IT services' focus on building IP and platforms may trigger more lawsuits

While lawsuits are common in the US tech industry, analysts believe their nature is changing due to shifts in business models and growing organisational awareness of intellectual property infringement

Recently there has been a spurt in litigation by information-technology (IT) services players as the industry’s business model transitions towards platform and intellectual property-led deals.

Unlike earlier litigation, which were related more to contract breaches and disputes on project-implementation timelines, this time it is about misappropriating trade secrets and infringing intellectual property (IP).

Industry players and analysts say such cases are only going to increase as companies start deploying technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Generative AI (GenAI) for coding and creating tools.

In August this year, Nasdaq-listed Cognizant’s subsidiary TriZetto sued India’s second-largest IT services