HP, LG Electronics, Motorola Form RFID Consortium
December 16, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
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Seven companies organized the radio frequency identification (RFID) Consortium LLC to jointly license ultra high frequency (UHF) RFID patents.
The companies include:
- 3M Innovative Properties Co.
- France Telecom.
- HP.
- LG Electronics.
- Motorola.
- ThingMagic Inc.
- Zebra Technologies Corp.
These companies formed the consortium to license patents that help make products supporting the UHF RFID standards announced by EPCglobal Inc. and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), according to the RFID Consortium.
"Our licensing arrangement helps companies in the RFID industry avoid high transaction costs, blocking positions and costly litigation which might otherwise occur," said Dave Poole, a spokesperson for the RFID Consortium LLC and former vice president, patents and technology for Zebra Technologies Corp.
The consortium requested a business review from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). After that review is concluded, the consortium said it will offer licenses to firms interested in making, using or selling UHF RFID readers, labels or chips used in labels.
The RFID Consortium said it encourages companies with "essential" patents to join the consortium and include their patents in the licensing arrangement.
Under the joint licensing arrangement, patents essential to the practice of the UHF RFID standards owned by participants in the licensing arrangement will be made available to interested companies via a single license on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, said the consortium.
Joint licensing arrangements encourage widespread adoption of a standard by providing a convenient and cost-effective way to obtain licenses to the patents essential to practice the standard, claims the consortium. Reducing these transaction costs benefits the patent owners and the consumer.
To request information for participating in the joint licensing program, e-mail UHF-RFID@vialicensing.com.
Source: RFID Consortium LLC.