Cognizant alleges Infosys swiped its trade secrets
Sueball suggests outsourcer went out of bounds by developing competing product
A subsidiary of IT outsourcer Cognizant filed a lawsuit on Friday in Texas federal court alleging that rival Infosys was involved in stealing trade secrets and engaging in anticompetitive behavior.
Cognizant's subsidiary and healthcare software provider, TriZetto, claimed [PDF] Infosys unlawfully accessed and misused its confidential information after having access to it under seven Non-Disclosure and Access Agreements (NDAAs) that were framed to allow Infosys employees to complete work for mutual clients.
But instead, alleged TriZetto, Infosys created its own repository of test cases – proprietary instructions developed by TriZetto for validating the functionality of its Facets and QNXT software – and used them to design and improve its own competing software.
"To create a massive repository with one million test cases of its own that includes Facets Test Cases, Infosys's 'Infosys Validation Solutions (IVS) [team], the Infosys testing unit' would have had to have continuing access to every aspect of TriZetto's Confidential Information and Trade Secret Information," states the lawsuit. "Moreover, having access only to the user interface of the Proprietary Software would not have been sufficient to enable the IVS team to develop the Facets Test Cases."
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Infosys is accused of further exceeding the terms of the NDAAs by improperly using data to create tools, such as a QNXT adapter, which can extract data from TriZetto software, and providing it to clients for use with its competing Helix platform.
TriZetto claims it has even been approached by customers to resolve technical difficulties problems present in Infosys's QNXT adapter. The filing claims that in addition to its IP being stolen and NDAAs being breached, it has suffered reputational damage when things went awry with Infosys's tools.
The Denver-headquartered biz sent Infosys cease and desist orders, but according to the court filing, Infosys refused – instead it only removed advertising marketing the repository as its own. The Bangalore-based giant has also allegedly refused an audit.
The filing alleges that Infosys has committed two counts of trade secret misappropriation, four counts of breach of contract, and one count of federal unfair competition. It also requests trial by jury and injunctions against Infosys using TriZetto secrets as well as damages and legal fees.
The Register has asked Infosys for comment and will report back should a substantial reply materialize.
Infosys has reportedly denied the claims. ®