Intellectual Property and Ubiquitous RFID

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a ubiquitous technology with a wide variety of uses in several different environments and application domains. The EPCGlobal Class 1 Generation 2, or “Gen 2” specification has recently received significant attention both in notoriety and application. However, while considered a relatively recent technology, the subject of RFID has a long history in intellectual property (IP) patents, which can be traced in the United States back to at least 1930. This paper describes three important points in the development of in RFID related to IP beginning with foundational patents in Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) and how this technology has become the foundation for current RFID efforts. The second important turning point relates to difficulties faced by ubiquitous application of a technology without involving IP using the Gen 2 specification as an example. Finally, a patent application in process is presented that allows the automated generation of new RFID protocols. This final IP has the potential to encompass many more specific patents related to RFID communication protocols and provide a new emphasis on how IP is regarded for RFID.