US Supreme Court Rejects Tata Challenge to $168 Million Trade Secrets Award

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a case involving India-based Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and a $168 million trade secrets award granted to DXC Technology. The decision effectively upholds the lower courts' rulings against TCS.

DXC Technology, formerly Computer Sciences Corp (CSC), accused TCS of stealing trade secrets connected to its life-insurance software. The lawsuit, filed in 2019, alleged that TCS hired approximately 2,200 employees from Transamerica, a company that licensed CSC's software. These employees, DXC claimed, used their access and knowledge of proprietary information to develop a competing life-insurance platform.

TCS denied the allegations, asserting that the information in question was not confidential and that its access to the software was legal. A jury initially recommended $210 million in damages in 2023, but a U.S. District Judge reduced the award to $168 million in 2024. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed this decision in 2025.

The award to DXC was based on the legal principle of "unjust enrichment," which allows for damages when a party benefits unfairly from another's property or labor. TCS had argued to the Supreme Court that DXC should not receive unjust enrichment damages without demonstrating actual financial losses. They also contended that the punitive damages portion of the award was excessive. DXC, however, maintained that the appeals court's decision was a fact-based application of established law, not warranting further review.