EPCglobal says that it is a royalty-free standard because a vendor doesn’t need to use technology patented by anyone to practice the standard. However, the standard is royalty free in only the most narrowest sense. Most experts say that today there is no practical way to build products based on the Gen 2 standard without infringing patents owned by Intermec Technologies, a vendor based in Everett, Wash. Intermec says it will charge royalties of 5 percent and 7 percent.
