This article was originally published by RFID Update.
August 31, 2004—According to a presentation to a recent gathering of EPCglobal representatives and other RFID industry players, Intermec will require a $750,000 prepayment on the 5% unit sales royalty for RFID chips incorporating its intellectual property. Once a licensor’s total royalty amount exceeds the advance, the 5% royalty fee will continue to be charged quarterly for the life of the patent. For RFID readers and encoders that rely on Intermec IP, 7.5% will be levied, with a $1 million advance. These fees are steep, but they wouldn’t singlehandedly stunt the entire industry. The real concern is that if Intermec proves successful, other intellectual property-holders might come out of the woodwork also seeking royalties, possibly pushing up the cost of RFID technology as much as 50%. And that certainly would wound the industry.
Read the article at RFID News
