Athira Sethu
Kochi, 20 February 2025
Cognizant has accused Infosys of misappropriating trade secrets pertaining to its healthcare software, TriZetto. In a recent lawsuit filing in the U.S., Cognizant alleged that Infosys was “caught red-handed” stealing confidential information from TriZetto, which they had access to under non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Those secrets were used to develop Infosys’ own products, including software for the healthcare sector, the lawsuit alleged.
Cognizant’s subsidiary company, Cognizant TriZetto, stated that Infosys misused TriZetto’s software in order to create a product labeled “Test Cases for Facets.” This product supposedly took the data of TriZetto and resold it as Infosys’. Cognizant accused Infosys further of not agreeing to an audit of how they were utilizing TriZetto’s information. Such an audit may have revealed the evidence of abuse, but Infosys refused to cooperate.
This legal dispute started after Infosys alleged Cognizant of employing unethical practices to hamper its own software platform, Infosys Helix. Infosys had previously sued Cognizant because the company employed anti-competitive practices to impact its growth.
The battle between the two firms has been raging for months, with a different matter of employee poaching. Infosys charged Cognizant with poaching its top executives, such as Ravi Kumar, who was earlier the president of Infosys. Another firm, Wipro, also sued Cognizant in similar suits for allegedly poaching its executives. Later, Wipro settled a non-compete lawsuit against Cognizant in 2024.
Such conflicts among key IT companies demonstrate the competitive environment of the industry, particularly protecting trade secrets and employees.
