USBASED SIMONELLI FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST TCS FOR IP INFRINGEMENT

NEW DELHI: US-based Simonelli Innovation Llc has sued Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) in a Texas court, alleging India’s largest information technology (IT) outsourcing firm wrongfully used its intellectual property (IP) and trade secrets to build its own consulting practice.

Simonelli, a privately-held consulting firm in Texas, accused TCS of misusing Simonelli’s trade secrets and confidential information and sought a jury trial, seeking compensation for loss in revenue on account of TCS using its consulting offering solutions.

“This case is being brought because TCS and TAIC (Tata America International Corp.) agreed to keep the IP and trade secrets of Simonelli Innovation confidential and to only use same in projects under the ‘Alliance Agreement’ that would mutually benefit both entities,” reads Simonelli’s lawsuit dated 15 August, filed in the western district of Texas.

Mint has reviewed a copy of the lawsuit.

“Despite this, the defendants (TCS) took the methodology and foundation given to them by plaintiff (Simonelli), and used it to transform their consulting options, obtain customers and increase revenue without including the plaintiff as required by the ‘Alliance Agreement’ contract between the parties”.

An email sent to TCS seeking comment went unanswered.

Simonelli’s lawsuit is the second IP infringement case faced by TCS in the past few years after a US-based healthcare software company, Epic Systems Corp., took the Mumbai-based IT firm to court in 2016, alleging TCS took Epic’s proprietary software to build its own healthcare software product.