Cognizant’s $570 million trade-secret case win against Syntel thrown out on appeal

A US appeals court on Thursday vacated a $570 million award Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp had won against rival software provider Atos SE’s Syntel Inc for theft of its trade secrets related to healthcare insurance software.

The New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals said Cognizant was not entitled to the damages under the federal trade secret law and ordered a Manhattan federal court to reconsider based on other grounds.

The court, however, affirmed that Syntel was liable for misusing the trade secrets that belonged to Cognizant’s TriZetto Healthcare.