Scott Medford, vice president of RFID for Intermec, and his sidekick, Bob Eckles, Industry Marketing Director for Industrial Markets, came in to brief Putman editors on the state of RFID today. In my normal, shy and retiring fashion, I asked Scott, right off the bat, to explain the patent and lawsuit situation, and how it might impact adoption of RFID in the process industries and beyond. I think he was surprised by such a hardball first question, but he gamely explained Intermec's history and intellectual property in the area, with patents dating back to 1986, hundreds of them, and how they intend to handle licensing. He reminded me of the press release Intermec sent out last week, describing a new licensing program called Rapid Start, beginning June 1.