In an interim ruling on Tuesday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep V. Marne set aside a 13 June 2024 single-judge order that had allowed Cognizant to continue using the logo while the case remained pending. In doing so the division bench restored a 19 March 2024 injunction that had barred Cognizant from using the disputed branding in India. Though based in the US, Cognizant is of Indian heritage as almost three-fourths of its 343,800 employees are in India.
The order read: “The order dated 19 March 2024 shall continue to operate during pendency of the interim application. The learned single judge is requested to expedite decision of the interim application and to make an endeavour to decide the same in an expeditious manner. With the above direction, the appeal is allowed.” The interim ruling was in response to an appeal filed by Atyati against the June order that lifted the ban.
An email sent to Cognizant on Tuesday did not elicit an immediate response.
Battle over a hexagon
Atyati, a fintech company, filed the trademark infringement lawsuit in 2023, claiming its device mark consisted of an orange hexagonal honeycomb symbolising collaboration, compassion and impact. It said the mark, slightly inclined in representation, has been in use since 2019 and embodied the organisation’s values.
The March 2024 injunction was passed after the court observed that the similarities between the two marks could mislead the public into assuming an association between Atyati and Cognizant, and said this amounted to trademark infringement. The court also held that Atyati had established a prima facie case and that the balance of convenience favoured protecting its mark.
But in June 2024, another single-judge bench modified the ruling and lifted the ban, citing records that showed Cognizant had been using the logo since 2022 and had advertised it in March 2023. Since Atyati claimed it became aware of the use only in October 2023 and had not disclosed this delay earlier, the judge ruled that the ban could not continue. That order has now been set aside, reinstating the March injunction.
Cognizant maintains a seven-page logo guideline manual specifying usage formats—a rarity among Indian IT firms. It currently allows the use of its name and logo in unison, but with this ruling it may not be allowed to use the logo at all. An expert and former Cognizant executive, who did not wish to be named, said the ruling was unlikely to affect its business, though, as it only uses its name when billing clients.
The company has experimented with its branding before. In May 2024 it prefixed “innovate” to job postings and social media profiles of executives to mark the anniversary of its internal innovation programme, Bluebolt.
Lawsuits aplenty
Cognizant, however, is no stranger to legal battles. It has been involved in several disputes in recent years over employee poaching and alleged theft. In September 2023 it appointed former Wipro chief financial officer Jatin Dalal, prompting Wipro to sue him for breaching his non-compete clause and seek ₹25.1 crore in damages. The case was later settled, with Cognizant paying Dalal ₹4.2 crore including legal expenses.
A similar case arose in December 2023, when former Wipro healthcare head Mohd Ehteshamul Haque joined Cognizant as its chief commercial officer for the Americas. That case was eventually settled as well, though the terms were not disclosed.
Cognizant is also locked in a high-profile tussle with Infosys Ltd., which has accused it of misappropriating software trade secrets to develop a rival product for the healthcare sector. The dispute escalated, with Infosys naming Cognizant’s chief executive S. Ravi Kumar in its filings. Cognizant denied the charges, and in May 2025 a Dallas court asked both companies to resolve disagreements over the scope of information to be shared before the trial.
Cognizant posted $5.25 billion in revenue for the June quarter, up 2.54% sequentially and 8.14% year-on-year. Banks and financial institutions accounted for more than three-fifths of its $130 million incremental revenue. Yet, concerns linger over its slipping organic growth, Mint reported on 31 July, with much of the top line boost attributed to a single acquisition.
