CBP Revokes Ruling on Arista Product Redesign
CBP revoked its ruling that said a redesign of network switches by Arista Networks kept the merchandise beyond the scope of an International Trade Commission limited exclusion order, Cisco said in a Jan. 14 blog post (here). Arista celebrated the CBP's initial November ruling, saying it meant Arista could import the products at issue unimpeded (see 1611290032). Cisco, which is litigating over patent issues with Arista in multiple venues, sought the ruling revocation in December. While the CBP notice to Cisco's lawyers on the revocation (here) doesn't go into detail, Cisco said it means "Arista has lost the authorization to import or continue selling its products in the U.S., or to import components to build those products."
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Arista disagreed with Cisco's assertions about the revocation. "It is important to understand that CBP has not ruled that Arista’s products infringe," Arista said in a statement (here). "Instead, CBP has expressed concern that its original ruling was incorrect, based on input provided by Cisco. It is equally important to understand that Arista has not yet responded to Cisco’s arguments and has not yet had an opportunity to address any concerns Customs may have as a result of those arguments. We look forward to engaging with CBP in the coming days, and we are confident that CBP will diligently and carefully evaluate the facts, as they have done throughout this process."
Arista said that while the revocation notice came "without warning," CBP notably didn't explain its decision. "Although CBP revoked its approval of our design-around in response to Cisco’s aggressive efforts, it did so without hearing from us concerning Cisco’s arguments," Arista said. "We are working to engage with CBP to respond to those arguments as soon as possible." In the meantime, the company plans to "lawfully fulfill orders through domestic manufacturing sources and with products that contain our non-infringing redesign." The ITC’s orders don't "prohibit us from selling non-infringing products manufactured in the US -- even with imported subcomponents," Arista said.