California · China · U.S. · Pentagon · Tom's Hardware
Netgear countersues TP-Link, saying firm 'remains, at its core, a Chinese company selling Chinese-made products'
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Netgear filed counterclaims against TP-Link in federal court in Delaware on June 11, accusing its larger rival of false advertising under the Lanham Act and arguing that TP-Link's 2024 reincorporation as a California company is a deception that conceals ongoing R&D and manufacturing in China.
Key facts
- Netgear states that TP-Link employed more than 13,000 people in China through 2024, including roughly 9,000 in Chinese manufacturing centers, against about 350 employees in the United States
- Netgear filed counterclaims against TP-Link in federal court in Delaware on June 11, accusing its larger rival of false advertising under the Lanham Act and arguing that TP-Link's 2024
- Netgear's filing puts TP-Link's share of the U.S. retail router market at roughly 65%, while TP-Link has said its share of the North American residential Wi-Fi router segment sits under 10%
- The filing fires back at a lawsuit TP-Link itself brought against Netgear last November, and it came one day after the U.S. DoD added TP-Link Technologies to its list of Chinese military companies
Summary
TP-Link sued first back in November, accusing Netgear of orchestrating a smear campaign and alleging that comments by Netgear's CEO on earnings calls falsely tied TP-Link to cyberattacks attributed to the Typhoon threat groups, and that the statements breached a 2024 settlement under which TP-Link paid Netgear $135 million to end years of patent litigation. Netgear's counterclaim denies the smear allegation and goes on the offensive, bringing four of them under the Lanham Act and California and Delaware trade-practice laws, alleging that TP-Link’s claim that it split entirely from China-based TP-Link Technologies and now operates as an independent American company is a false statement that misleads buyers.
Netgear counterclaim naturally leans heavily on the DoD’s designation describing TP-Link Technologies as “directly affiliated with the PLA” and a contributor to China’s defense industrial base.