Tata Consultancy Services’ $420 million trade secrets case moves to higher court

BENGALURU: Tata Consultancy Services’ appeal against the $420-million verdict in a trade secrets suit filed by US software firm Epic Systems has moved to a federal appeals court, after it was upheld by a lower court.

Epic had filed the lawsuit in 2014 against TCSNSE -0.79 % alleging that the IT services company had stolen its intellectual property. In 2016, Epic won a jury award of $940 million. In 2017, the Wisconsin court judge lowered the amount of the award to $420 million to comply with caps on punitive damages in such cases. In January 2018, TCS said it made a $440-million letter of credit available to US software firm Epic Systems. Last week, the Wisconsin judge, who initially heard the case and reduced the verdict amount, upheld the verdict following an initial appeal by TCS.