Cognizant files lawsuit against Infosys over trade secrets; Infy denies allegations

TriZetto, a subsidiary of IT giant Cognizant, has filed a lawsuit against Infosys in a U.S. federal court. The lawsuit accuses the Bengaluru-headquartered company of stealing trade secrets and proprietary information related to healthcare insurance software, as per PTI report.

Infosys has responded to the allegations, firmly denying any wrongdoing. In a statement, the company confirmed its awareness of the lawsuit and expressed its intent to vigorously defend its position in court, as per the report.

The lawsuit, filed in a Texas federal court, alleges that Infosys unlawfully accessed data from TriZetto's software products—Facets and QNXT—and used this information to develop and market a competing product. These software solutions are widely used by healthcare insurance companies to automate various tasks.

Cognizant's lawsuit claims that Infosys misappropriated TriZetto's software to create "Test Cases for Facets," effectively repackaging the data into an Infosys-branded product. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Infosys developed software to extract data from QNXT, which contained confidential information belonging to TriZetto, as quoted by PTI.

The timing of the lawsuit is notable, as it comes shortly after Cognizant appointed former Infosys executive Rajesh Varrier as its global head of operations and Chairman and Managing Director for India. Varrier's appointment follows the resignation of Rajesh Nambiar, who is set to become the next president of Nasscom. Additionally, Cognizant's CEO, Ravi Kumar S, is also a former Infosys executive, having spent 20 years at the company and holding several leadership roles, including President from January 2016 to October 2022.

In 2014, Cognizant Technology Solutions made headlines with a landmark acquisition, purchasing TriZetto, a Colorado-based healthcare IT company, for $2.7 billion (approximately ₹16,400 crore) in cash. This transaction marked the largest acquisition in the history of the Indian IT sector, highlighting Cognizant's bold strategic moves. Although Cognizant is headquartered in the United States, the majority of its workforce is based in India.

(With Inputs from PTI)