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Arista-cats nearly out of the bag as redesigned products okayed

International Trade Commission says its kit should be fine to import again

Arista's long slog back to the shelves in America continues with an initial determination from the International Trade Commission okaying its product redesign.

As part of the long-running legal slugfest between Arista and Cisco, the Trade Commission banned the import of Arista products it alleged infringed a Cisco patent.

Arista redesigned its EOS to make its products comply, but the to-and-fro continued: first, US Customs and Border Protection said the reworked operating system was okay to import, then, responding to an appeal from Cisco, another investigation was launched into the so-called "'944 case".

Today's initial determination takes another step towards laying that part of the legal battle to rest – if the decision stands when the ITC's final determination is issued in September, and Arista will be able to import products that no longer infringe on US patents 7,162,537, 7,200,145 and 6,741,592.

The dispute is portrayed differently by the two parties. Arista reckons Cisco is throwing its weight around to stymie a competitor. Cisco portrays Arista as uninterested in innovations beyond finding ways to copy its ideas. ®

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