As the intellectual property trial between computer networking rivals Cisco Systems Inc. and Arista Networks Inc. came to a close Monday, the strategies of the companies’ high-powered trial teams were on full display.
Cisco’s counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan highlighted what his side considers Arista’s decision to pirate copyrighted elements of Cisco’s user commands for network switches as a deliberate shortcut to business viability. Quinn Emanuel partner David Nelson directed jurors to see past Arista’s multilayered defense and focus on the company’s “intentional” copying of the look, feel and phrasing of Cisco commands that were already familiar to network engineers.
