3Com Seeks to Help Huawei in Patent Fight

3Com Corp., maker of computer-networking equipment, asked a federal court in Texas to let it help joint venture partner Huawei Technologies Co. fight a patent lawsuit filed by Cisco Systems Inc.

3Com and Huawei want the court to rule that gear developed by their venture doesn’t infringe Cisco’s patents. The new products “are substantially different from those in the dispute between Cisco and Huawei,” Santa Clara, Calif.-based 3Com said.

Cisco sued Huawei in January to stop the Chinese company from selling data-traffic switches and routers that it claims rely upon Cisco innovations.

3Com rose 6 cents to $4.97 and Cisco rose 17 cents to $17.40. Both trade on Nasdaq.