Cisco Halts Huawei Suit

Cisco’s intellectual property suit against Huawei is off the docket — at least for now.

The rival network equipment makers this morning shook on an agreement that could ultimately end the legal wranglings without a trial.

“We’ve asked the court to stay for six months to facilitate this settlement,” Cisco spokeswoman Penny Bruce told internetnews.com.

Under the pact, Huawei will abide by the terms of the preliminary injunction and has voluntarily changed certain router and switch products.

The companies also agreed to appoint an independent expert to verify Huawei’s compliance. All other terms of the agreement between the San Jose, Calif., and Shenzen, China, companies are confidential, Bruce said.

3Com , which intervened in the lawsuit because it operates a joint venture with Huawei, also signed off on the agreement. The firms will create products that will be sold in Asia under the Huawei brand and in the United States with the 3Com logo.

Jodi Werner, a Huawei spokeswoman, said the 3Com joint venture is “proceeding as intended and will be fully operation upon regulatory approvals.”

She added that the joint venture’s products will be designed with respect for the intellectual property of all manufacturers.

Cisco initially sued in January, claiming Huawei and its subsidiaries had used proprietary source code and cribbed user and help manuals.

A U.S. District Court judge in Texas granted Cisco a temporary injunction barring Huawei from using the disputed intellectual property in any of its products anywhere in the world. Huawei had already voluntarily withdrawn the offending Quidway products from the U.S. market.

Huawei is privately held and sells most of its equipment in Asia.