Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Dexon Computer, Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided October 3, 2023·No. 3:20-cv-04926·Unknown

Opinion

CISCO SYSTEMS, INC., et al., Case No. 20-cv-04926-CRB

Plaintiffs,

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR v. PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

DEXON COMPUTER, INC., et al., Defendants.

Plaintiff Cisco Systems, Inc. (“Cisco”) brings this motion for a preliminary injunction against Dexon Computer, Inc. (“Dexon”), an unauthorized seller of Cisco product, much of which Cisco alleges to be counterfeit. See Mot. for Prelim. Inj. (dkt. 202). Cisco recently received discovery from Dexon in a different case between the parties—an antitrust suit in Texas—which Cisco claims shows far more (and far more recent) infringing activity than Cisco knew or could have known prior. As a result, Cisco now moves to enjoin Dexon from selling counterfeit Cisco product. For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS Cisco’s motion for a preliminary injunction, subject to the parameters described herein.1 Cisco manufactures networking and communications hardware, software, and related products and services. Am. Compl. ¶ 12. Cisco has built its brand through

1 The Court initially filed this Order under seal, in light of the parties’ many sealing motions related to documents cited herein. On September 19, 2023, the Court ordered the parties to file any proposed redactions to the Order by September 28, 2023. Dkt. 289. significant investment in its CISCO trademark and other related trademarks (Cisco Marks) that Cisco uses in connection with its products and services. Id. ¶¶ 14–17. In the operative complaint, Cisco alleges that “[f]rom at least July 2006 through the present, Dexon has repeatedly and systematically engaged in schemes to traffic counterfeit Cisco products.” Am. Compl. ¶ 24. Cisco alleges that Dexon has told customers that it is selling genuine Cisco products, and then delivered the customers counterfeit products bearing Cisco Marks. Id. And when Cisco repeatedly demanded that Dexon both (i) stop selling counterfeit products, and (ii) help Cisco identify the sources of those products, “[i]in almost every instance, Dexon refused to cooperate with Cisco, and refused to identify the counterfeit traffickers who supply it.” Id. Dexon, for its part, describes itself as a “middleman” reseller of computer networking products, sourcing from thousands of different suppliers, and selling to all types of consumers. Roush Decl. (dkt. 214) ¶ 3. Dexon contends that it has never “intentionally or knowingly sold a counterfeit product,” but rather that Cisco itself “has a counterfeit problem due in part to its decision to manufacture its products overseas,” and it is passing that problem off on resellers like Dexon, who do their best to try to spot counterfeits, but can only do so much. Id. ¶ 4. In April 2022, after this Court dismissed Dexon’s counterclaims alleging antitrust violations, Dexon brought an antitrust suit against Cisco in the Eastern District of Texas (“The Texas Litigation”). See Dexon Computer, Inc. v. Cisco Sys., Inc., 22-cv-53 (E.D. Tex.). Once the parties began exchanging documents in that case, Cisco contends it was alerted to continued counterfeit sales by Dexon and, in particular, rampant, illegitimate sales of Cisco’s SMARTnet service contracts. SMARTNet are optional enhanced service contracts that Cisco sells for its products. SMARTnet contracts can only be purchased one of two ways: (1) along with Cisco products that are sold through “authorized distribution” channels (of which Dexon is not one); or (2) along with a Cisco product obtained from a non-authorized Cisco source, if the result, unauthorized resellers like Dexon are unable to sell SMARTNet contracts directly— rather, they must acquire a SMARTNet contract from an authorized Cisco reseller. If a customer purchases a Cisco product from an unauthorized distributor (like Dexon) and purchases a SMARTNet contract through Dexon (which Dexon acquired through an authorized reseller), and Cisco does not inspect the product, that SMARTnet contract may be voided and terminated by Cisco. Through its document discovery in the Texas litigation, Cisco learned that Dexon has apparently engaged various “rogue” Cisco partners—i.e., authorized sellers of Cisco products and SMARTnet—to sell SMARTnet contracts to Dexon customers without an inspection, in violation of Cisco’s SMARTnet policies and the authorized resellers’ contracts with Cisco. Where this goes especially awry is when a Dexon customer’s product malfunctions and that customer seeks to have the product fixed or replaced by taking advantage of the SMARTnet contract it purchased. When that occurs, Cisco may have to inform the customer not only that the product is counterfeit, but that the SMARTNet contract is invalid. This can lead to—and has led to—confused and disgruntled customers. Cisco therefore moves to enjoin Dexon from continuing to sell counterfeit Cisco products, which Cisco claims is necessary to stop the harm to its reputation and loss of consumer goodwill. The Court held a hearing on Cisco’s motion on July 14, 2023.2 At that hearing, the Court ordered the parties to submit supplemental briefing regarding evidence of ongoing counterfeit sales. The Court also instructed the parties to meet and confer to discuss the form of the proposed injunction. Finally, the Court ordered Dexon to file a declaration with the bond amount that the Court should impose, in the instance that the Court grants an injunction. With that supplemental briefing on file, the Court is now prepared to evaluate and rule on Cisco’s motion.

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Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Dexon Computer, Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2023).

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