In a story reported recently by Global Data Review, CSC has filed suit against Tata Consultancy Services for theft of trade secrets. CSC is represented by Justin Sumner and Steve Sumner of Sumner Schick.
Software provider Computer Sciences Corporation says Tata Consultancy Services illegally used CSC confidential information and trade secrets in a bid to launch competing financial software.
CSC’s 22 April complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas said Tata is using the company’s proprietary and confidential information, including source code, to develop software that competes with its annuity and life insurance policy processing software.
CSC said it had licensed three software systems to Money Services, Inc, which used the software to process millions of policies. In early 2018, Tata announced its entry into the US life, wealth and insurance market by partnering with Money Services, Inc parent TransAmerica.
The TransAmerica partnership, Tata said at the time, was set to provide Tata’s BaNCS banking software access to the US market. But CSC said BaNCS was incapable of processing US life insurance and annuity policies.
CSC said Tata hired 2,200 TransAmerica or Money Services, Inc employees, of whom some had access to CSC proprietary information: “TCS is using this access to and knowledge of the CSC source code, software documentation, and other proprietary and confidential CSC informaiton to develop [Tata]’s BaNCS for the US.”
CSC cited internal Tata emails in which employees copied and pasted software source code relating to calculating rates of return, after the company ran into difficulties while trying to implement that ability into BaNCS. CSC said the staff had tried to use the source code and software documentation to determine how CSC’s software calculated the rate of return.
The company went on to say that the rate of return source code copying is “the proverbial tip of the iceberg”.
“Upon information and belief, [Tata] is engaged in an ongoing and wide-ranging effort to misuse its access to CSC’s confidential and proprietary information, including CSC’s source code, to develop ints new BaNCS platform for the United States,” CSC said in its complaint.
The software company went on to claim that “[m]isappropriating sophisticated business software is, apparently, [Tata]’s method of entering new business markets in the United States”. It noted that healthcare software provider Epic Systems Corporation successfully sued Tata over its appropriation of information to develop a competing software platform.
A US federal jury sided with Epic in 2016 and awarded the company $940million in damages, later cut to $420 million. Tata has filed an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
“Having learned nothing from the outcome of the Epic litigation or the massive judgment entered against it, [Tata] continues to improperly access, copy and make improper use of CSC’s source code, trade secrets and proprietary information,” CSC said this week. “In the absence of injunctive relief and other relief sought … [Tata] will pursue its true objective, which is to misappropriate the software, the knowledge and the means to compete unlawfully with CSC.”
CSC seeks damages from Tata, as well as both preliminary and permanent injunctions to block the company’s alleged conduct.
A spokesperson for CSC parent DXC Technology, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise spinoff, confirmed the company is seeking to block Tata’s “unauthorised access and misuse of DXC’s proprietary and industry-leading software”.
A Tata Consultancy Services spokesperson said the company is aware of CSC’s complaint. “We are reviewing the legal documents and will respond appropriately.”