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International Trade Commission pens patent love letter to Cisco

Arista violated three Borg patents, unless someone else decides it didn't

The International Trade Commission has handed Cisco another gun to fire at antagonist Arista, finding that the latter violated three Cisco software patents.

The patents in question cover router management (US 7,162,537), and private VLANs (US 6,741,592 and 7,200,145).

Since Cisco reckons Arista's in violation of twelve patents (as well as copyright infringement), the ITC's decision is a sorely qualified “win” for the company.

While the decision is nowhere near an end to the battle, its significance is that Arista could find itself on the receiving end of a US import ban.

The Wall Street Journal notes that the ITC won't finalise its decision until June, and even then, today's order (PDF) would be subject both to further appeals and even presidential veto.

Last week, Arista's lawyers accused Cisco of unfair business practices in a California court. Arista's complaint was that claiming copyright over CLI commands is anti-competitive.

Sueballs have been flying between the two companies since December 2014, when Cisco first filed against Arista.

Arista was founded ten years ago by former Cisco executive Jayshree Ullal. While profitable, its billion-dollar annual revenue makes it a minnow beside the Borg. ®

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