Networking giant Cisco has issued a threatening email to its channel partners across Asia-Pacific after learning that its products have been ‘misrepresented’.
It alleges that third party products have been deliberately labelled with Cisco badges and presented to customers.
The Cisco warning, signed by its Asia-Pacific president, Gordon Astles, said the vendor “will terminate contracts with channel partners/distributors who engage in counterfeit activities”.
“There have been a few isolated incidents during the past few months but it is not a widespread problem,” a Cisco spokesman said.
The message received by channel partners said Cisco intends to “aggressively pursue” counterfeit activities for the benefit of customers.
The Cisco spokesman refused to comment on whether any partners had been caught since the problem came to light but said investigations were continuing.
“This type of behaviour is abhorrent to Cisco because the channel is a very important part of our business,” he said.
“The action taken would vary according to individual situations but we will do whatever is required to make sure this ceases.”
Cisco filed an intellectual property lawsuit against Huawei Technologies in January with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint is still pending.
The Chinese vendor has filed several counterclaims, charging Cisco with acts of unfair competition.