Tata Group unit owes $210 mln in US trade-secret fight, jury says

DXC Technology

21/11/2023 18:42

* 
      DXC accused Tata of stealing secrets for life-insurance
software
platform
    

        * 
      Tata previously hit with $280 million award in separate
software
case
    

  
    By Blake Brittain
       Nov 21 (Reuters) - A jury in Dallas, Texas federal court
has decided that India-based Tata Consultancy Services  TCS.NS 
must pay DXC Technology  DXC.N  $210 million, finding it stole
DXC's trade secrets to develop competing life-insurance
software.
    The jury said in a verdict made public on Sunday that the
Tata Group subsidiary misused confidential information about
DXC's Vantage-One and CyberLife software for managing life
insurance and annuity policies to create its own platform.
    Tata said in a statement on Tuesday that it "respectfully
disagrees with the jury's advisory verdict" and plans to
"continue to litigate this ongoing case."
    DXC said in a statement that it was pleased with the
verdict, which was "consistent with the overwhelming evidence
presented at trial."
    DXC predecessor Computer Sciences Corp said in the 2019
lawsuit that it licensed its software to Transamerica subsidiary
Money Services Inc. The lawsuit said that Tata hired 2,200
Transamerica employees in 2018 and used their access to CSC's
software and knowledge of its source code and other proprietary
information to build a competing life-insurance platform.
    Tata denied the allegations, told the court that the
information at issue was not secret and argued that it accessed
the software legally.
    The jury said on Friday that Tata owed DXC $70 million for
misappropriating its trade secrets and an additional $140
million because its misuse was "willful and malicious."
    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Tata's appeal in a
separate case where it was found to owe $280 million for
misusing trade secrets from software maker Epic Systems to
develop competing healthcare software.
    DXC said in its lawsuit that Tata had "learned nothing from
the outcome of the Epic litigation."
    
    The case is Computer Sciences Corp v. Tata Consultancy
Services, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Texas, No. 3:19-cv-00970.
    For DXC: Kurt Pankratz and Tom O'Brien of Baker Botts
    For TSC: Anand Sharma, Gerald Ivey, Rajeev Gupta, John
Williamson, Karthik Kumar, Luke McCammon and Cara Regan of
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)
 ((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713;))