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Mark Chandler

Retired | Executive Vice President

Chief Legal and Compliance Officer

Mark Chandler retired from his role as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Cisco in May 2021. Chandler joined Cisco in 1996, when Cisco acquired StrataCom, Inc., where he had been general counsel. Prior to StrataCom, he served for six years as vice president of corporate development and general counsel for Maxtor Corporation, a Fortune 500 hard disk drive manufacturer. Chandler is a member of the Dean's Advisory Council for Stanford Law School, member of the Governing Council of the American Bar Association Center for Innovation, Board of Directors of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, and the Board of Trustees for Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass. He previously served as a member of the Board of the Silicon Valley Law Foundation, member of the U.S. Department of Commerce Manufacturing Council, member and chairman of the City of Palo Alto Planning Commission, and member of the Palo Alto Utilities Advisory Commission. In spring 2016, he was a Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School. In 2010, The National Law Journal named him one of the 40 Most Influential Lawyers of the Decade, and in 2013, American Lawyer numbered him among the Top 50 Big Law Innovators of the Last 50 Years. In 2018, he received the Burton Legends in Law Award. Chandler received a JD degree from Stanford Law School in 1981 and a BA degree in economics from Harvard College in 1978.

Articles

March 30, 2017

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Legal Services Funding Supports Integrity of our Legal System

2 min read

Our market economy, which produces goods and services and jobs for billions around the world, is built on the foundation of a strong commercial law system – a foundation that promises “a deal is a deal”, that rights and obligations can be enforced through courts offering equal justice under law. For companies like mine, access to […]

March 28, 2017

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Cisco Supports Tech Effort to Help Hate Crime Victims

2 min read

Recently I had the chance to see how smart technology, applied to vexing social problems, can help provide solutions and build a better world. Working with the American Bar Association’s Center for Innovation (ABA), we’re deeply engaged in an effort to create a better path for those who believe they’ve been victimized by a hate […]

January 14, 2017

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: CBP Revokes Approval of Arista Redesign

2 min read

Late yesterday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency revoked its November 2016 finding that Arista’s supposedly “redesigned” products don’t infringe a key Cisco patent.  You can read CBP’s letter of revocation here. The revocation covers all Arista products.  This means that Arista has lost the authorization to import or continue selling its products […]

December 14, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: Arista’s Copying of Cisco’s User Interfaces

2 min read

I can’t pretend not to be disappointed that a jury in federal court, having found that Arista copied Cisco’s user interfaces and that the copying was not justified by the fair use doctrine, applied the little known principle of “scènes à faire” to deny Cisco relief for Arista’s action. In laymen’s terms, justification by applying […]

December 9, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: ITC Confirms Arista Products Violate Additional Cisco Patents

3 min read

Cisco has won another important ruling from the ITC in our effort to stop Arista from using our intellectual property. In the Initial Determination for the second ITC investigation (known as ‘945), the judge confirmed that Arista has infringed another two Cisco patents covering critical core networking technology. That brings the total number of Cisco […]

August 22, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: Facing the Facts

3 min read

Today the U.S. Trade Representative concluded that the International Trade Commission's import ban and cease and desist order covering all Arista products will go into effect tomorrow.

July 28, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: ITC Clear on Ruling, Remedy, and Rationale

2 min read

This week the International Trade Commission (ITC) released the public version of its ‘944 ruling, which shows intentionality of Arista’s infringement, confirms that Cisco patents are valid, and rebuffs arguments against a ban

Protecting Innovation: Investors and Customers Deserve Transparency

1 min read

On June 23, the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Arista’s products infringed three Cisco patents. In roughly a week, the ITC will release a public version of the 60-page opinion laying out the full background and rationale for its decision. Given the importance of transparency for the industry, Cisco is asking the Commission to make the entire ruling public.

June 23, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: Final Ruling Confirms Unlawful Infringement

3 min read

Today the International Trade Commission issued a Final Determination that Arista’s products infringe three Cisco patents. Two of the patents cover Cisco’s private VLAN network security technology which Arista included in its switches. The third covers Cisco’s proprietary core SysDB technology misappropriated by Arista, which Arista’s CEO has ironically referred to as Arista’s “secret sauce.” The case, known as “the ‘944 investigation,” is the first […]

April 11, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: Update on ITC Investigations

1 min read

When we launched our District Court and International Trade Commission (ITC) actions in 2014, we promised to provide ongoing updates on their progress. On February 2, Judge Shaw issued a ruling in the first ITC case (‘944) that Arista had violated three of five Cisco patents. Despite a large number of redactions, the reasons for […]

March 3, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: ITC Releases Detailed Ruling and Remedy

2 min read

Today International Trade Commission Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), David Shaw released the 294-page public version of his ruling in  the first of two patent infringement cases involving Arista that Cisco had initiated at the ITC. Today’s ruling follows last week’s publication of his proposed remedies. These important documents lay out the intentional nature of Arista’s […]

February 18, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: Update on ITC Cases

2 min read

Earlier this week, Cisco received some welcome news. The U.S Patent and Trademark Office has rejected Arista’s second attempt to invalidate a Cisco patent that was asserted in the ‘945 International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation. This is also a patent where the ITC staff recommended a finding of infringement. We are now looking forward to […]

February 2, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: The Beginning of the End

