CHICAGO-A group of companies with interest in the radio-frequency identification technology arena said they plan to form an intellectual property licensing consortium.
The consortium will offer patent management for patent holders and access to RFID patents for manufacturers and end users. The group is seeking other RFID patent holders to join the proposed consortium.
Companies that have signed term sheets to become members of the consortium include Alien Technology Corp., Applied Wireless Identification Group Inc., Avery Dennison Corp., Moore Wallace, Symbol Technologies Inc., ThingMagic Inc., Tyco Fire & Security and Zebra Technologies Corp.
The RFID companies said the consortium will be patterned after patent licensing consortia in the MPEG-2 and DVD industries. Under the proposed licensing arrangement, all essential RFID patents owned by members of the consortium will be made available to interested companies via a single license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, said the group.
ABI Research called the proposed consortium a positive step for the RFID industry, saying it provides a clear migration path for scalable, long-term EPC Gen2. ABI noted the absence of Intermec Technologies in the consortium’s early stages, which ABI said has been at odds with end users and other industry players about wanting to tightly control its core patents.
“RFID is about integrated solutions,” said Erik Michielsen, ABI Research’s director of RFID and ubiquitous technologies. “It’s not about standalone 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.”
Michielsen said questions remain, however, including what role silicon manufacturers will play.
