Cisco Systems Files Civil Suit Against US and Chinese Companies for Selling Counterfeits

Anne-Liese Heinichen
ERAI, Inc.

On March 9, 2021 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Cisco Systems filed a civil suit against three Tennessee-based companies, Lamination Service, LSI Graphics, and Ezzell Enterprise, a Chinese company, HES Limited, and 50 unnamed individuals for producing counterfeit Cisco-branded networking products in China, importing the counterfeits into the US and selling them to government and non-government customers.

According to the civil complaint, Cisco alleges that LSI had 370 US government contracts over a 36-year period; 117 since January 1, 2010. At least 15 contracts included Cisco-branded products which were sold to the United States Army, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Internal Revenue Service. Ezzell Enterprise entered into 11 government contracts with the Defense Logistics Agency and the Department of Veterans Affairs over a two-year period.

In China, an August 2020 raid by Chinese authorities resulted in the seizure of over 1,200 counterfeit Cisco-branded products, counterfeit Cisco labels, counterfeit Cisco security labels and counterfeit Cisco boxes.

In the complaint, various seizures by US Customs and Border Patrol list various counterfeit Cisco switches, including part numbers WS-C2960-24TT-L, WS-X4748-RJ45-E, and C9300-24P-A) delivered to the US from the following named exporting organizations: Yuheng Data Hardware International; Grace Xiong; Global NT; My Technology; and JM Utou Space.

For more information: https://www.securingindustry.com/electronics-and-industrial/cisco-sues-tennessee-chinese-companies-for-counterfeiting/s105/a13136/#.YEoqWTqSmM8