Articles
Joint Statement – Agreement Resolving Litigation
1 min read
The following is a joint statement from Cisco and Arista regarding the existing litigation.
Cisco General Counsel Calls for IPR Improvements to Protect Patentholders
4 min read
Innovation is the life blood of our company. We invest more than $6 billion annually in research and development, and have over 14,000 issued US patents, reflecting the strength of...
Protecting Innovation: ITC Declines to Suspend Ruling; Orders Remain In Effect
3 min read
The International Trade Commission yesterday sent a strong message to Arista that its “corporate culture of copying”, as the ITC has put it, must stop. By rejecting Arista’s efforts to delay orders that Arista stop importing and selling infringing products in the U.S., it reinforced the protection of intellectual property rights. On May 4, the Commission […]
Protecting Innovation: Presidential Review Period Expires in ‘945 Investigation
2 min read
We learned this morning that the U.S. Trade Representative and the White House have rejected Arista’s “trade policy” pleas, and refused to stop the ITC’s limited exclusion and cease and desist orders from going into effect. The orders were issued in response to Arista’s infringement of two Cisco patents. That means that effective today, Arista […]
Protecting Innovation: ITC Enforcement Action Initial Determination
2 min read
We received word today that an ITC judge has issued a decision that Arista’s redesigned products do not continue to use the Cisco “SysDB” patented technology, which Arista was found to have infringed in the ITC’s “944 Investigation”. The judge’s order is subject to review by the full Commission, and we plan to request a […]
Update: U.S. Patent and Trade Office Reviews
1 min read
Update (6/01/2017): We disagree with the Patent Office decision regarding the ‘668 patent, particularly since the ITC rejected Arista’s validity challenges and found the patent both valid and infringed. We intend to appeal the Patent Office’s decision, which will be the final determination regarding validity of the ‘668 patent. The Patent Office’s decision here has […]
Enough is Enough – Change Must Begin Now
4 min read
Beginning last week, many organizations around the globe found themselves responding to infected computers in their environments that were hit with new malicious ransomware called “WannaCry.” Most other organizations reacted quickly to protect their network-critical files from being taken hostage by cyber criminals and held for ransom. And we are now seeing new variants of […]
Protecting Innovation: Commission Upholds Judge’s Ruling in ITC ‘945 Investigation
2 min read
This afternoon the International Trade Commission ruled that Arista switches infringe two additional Cisco patents, covering addressable memory and control plane policing, which are core technologies in network switching. By confirming Administrative Law Judge McNamara’s Initial Determination, the Commission brings the total confirmed Arista patent violations to five. Today’s ruling in the “945 Investigation” concludes Commission review of the two cases brought by Cisco in […]
Protecting Innovation: Update on ITC Enforcement Action
2 min read
UPDATE (April 7, 2017): The U.S. CBP agency today decided to allow importation of Arista’s redesigned products into the U.S. while the ITC enforcement proceedings for case ‘944 are underway. The decision was issued after the agency met with counsel for both parties in late February, where our outside counsel expressed concerns about the Arista […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
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.
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 […]