“Caught red handed” stealing trade secrets and more…. Sharp barbs continue to be exchanged in the lawsuit between Infosys and Cognizant. In the very recent charges, Cognizant claimed that Infosys was caught “Red handed” stealing trade secrets of its healthcare software TriZetto. Infosys on its part named its former President and now Cognizant CEO in the counter lawsuit. Ravi Kumar held the position of President in Infosys when he resigned in October 2022. He replaced Brian Humphries as Cognizant CEO in January 2023.
The US headquartered company said in its 22-page court response to Infosys lawsuit filed earlier this month: “Infosys was caught red-handed misappropriating TriZetto trade secrets that Infosys originally had access to through non-disclosure and access agreements (NDAAs).”
Cognizant’s latest reply made in a Dallas (US) court comes a month after Infosys filed a lawsuit against Cognizant in January, stating that its CEO Ravi Kumar engaged in misuse of trade secrets to obstruct the company’s healthcare software platform, Infosys Helix.
What Infosys said in its lawsuit against Infosys
In its January 9 counter lawsuit filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Infosys accused Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar of delaying the launch of the company’s Helix platform when he was heading the project and negotiating for a job with Cognizant.
“Kumar had championed Infosys Helix from his senior position at Infosys, lauding it as a next-generation challenger to the traditional platforms.’ But Kumar’s optimism and excitement for the Infosys Helix product suddenly changed in the spring of 2022. He began to withdraw support for Infosys Helix, declining requests for necessary resources, which delayed its completion by at least 18 months. In October 2022, Kumar resigned from Infosys and, shortly thereafter, was announced as CTS’s new Chief Executive Officer,” reads a para in Infosys lawsuit, as it first appeared in Fortune.
The lawsuit names two more Infosys’ former employees. “Kumar continued to ignore requests for additional engineering support for Infosys Helix in the spring of 2022, with the assistance of Arora and Kuchibhotla, cancelling meetings to discuss the issue, even though the lack of staffing had resulted in ‘a situation where the client is shaming us on the delays’ and concerns within Infosys that the client might cancel the contract due to these delays,” reportedly reads another Paragraph of the lawsuit filed by Infosys.
The legal dispute between Infosys and Cognizant started in August 2024 when Cognizant alleged that Infosys had stolen its trade secrets from TriZetto. Infosys rejected the allegation in January this year asking the Dallas court to compel Cognizant to properly identify the trade secrets in question.
Responding to Infosys’ lawsuit, Cognizant had said it was committed to “upholding the highest standards of integrity in all business operations” and “encourages competition”, “but competitors cannot use Cognizant’s IP to unfairly compete, as Infosys has done”. In a news release, Cognizant said it “will take decisive action to address any allegations that compromise competitive standing”.
