Next week delegates from 22 countries, over 20 exhibitors and over 35 international speakers will meet in Cambridge, UK at the sixth annual Smart Labels Europe conference.

 

Several users such as IKEA and GlaxoSmithkline will report for the first time on their RFID projects. Tesco, Kaufhof and Marks & Spencer will tell us their latest results and RFID adoption plan going forward, now that they have used RFID for over two years.

 

Users will discuss RFID in transport, healthcare, retail and manufacturing and systems integrators will disclose their RFID integration experience teaching you about their challenges and what they wished they had known, saving you time and money.

 

In addition, the hottest technology issues are covered. Here are some of the topics that you will hear first at Smart Labels Europe.

Last week, one of the hottest disputes in RFID intellectual property was settled as Intermec and Symbol came to an agreement on one lawsuit and aim to resolve four additional ones. 20 companies joined Intermec's RFID Rapid Start Licensing Program (Cisco just having recently joined),which gives those companies access to all of Intermec's 145+ RFID patents for their full patent life for an initial fee and a royalty fee ranging from 2.5% to 7.5%. Symbol was one of the companies that has joined the program.

 

In August, 20 companies that develop RFID-based products formed an IP licensing consortium to offer a patent management system. This aims to make it easier for those applying for an RFID patent and to make it easier for users to access RFID patents. Avery Dennison, the lead sponsor of Smart Labels Europe this year, are one such member of the group.

 

Both Intermec and Avery Dennison will be presenting at Smart Labels Europe.

Impinj, a fabless semiconductor company, announced last week that they have entered volume production of their Monza™ Generation 2 (Gen 2) UHF chips, and will fulfill orders exceeding 50 million units in the second half of 2005. Learn more at their booth.

Scanology will be showing a handheld UHF reader, reading EPC Gen 2 UHF tags, which is ETSI compliant, and you can buy it.

To meet application demands RFID tags are increasingly in the form of a label, or they are being applied directly onto packaging. The need to produce RFID labels in high volume means new materials, antenna deposition and chip attach techniques have been developed and are now commercially available. What are the solutions? How can you be involved? Learn more in our dedicated track on Manufacturing RFID labels.

Some markets need more than ID. For example, sensors on the tag can provide diagnosis. Feedback from flexible, printed displays can inform, provide warnings and can be used to create new consumer and merchandising propositions. Hear from the Korean Ubiquitous Sensor Network Agency, Aveso (printed displays), Bioett and Instrumental Technologies (sensor based tags) and Savi Technology (active RFID for real time positioning systems and sensing).

 

For more information join us at this exciting event. See www.smartlabelseurope.com  for details. Smart Labels Europe is held in Cambridge, UK on September 20-21.