3 min read

Earlier today, the International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a ruling in the first of their investigations into Arista. This follows a lengthy investigation, a review of thousands of pages of briefing materials and supporting evidence, and a two-week hearing involving testimony and cross-examination. We thank Judge Shaw and the ITC staff for their diligence. Specifically […]

January 25, 2016

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: Cisco seeks only fair competition

2 min read

Arista’s filing of bogus antitrust claims today is not accidental or a coincidence. The claims, most of which were included in earlier Arista filings, are a smokescreen to divert attention from the important ruling expected from the International Trade Commission (ITC) on February 2*. This is when Judge Shaw will rule on the validity of […]

November 16, 2015

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation – Moving Forward

3 min read

With the second International Trade Commission (ITC) trial regarding Arista’s use of Cisco’s proprietary networking technology patents almost complete, now is a good time to provide an update. As you will recall, Cisco filed copyright and patent infringement cases against Arista last December in the District Court in Northern California. One case, focused on 12 […]

August 18, 2015

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: Update on District Court and ITC Actions

3 min read

Our legal action to stop Arista’s copying and use of Cisco’s intellectual property is proceeding according to schedule. With a number of important procedural steps about to take place, we feel now is a good time to provide an update. Last December we brought two actions in the United States District Court for the Northern […]

Oracle v Google: Implications of the SCOTUS decision

2 min read

We’ve promised to provide regular updates about important events related to our litigation to stop Arista’s wrongful copying of Cisco’s copyrighted and patented intellectual property. An action by the Supreme Court of the United States this week has the potential to change the landscape for our US District Court action related to our CLI technology. In […]

June 11, 2015

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Statement on House Judiciary Committee 
Passage of Patent Reform Legislation

1 min read

The House Judiciary Committee today approved patent reform legislation that helps create a level playing field for those seeking to encourage innovation. This is the second time in two weeks that a key Congressional committee voted in favor of reform. It is a clear demonstration of the bipartisan, bicameral support for reform. Like any legislation, […]

June 4, 2015

HIGH TECH POLICY

Statement by Mark Chandler on Senate Judiciary Committee Passage of Patent Reform

1 min read

The Senate Judiciary Committee today overwhelmingly approved patent litigation reform, clearing a hurdle which proved insurmountable in the last Congress. This is a major milestone that demonstrates strong bipartisan, bicameral support for meaningful patent reform. It clears the way for the Senate to act. The bill approved by Committee takes a major step toward restoring […]

April 29, 2015

HIGH TECH POLICY

Cisco Welcomes Introduction of Senate Patent Litigation Reform Bill

1 min read

The introduction of Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act of 2015 represents a major milestone on the long road to patent reform. On behalf of Cisco, let me thank Senators Grassley, Leahy, Cornyn, Schumer, Lee, Hatch and Klobuchar for their work to forge bipartisan support for this legislation. The problem of abusive patent litigation […]

March 25, 2015

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Governments Need Global Standards of Conduct for Surveillance

1 min read

Privacy and human rights advocates, technology companies, and trade associations have today called on U.S. political leaders to reform the country’s surveillance laws. We add our voice to those calls. These reforms will help show the world that the U.S. Government is ready to lead the dialogue on global standards of conduct, and wants to […]

February 10, 2015

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: Update on Status of Arista Litigation

2 min read

Today Arista moved to formally delay the target date for completion of the ITC case by six months. These cases involve the pervasive copying of Cisco's intellectual property and these cases should progress quickly and we will oppose any delay.

February 8, 2015

HIGH TECH POLICY

Statement of Mark Chandler on the IEEE Decision on Patent Clarifications

1 min read

“Today’s decision by the IEEE Board of Directors is a significant victory for consumers and for those who want a reasonable and stable patent system that supports innovation. In making this decision, the IEEE supported those companies who are willing to both grant and receive licenses for patents required for use in IEEE standards on reasonable terms.  […]

February 5, 2015

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Innovation Moves Quickly; Arista Should Not Delay ITC Case

1 min read

We previously committed to providing important updates on our legal action over Arista’s pervasive copying and misappropriation of Cisco intellectual property. Today, an International Trade Commission (ITC) Administrative Law Judge issued an order rejecting Arista’s request to consolidate Cisco’s two ITC complaints. Arista’s request had itself included an acknowledgement that consolidation could cause a six […]

January 21, 2015

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

Protecting Innovation: International Trade Commission Commences Investigation

2 min read

A short while ago, the International Trade Commission (ITC) took an important first step toward the speedy review and action we requested regarding Arista’s widespread infringement of Cisco’s patented networking technology. We welcome the ITC’s initial action in this case, and by voting to commence an investigation into our complaints regarding Arista’s use of Cisco’s patented […]

January 20, 2015

HIGH TECH POLICY

Why We are United for Patent Reform

2 min read

Last week marked the first steps forward for a broad-based coalition of businesses who are working together to fight wanton abuse of the patent litigation system by patent assertion entities (PAEs). The coalition – United for Patent Reform – is comprised of grocery, hotel, retail, restaurant and technology associations and companies including Cisco. Our mission: to […]

December 23, 2014

EXECUTIVE PLATFORM

A Grammy-Class Outcome to the Rockstar Patents

3 min read

Today’s definitive agreement for purchase of the Rockstar patents by a subsidiary of patent clearinghouse RPX Corporation, with simultaneous licensing of the portfolio to more than 30 technology companies, including Cisco, represents a victory for common sense.