Martin Guitar partners with company to prevent counterfeiting

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

C.F. Martin & Co. is partnering with a company to add "botanical marks" to its guitars to prevent counterfeiting.

The company is working with New York-based Applied DNA Sciences on the venture. The "botanical mark" cannot be copied and will provide a forensic chain of evidence that can be used to prosecute perpetrators, said Gregory Paul, vice president of corporate operations for C.F. Martin & Co.

“Protecting our intellectual property is of vital importance, as we face new counterfeit-related challenges at home and abroad,” Chris Martin, chairman and chief executive officer of Martin Guitar, says in a statement.

The two companies later this year plan to announce further details about the partnership, including timing of implementation, Paul said.

Martin said in a previous interview that authentic guitars cost on average about $2,500. Those sold as counterfeit cost about $200 to $300. Martin said it's hard to tell from a distance whether a guitar is authentic. Up close, a person might see cracks in the wood.

According to its website, Applied DNA Sciences has a reputation globally for its advanced product verification systems, protecting such products as English wool, Mexican police uniforms, world-famous luxury goods and, in a pilot for the U.S. Department of Defense, microchips bound for the U.S. military.

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