Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: patent info ( Answered,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: patent info
Category: Science > Technology
Asked by: balloo-ga
List Price: $20.00
Posted: 21 Mar 2004 17:18 PST
Expires: 20 Apr 2004 18:18 PDT
Question ID: 319050
who owns patents on the RFID tec that walmart wants shippers to use. 
I want to buy stock.  thanks   paul
Answer  
Subject: Re: patent info
Answered By: nutshell-ga on 21 Mar 2004 19:43 PST
 
Hi balloo-ga,

Good question to find potentially valuable stocks! My answer has two
parts. The first part deals with why you *cannot* buy the stocks of
the entity that owns the basic RFID patents. Second part deals with
the stocks you *can* buy of companies that have patents *based on*
RFID technology.

Part 1:

RFID is a very old technology that orinigally came out of MIT's Auto
ID center. According to http://www.epcglobalinc.org/about/faqs.html#1
the administrative functions of the Auto ID center would transfer to
EPCglobal, a non-profit organization formed by the Auto ID Center. The
above given link has all information regarding Auto ID Center,
EPCglobal and RFID.

Any company that wants to use RFID technology must participate with
EPCglobal by signing their IP policy.

Check this page for their IP information: 

http://www.epcglobalinc.org/action_groups/031223EPCglobalIPPolicy12152003A.html

Walmart is one of the organization that has signed their IP policy:
check this page, you will find Walmart's name there:

http://www.epcglobalinc.org/action_groups/participating_companies.cfm. 

Since EPCglobal is a non-profit organization, you cannot buy stocks in EPCglobal.

Part 2: 

Though the basic RFID IP is held by EPCglobal, there are many
companies that have got patents based on the initial RFID related
technologies. You can check many patents related to RFID here:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=rfid&FIELD1=&co1=AND&TERM2=&FIELD2=&d=ptxt

For example, Checkpoint Systems Inc, is one company that has an RFID
related patent that helps inventory control. Check:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=31&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=rfid&OS=rfid&RS=rfid

You can go through the patents given in the first link under Part 2
and find all the companies that own RFID related patents.

Friendly suggestion:

While RFID continues to be an exciting technology, it may not be
prudent to buy stocks in a company solely based on its ownership of
RFID related patents. It would help to check other aspects of the
company.

I did not use any search engine to answer this question. I had been
following RFID for a few years and hence knew where to go to get the
answer.

Hope this answer is useful to you.

Regards,
Nutshell-ga
Comments  
Subject: Re: patent info
From: pinkfreud-ga on 21 Mar 2004 19:52 PST
 
This newsletter might be of interest:

http://aplusnetdesign.com/brilliantrfid/newsletter.htm

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy