A leading maker of microchips for pets -- Avid Identification Systems, Inc. -- scored a significant litigation victory last week when a jury found two competitors liable for infringing Avid's technology and making false advertising claims that harmed consumers. The jury awarded Avid more than $6 million in the lawsuit against European-based Datamars SA and its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Crystal Import Corporation. Avid was represented by Fish & Richardson, with Juanita Brooks as lead counsel. The jury unanimously found that Datamars and Crystal not only infringed, but willfully infringed three patents held by Avid for its core RFID technology, predominantly used today by Avid for identifying pets and reuniting lost pets with their families. The jury also found Datamars and Crystal liable for false advertising under the Lanham Act for making false claims about the effectiveness of their ISO products in locating and reuniting lost pets with their owners. Two other defendants in the lawsuit, Philips Semiconductors Inc. and Philips Semiconductors Manufacturing Inc., settled with Avid during the second day of trial after agreeing to purchase a license to Avid's patents-in-suit. Philips' license does not extend to the pet market. The products found to infringe Avid's patents include ISO 134.2 kilohertz pet identification microchips and readers, which are manufactured and sold by Datamars and Crystal under the names CrystalTag, iMax and iMax Plus.