Stockholders' Equity of Identive Group, Inc. - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended										1 Months Ended		6 Months Ended					3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	0 Months Ended											3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2013 Contingent Consideration Classidied as Equity	Jun. 30, 2013 Warrant	Jun. 30, 2013 Warrant Private Placement Warrant	Jun. 30, 2013 Bluehill ID	Jun. 30, 2013 Bluehill ID Noncontrolling Interest	Jun. 30, 2013 Hirsch Warrant	Jun. 30, 2013 idOnDemand, Inc. Contingent Consideration Classidied as Equity	Jul. 01, 2013 idOnDemand, Inc. Subsequent Event Contingent Consideration Classidied as Equity	Jun. 30, 2013 polyright SA Contingent Consideration Classidied as Equity	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options 1	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options 2	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options 5	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options 3	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options 4	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options	Jun. 30, 2012 Stock Options	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options	Jun. 30, 2012 Stock Options	Jan. 31, 2013 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan	Jan. 31, 2012 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan	Jun. 30, 2011 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan	Jun. 30, 2013 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan	Jun. 30, 2012 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan	Jun. 30, 2013 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan	Dec. 31, 2012 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan	Jun. 30, 2012 2011 Employee Stock Purchase Plan	Jun. 30, 2013 Bluehill Plans	Jun. 30, 2010 Stock Incentive Plan Twenty Ten	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Incentive Plan Twenty Ten	Jun. 06, 2011 Stock Incentive Plan Twenty Eleven	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options Bluehill ID	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options Minimum	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options Maximum	Jun. 30, 2013 Directors Option Plan	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Option Plan 1997	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Option Plan 2000	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Options Plan 2007	Jun. 30, 2013 Equity Incentive Plans 2011 and 2010	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock Option and Incentive Plan	Jun. 30, 2013 Share Bonus And Incentive Plans	Jun. 30, 2012 Share Bonus And Incentive Plans	Jun. 30, 2013 Share Bonus And Incentive Plans	Jun. 30, 2012 Share Bonus And Incentive Plans	Jun. 30, 2013 Lincoln-Park-Agreement-Fund	Apr. 16, 2013 Lincoln-Park-Agreement-Fund Purchase Agreement	Apr. 17, 2013 Lincoln-Park-Agreement-Fund Purchase Agreement	Jun. 30, 2013 Lincoln-Park-Agreement-Fund Purchase Agreement	Apr. 17, 2013 Lincoln-Park-Agreement-Fund Minimum Purchase Agreement	Apr. 17, 2013 Lincoln-Park-Agreement-Fund Maximum Purchase Agreement
Common stock reserved for future issuance (in shares)		14,600,000					14,200,000	8,600,000	3,700,000	3,300,000	1,300,000	4,900,000	13,800,000		400,000												20,000,000	3,100,000		3,100,000			2,000,000	3,000,000		4,000,000		2,000,000							4,500,000	5,000,000					8,800,000
Employee stock purchase plan offering term																											10 years
Annual increase in aggregate number of shares reserved for issuance under ESPP																									750,000	750,000	750,000			3,133,153
Increase in the aggregate number of shares reserved for issuance under the ESPP as percentage of total shares outstanding																											2.00%
Percentage of common stock purchase price of fair market value																											85.00%
ESPP each offering period (in months)																											6 months
Employee stock purchase plan offering, extended term																															24 months
Common stock shares issued under ESPP																														68,606
Unrecognized compensation expense		$ 1,000,000																										$ 200,000		$ 200,000
Unrecognized stock-based compensation expense, weighted average period of recognition		3 years 2 months 12 days																												24 months
Amount of non-qualified stock options to be received as percentage of participant's base salary																																		20.00%
Lock-up period from date of grant																																		24 months
Issuance of common stock in connection with stock bonus and incentive plans (in shares)																																			1,100,000
Authorized																																				4,600,000
Number of shares available for grant		6,616,472		7,769,039		10,114,332																														8,600,000
Granted		1,195,386		2,208,110																																3,700,000
Stock options plans expiration period																																							7 years	10 years
Percentage of stock options vesting																25.00%	25.00%	100.00%
Stock options vesting period																4 years	1 year		1 year	4 years
Percentage of stock options vesting after one year																			100.00%
Stock options, outstanding number		4,969,579		4,048,972		2,266,821																															3,500,000				200,000	200,000	200,000	1,100,000
Weighted-average grant date fair value per option for options granted																					$ 0.82	$ 1.20	$ 0.93	$ 1.33
Stock options exercised																					0		188
Proceeds from issuance of common stock upon options exercised																					0		135
Common stock released for future issuance for contingent consideration related to acquisitions ( in shares)														10,000,000
Shares excluded from calculation of diluted loss per share		0	4,000
Purchase agreement, maximum amount of sale																																																				20,000,000
Common stock, par value		$ 0.001		$ 0.001	[1]																																															$ 0.001
Common stock required to issue under the agreement																																																				251,799
Common stock required to issue under the agreement, additional shares																																																				323,741	32,374	15,748
Initial purchase value																																																					2,000,000
Initial purchase price per share																																																					$ 1.14
Purchase agreement term																																																					36 months
Aggregate shares that can be purchased subject to certain conditions																																																					18,000,000
Maximum number of common stock to be purchased from time to time																																																					100,000
Closing sale price of common stock																																																							$ 0.50	$ 0.75
Stock-Based Compensation Expense																												49,000	50,000	113,000		76,000															51,000	(434,000)	166,000	(72,000)
Accrued bonus	100,000	200,000	100,000
Net credit for bonus accruals	400,000
Issuance of common stock in connection with capital raise, net of issuance costs (in shares)																																																					1,754,386	1,200,000
Issuance of common stock in connection with capital raise, net of issuance costs		2,486,000																																																			1,500,000	1,000,000
Underwriting expense																																																					$ 500,000
Common stock, shares issued		64,239,000		60,809,000	[1]																																																284,173

[1] The condensed consolidated balance sheet has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2012 but does not include all the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements.