Impinj, a leading RAIN RFID provider and Internet of Things pioneer, has announced that it prevailed in two RAIN RFID patent-infringement lawsuits. On July 14, a federal jury in California found that NXP Semiconductors infringed two of Impinj’s patents, one willfully. The jury awarded Impinj approximately $18.5 million in damages and lost profits. In June, a federal jury in Washington found that Impinj did not infringe an NXP patent, on which NXP sued Impinj. The cases stem from a patent-infringement lawsuit Impinj filed against NXP’s UCODE products in 2019, after attempting unsuccessfully for nearly two years to resolve them without litigation.
The infringed patents include key Impinj endpoint IC technologies related to Impinj’s Enduro technology, which provides a robust IC-to-antenna connection, and power-harvesting circuitry, which improves RAIN RFID tag sensitivity. In a letter to partners and customers, Impinj Co-founder and CEO Chris Diorio said, “We were disheartened to see a large company copy the patented inventions of a small, innovative company like ours. We take our responsibility to protect our inventions seriously, which is why we felt we had no option but to pursue litigation. We thank the jurors who listened carefully to the evidence, deliberated, and delivered their judgments. We are pleased with the outcome and confident in our position in the remaining litigation with NXP.”
Impinj has more than 300 issued and allowed RAIN RFID patents, reflecting significant investment and inventiveness. Impinj also supports global, royalty-free standards and, in accordance with the GS1 IP policy, provides reciprocal, royalty-free access to intellectual property necessary to practice the GS1 Gen2 protocol. The patent claims in the trial improve the readability, reliability, and manufacturability of RAIN RFID tags and are not necessary to practice Gen2. They do not believe this litigation outcome will materially impact ongoing or new RAIN RFID programs. The company believes that upholding intellectual property rights will encourage more RAIN RFID providers to innovate in the future.
“Impinj is committed to free and fair competition and, with our suppliers and partners, to creating and delivering the most advanced RAIN RFID solutions for our enterprise customers,” said Diorio. “As one of the founders and leaders of the RAIN industry, Impinj will continue innovating to advance our market.”
Click here to read the Impinj letter to partners and customers.
