European Central Bank sued over Euro note security

A company that specialises in anti-counterfeiting technology claims Europe’s common currency infringes on a patent obtained from a New York inventor’s family.

Document Security Systems said in a lawsuit filed yesterday in Luxembourg that all 30 billion euro bank notes in circulation infringed on a patent it acquired this year that was issued by the European Patent Office in 1999. It is seeking unspecified royalties from the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.

The patent covers a method of incorporating an anti-counterfeiting feature into bank notes or similar security documents to protect against forgeries by digital scanning and copying devices, the company said.

“The euro is not the only currency utilising our technologies without authorisation,” said the company’s chief executive, Patrick White. “We believe there are a significant number of other currencies and also traveller’s cheques that contain our patented technologies on an unlicensed basis.”

“We plan on addressing each and every instance in order to derive the maximum benefit from our intellectual properties on behalf” of shareholders, White said.

The European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg deals with claims against institutions such as the European Central Bank.

A spokeswoman for the European Central Bank, Regina Schueller, said the bank was “aware of this public statement by Document Security Systems and has at this time no further comment”.

The patent was issued by the European Patent Office to the estate of the late Ralph Wicker, whose family business devised ways to protect against counterfeiting of currencies, cheques and other documents, White said. Wicker died in 1997, and all his patents were bought by Document Security Systems earlier this year.