A thermal inkjet printhead 100 of the present invention includes a heating element 110, an ink chamber, control circuitry 108, an ink reservoir, and a memory array 106. The control circuitry 108 causes the heating element to generate thermal energy thereby causing ink within the ink chamber to generate bubbles of ink, which are then expelled through a nozzle. The ink reservoir replenishes used ink in the ink chamber. The memory array 106 stores and provides the identification parameters for the thermal inkjet printhead 100. The identification parameters are typically provided during initialization of the printer and include color(s) of ink (e.g., black, green, red, blue), a number of nozzles on the thermal inkjet printhead, an addressing frequency, nozzle spacing, heating architecture, and the like. The identification parameters can include other information such as a unique serial identification number for the thermal inkjet printhead, manufacturer serial number, lot number, date of manufacture, compatible printers, ink capacity, ink remaining, re-ordering information for replacement ink cartridges, and the like.