Arista filed a counter lawsuit against Cisco a few days before a decision is anticipated to be made by the International Trade Commission. Cisco also recently responded on Arista's claim calling it "bogus" and "smokescreen" to the ongoing litigation.
Cisco filed a lawsuit against Arista due to alleged patent infringement and copyright infringement. According to Channelnomics, although litigation is currently ongoing, Cisco blog stated that ITC is expected to decide on five patent infringement cases this week.
However, before a decision is reached, Arista filed a counter lawsuit stating that the legal claims of Cisco are attempts to damage a company that challenges the dominance of their company. Network World reported Arista's claim stating that Cisco is using a "bait and switch" with its command line interference which is an industry standard and is using it to penalize other companies.
Arista stated that Cisco's lawsuit violates thee Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, and California's Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq. ""Rather, this litigation is an effort to debilitate a company that is disrupting Cisco's long-standing dominant position in this market with better technology. Instead of competing with Arista in the market, Cisco hopes to damage it with costly, but baseless, litigation.", Arista stated.
Meanwhile, Cisco's general counsel Mark Chandler said that they only want fair competition in the business. "Let me be clear. We welcome the opportunity to show that Cisco's business practices are consistent with a highly competitive and vibrant industry", Chandler said. "We seek only fair competition, but will take action against those who misappropriate our technology and use it to compete against us."
According to Investor's Business Daily, Arista's stock price is expected to take on a temporary hit, however, experts believe that it will not affect its long term finacial performance. A market analyst also stated that Arista is continually gaining market share at the expense of larger companies such as Cisco and Juniper Networks.
Cisco's lawsuit patent infringement lawsuits were filed in 2014 and has been ongoing for more than a year. The litigation process for companies Arista and Cisco's cases are expected to move forward this week.
