STONY BROOK, NY--(Marketwire -08/01/12)- Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (APDN) (Twitter:@APDN), a provider of botanical DNA-based product verification solutions, announces that celebrated guitar maker C.F. Martin & Co. ("Martin Guitar") has expanded DNA marking to protect and authenticate its guitar strings. Martin Guitar produces millions of strings per year, and is one of the leading manufacturers of guitar strings in the world. Martin Guitar strings are made in Navojoa, Mexico.

"Botanical DNA marking provides the ultimate security by protecting the guitar strings and the guitar itself at the original point of manufacture. DNA technology will help us to ascertain product authenticity, and it is consistent with Martin Guitar's intellectual property protection strategy," said C. F. Martin & Co. Vice President, Business Development, Gregory Paul. "Use of this technology for strings and other musical instruments by others in our industry can only help in the fight against counterfeiting."

Martin Guitar, an iconic American brand that is acknowledged as the creator of some of the world's finest musical instruments for over 175 years, has partnered with Applied DNA Sciences to protect its products, brands and intellectual property from counterfeiting and diversion. Since 2011, Martin Guitar has been incorporating its unique "Martin Guitar" botanical DNA mark onto each of its guitars, produced in its factories at Nazareth, Pennsylvania and Navojoa, Mexico. As part of the DNA authentication platform, any guitars made by Martin Guitar from 2011 will be able to be identified and forensically authenticated.

Every year, several thousand dedicated guitar owners attend a special event hosted by Martin Guitar to learn about new products, as well as new technologies. APDN will exhibit its botanical DNA authentication technology at the Martin Owners Club Event on Friday, August 3, 2012 in Nazareth. Applied DNA will be exhibiting at this event for the second year in a row.

At the Martin Owners Club Event in 2011, Chris Martin IV, Chairman and CEO, stated: "People around the world know the high level of quality that is inherent in each and every guitar that features the C. F. Martin logo, and protecting our intellectual property is of vital importance, as we face new counterfeit-related challenges at home and abroad."

Chris Martin IV commented recently: "We continue to work with Applied DNA Sciences on developing this program, first with our custom guitars, which have now extended to our laminates, and soon we will begin to mark our strings. We are serious about protecting our brand. Like I have said before, if you want to make guitars go ahead -- just don't use the Martin Guitar name on it."

Martin Guitar selected botanical DNA over other authentication technologies because it can be used to covertly mark a guitar, with its location known only to Martin Guitar, and for the strength in DNA generally in prosecution. As an identification procedure, DNA is recognized in courts in general as strong forensic evidence.

Botanical DNA can also be used in combination with wireless tracking technologies such as RFID as a way to ensure that those devices are not copied or tampered with. As guitars are botanically DNA-marked in quantity, forensic authentication by our labs, both as a quality control measure and also testing of products already in the field, can prove in time to be a strong anti-counterfeiting platform.

Famously wielded by singers like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Freedy Johnston, and Robbie Robertson, historic Martin guitars are on display at a museum at the factory in Nazareth, where the Martin Owners Club Event is held. Last year, the company celebrated the creation of guitar number 1,500,000, counting from its first creations in a workshop in what is now the TriBeCa section of New York in 1833. Applied DNA Sciences is honored to help protect the historic legacy of this cherished American brand.

Dr. James A. Hayward, CEO, Applied DNA Sciences stated:

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Legendary Guitar Maker C. F. Martin & Co. Expands DNA Marking to Guitar Strings and Protects Brand With Botanical DNA