What issue places 20 RFID vendors in the same room? Protecting intellectual property. A new "patent pool" consortium has been formed to simplify and streamline users' access to RFID intellectual property. Founding members include: Alien Technology, Symbol Technologies, Avery Dennison, Thingmagic, Moore Wallace, AWID and Zebra Technologies.
The group hopes to address users' concerns about RFID intellectual property. Erik Michielsen, ABI Research's director of RFID and ubiquitous technologies explains, "RFID is about integrated solutions. It's not about stand-alone companies taking ownership of the whole marketplace. Companies need to build cooperative solutions to move this market forward, and this is yet another example of how companies are working together to create more sustainable and scalable RFID solutions."
There are a few notable absences in this consortium, including Intermec which has issues with other industry vendors regarding its hold over its patents. Also undecided at this point is the role of silicon manufacturers Texas Instruments and Philips.
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