21 Jun
2013
21 Jun
'13
12:18 p.m.
On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 1:53 PM, David Riley <fraveydank at gmail.com> wrote:
That's $2k PERIODICALLY so that they maintain your number. Last I
checked, anyway. Not a one-time fee. It's a big hurdle towards
developing your own hardware on a pretty common bus (similar problems
exist for PCI). And with only 16 bits of address space, there's no
reliable way to generate your own universally unique ID (one of the
few times you'll see me advocating for the use of UUIDs).
Looks like our information is slightly out of date...
http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/
"If you are a new USB product developer looking to get a vendor ID for your
company, there are two preferred options for doing this:
*1)* Become a member of the USB-IF. Among the many
benefits<http://www.usb.org/members_landing#benefits>of being a member
is the assignment of a vendor ID to your company (if one
has not been previously assigned). The annual membership fee is US$4,000.
Download the membership
application<http://www.usb.org/developers/USB-IF_Member_Agreement_070912…df>.
*2)* Become a USB-IF non-member logo licensee. Logo licensees are eligible
to use the USB logo in conjunction with products that pass USB-IF
compliance testing. In addition, you must also purchase a vendor ID if one
has not been previously assigned to your company. The licensing fee is
US$3,500 for a two year term (this fee is waived for USB-IF members). Click
on the link to download the Logo Trademark License
Agreement<http://www.usb.org/developers/logo_license/>andvendor ID
form<http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/VID_Only_Form_withCCAuth_01011…
order to become a logo licensee. If your company does not already have
a
Vendor ID number, your company must execute and return the Vendor ID form
along with your USB-IF Trademark License Agreement. The Vendor ID
is US$5,000. Please keep in mind that becoming a USB-IF Logo Licensee alone
does not entitle your company to USB-IF membership benefits.
If you would like to purchase a vendor
ID<http://www.usb.org/developers/vendor/VID_Only_Form_withCCAuth_010113.…
signing the logo license agreement, the fee for this purchase is
US$5,000. If you do not execute the logo license agreement, you are not
authorized to use the USB logo in conjunction with your products regardless
of their testing status.
"
So the way I read that, $4k will get you a membership to the USB-IF for two
years plus a VID if you don't have one, and option 2, pay $5k and get just
the ID. Wow... so the VID has inflated to $5k. I distinctly remember it
being $2k before.