A protracted legal tussle between Indian IT giant Infosys and US-based Cognizant could be approaching resolution as a Dallas court has ordered both companies to engage to address outstanding issues in the trade secret dispute.
The order, issued on May 23, urges Infosys and Cognizant to resolve non-dispositive pre-trial discovery matters through dialogue before seeking judicial intervention.
Judge David said this is not an invitation to engage in ex-parte communications or obtain advisory rulings, but the parties are required to attempt to resolve any disputes by agreement.
If informal discussions fail, the court encourages the companies to request a conference to resolve simpler disputes efficiently and cost-effectively.
The court directed Cognizant to submit by June 13 a list of individuals with knowledge of Infosys’s healthcare platform and those it accuses of misappropriating proprietary software. It also asked Cognizant to detail steps taken to safeguard its trade secrets.
However, the court denied Infosys's request to compel Cognizant to elaborate further on the alleged stolen trade secrets.
“The Court grants in part and denies in part Infosys’s Motion to Compel and for Protective Order Sequencing Discovery... and Motion to Compel Complete and Verified Responses to Interrogatories... for which Infosys invokes Federal Rules,” the order stated.
Cognizant and Infosys did not respond to emailed queries seeking comment.
A bitter face-off
Cognizant’s US subsidiary, TriZetto, had filed the lawsuit in a Texas federal court last year, accusing Infosys of misappropriating trade secrets tied to TriZetto’s healthcare software, including platforms like Facets and QNXT, widely used by US insurers. Cognizant alleged that Infosys repurposed this data to develop its own product.
Cognizant's court filing accused Infosys of being “caught red-handed” accessing TriZetto’s confidential information under non-disclosure agreements and then refusing to allow an audit to verify its use.
Infosys, meanwhile, has filed a countersuit alleging that Cognizant and its CEO Ravi Kumar engaged in anti-competitive conduct and misused confidential data to hinder the growth of its Helix healthcare platform.
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