Clipped Tag - Clipped Tag Development

Clipped Tag Development

The concept of the clipped tag was first introduced in a paper authored by IBM researchers Paul Moskowitz and Guenter Karjoth in 2005, RFID Journal, November 7, 2005. In their paper, presented at the 2005 ACM Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society, the authors suggest that by providing the consumer with a means to shorten the antenna, the read range of the tag may be reduced from many meters to just a few centimeters. Several mechanisms were suggested. The mechanisms included perforating the tag like a sheet of postage stamps to allow the tearing off of a portion of the antenna. Another proposed mechanism was to manufacture the tag antenna with exposed conducting lines which could be scratched off by the consumer.

IBM teamed up with Marnlen RFiD, a manufacturer of RFID labels, and Printronix, a maker of RFID printers, to demonstrate prototypes of the Clipped Tag, Wired News, May 1, 2006. The tag took the form of a garment hang tag with v-shaped notches in the edges and perforations to direct the tearing of the tag. Reactions by RFID privacy experts were favorable to the invention. According to Wired, Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said "The Clipped Tag shows that IBM is addressing privacy concerns, even those that are unreasonable." Subsequently, IBM and Marnlen RFiD announced that Marnlen had licensed the technology from IBM and was shipping samples to select users, RFID Update, November, 2006.