Companies plan RFID consortium

Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/9/2005

CHICAGO – A group of radio frequency identification (RFID) providers will form an RFID Consortium. The goal of the consortium is to form an RFID intellectual property (IP) licensing group to offer an efficient patent management approach for patent holders, as well as convenient access to RFID patents for manufacturers and end-users. It intends to provide a structured approach for holders of patents to receive fair compensation at a reasonable cost to the end-user, thus promoting rapid adoption of RFID in the supply chain, the companies said.

Thus far, companies that have signed term sheets to join the consortium include Alien Technology Corp., Applied Wireless Identification Group, Inc., Avery Dennison Corp., Symbol Technologies Inc., ThingMagic Inc., Tyco Fire & Security, and Zebra Technologies Corp.