Hard cover product with concealed printed security device

A hard cover product, comprising:

• an outer liner;
• a pair of cover boards pre-cut to a selected size and each attached on a first respective major surface to a major surface of the outer liner in spaced-apart relation to define a spine therebetween for a hard cover product while defining opposing front cover and back cover therefor;
• at least one of the cover boards comprising a sheet having opposing planar surfaces with a length and width exceeding a thickness,
• a laydown area defined selectively in a selected portion (i) on the spine or (ii) on one of the opposing planar surfaces of the one of the cover boards;
• a thin-film security device positioned on the laydown area and configured for responding to radio frequency signals, the thin-film security device having a thickness no greater than about a minority of the thickness of the one of the cover boards;
• an inner liner attached in overlying relation to at least a respective second major surface of the one of the cover boards;
• an interior body cooperatively supported within the hard cover product,
• so that with the laydown area (i) in the spine the thin-film security device is concealingly disposed between the outer liner and a back side of the interior body, or (ii) on the one of the cover boards, the outer liner, the security device, the one of the cover boards, and the inner liner laminated together concealingly disposing the security device therein,
• whereby the thin-film security device enclosed therein is concealed from casual indication of its presence and is held after lamination safely and securely therein during normal use thereof for hard cover product purposes;
• and
• whereby the opposing cover boards define a front cover and back cover that move together foldably along lines defined by opposing sides of the spine for supporting and enclosing the interior body within the hard cover product.