http://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/001003.html
"A visible logo is needed because the RFID chip might not otherwise be readily or reliably detectable. When I felt the sample RFID passports passed around at CFP 2005 by Frank Moss , director of the Passport Office of the USA Department of State, I could (just barely) detect the RFID chip embedded in the cover by its stiffness when I bent the cover sharply and rolled the bend back and forth across the width of the cover page. But if I were a government agency, I wouldn't want to rely on that. The chip or antenna might fail if the cover was bent sharply every time the passport was checked. And the Passport Agency reportedly has been shopping for smaller chips less prone to breakage in the laminating and binding machinery, which would also be harder to detect by feel."
