emigration documents, including those of the countries of the European Union, are produced by the KURZ Group.

Yes, at the federal level several departments in Washington DC have recently adopted the KINEGRAM® to enhance the security of their employee identification cards.  Similarly, Massachusetts is the first State to use the KINEGRAM® on its drivers licenses. A second state will soon announce its use of the KINEGRAM® for implementation in 2005. This follows the successes achieved in Canada where the KINEGRAM® is applied to the immigration visa and permanent resident cards.

The risk of counterfeiting is increasing dramatically due to advances in personal computer, optical scanner and color printing technologies and in the ability of hundreds of illegal facilities around the world to produce conventional holograms. Counterfeiters with access to these technologies pose a significant risk.

The government has clearly recognized this threat and has been taking action to combat it. It has called upon industries around the world to bring forward the best available technologies to counter the sophisticated threats to government-issued documents, entry-exit documentation and identification cards. KURZ has answered that call by bringing its KINEGRAM® technology to the attention of the appropriate federal and state departments and agencies.