On May 3, California-based microchip vendor AVID initiated legal action in Marshall, Texas against several defendants for infringing U.S. Pat Nos. 5,214,409 and 5,499,017. Case #2:04-cv-00183-TJW, Hon. T. John Ward, presiding, lists as defendants:
Phillips Electronics North America Corp.
Koniklijke Phillips Electronics NV
The Crystal Import Corp.
Medical Management International Inc.
Datamars Inc./Datamars SA.

Medical Management International Inc., does business as Banfield the Pet Hospital.
Crystal Import Corp. markets Datamars products in the United States and lists the same Pelham, Alabama contact address as Datamars USA.

The legal action alleges that Datamars ISO transponders (whose 15-digit ID code begins with the digits 981...) incorporate the allegedly infringing “Hitag S” integrated circuit manufactured by Phillips.

Furthermore the complaint in Texas also alleges infringement of AVID's U.S. Patent No. 5,235,326 . This claim affects ISO-compatible readers marketed by Datamars. In the event AVID prevails in its litigation, AVID would be entitled to demand that use of infringing product cease, meaning that readers capable of reading the Banfield/Crystal Import/Datamars product could bew removed from shelters.

AVID has also started separate legal action against Allflex USA Inc. and its
distributor, PetHealth Services in the US District Court of Wisconsin
(Madison), in Case 04-C-0067-S, Filed Feb. 11, 2004,the Hon. John C. Shabas presiding.
This case alleges infringement of US Pat. Nos. 5,266,926 and 5,559,507 with respect to the design and construction of the reader antenna. In the event AVID prevails in its litigation, AVID would be entitled to demand that use of infringing product cease, meaning that readers capable of reading the Allflex product could be removed from shelters.

The litigation by AVID could have repercussions beyond U.S. borders since the patents in question have foreign counterparts in Europe, Australia and elsewhere, meaning that similar litigation could impact the availability of these ISO FDX-B microchips and readers in those countries.

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