“TCS is legally advised that it has strong arguments in its favor before the Appeal Court and the Order on the punitive damages are not supported by the facts presented by TCS before the Trial Court. We have been advised that the Order and the Judgement (when issued) is appealable to the US Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit Chicago," the Indian IT company said in an exchange filing.
The company did not misuse or derive any benefit from EPIC’s documents and plans to defend its position vigorously before the Appeal Court. As an organization, the company remains committed to respecting and protecting proprietary information as well as its reputation, TCS added.
In August 2020, an appeals court in the United States has held that punitive damages of 280 million dollars against Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in a trade secret lawsuit filed by American medical software company Epic Systems were excessive.
According to reports, Epic had filed the lawsuit in 2014 against TCS alleging that the IT services company had stolen its intellectual property. In 2016, Epic won a jury award of 940 million dollars.
In 2017, the Wisconsin court judge lowered the amount of the award to 420 million dollars to comply with caps on punitive damages in such cases. In January 2018, TCS said it made a 440 million dollars letter of credit available to Epic Systems.
In March 2019 , the Wisconsin judge who initially heard the case reduced the verdict amount but upheld the verdict following an initial appeal by TCS. Later, TCS filed a notice of appeal with the Seventh Circuit Court in Chicago.
Epic is a private company based at Verona in Wisconsin and a leading provider of medical records systems used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities throughout the United States (US).
