Cognizant accuses Infosys of ‘fishing expedition’

BENGALURU: In a new development in the ongoing Infosys-Cognizant trade secrets dispute, recent legal filings from Cognizant have revealed that Infosys‘s counterclaims do not accuse CEO Ravi Kumar of any anticompetitive behaviour following his transition to Cognizant in 2023.In its submission to the court, the Nasdaq-listed firm said that Infosys’s actions amounted to a ‘fishing expedition’, causing undue burden and inconvenience to both Kumar and Cognizant. Cognizant argued that Infosys has not presented evidence suggesting Kumar undermined the progress of its healthcare platform, Helix.Cognizant’s legal team maintains that all claims advanced by Infosys pertain solely to Kumar’s period at Infosys, not his tenure at Cognizant. The filing further asserts that Infosys’s request for documents from Kumar’s time at Cognizant-after raising concerns over trade secrets and invoking non-compete agreements-is without legal merit.Cognizant had acquired the healthcare software business TriZetto for $2.7 billion in 2014. TriZetto’s flagship products, Facets and QNXT, process health insurance claims for millions across the US, relying on confidential trade secrets. Cognizant alleges that Infosys misused these secrets to create its own test case library for Facets, putting it in direct and allegedly unfair competition with TriZetto. Infosys, in turn, has made counterclaims, accusing Cognizant of hindering its development of a rival platform.