Case against Hyderabad IT firm for theft of intellectual property; ex-executives accused of launching rival AI company, poaching engineers

HYDERABAD: The Madhapur police have registered a criminal case against a Kondapur-based IT company and three of its executives for breach of trust and theft of intellectual property.Devineni Srinivasa Rao, authorised representative of ImageVision.ai India Pvt Ltd - a software firm launched in 2023 by the management of the Kondapur-based enterprise software firm, AppsTek Information Services - approached the Madhapur police with a complaint against his former colleagues. AppsTek developed eight AI-driven tools between 2017 and 2023 for industries ranging from packaging and transportation to oil and gas and healthcare.

Greenu Sharma, who was hired as director-product innovation in May 2019, allegedly had full access to the source code and signed a non-disclosure agreement that bound him even after his departure. When the product unit of AppsTek was hived off as ImageVision.ai in 2023, Sharma became vice-president of the new firm, but retained the same confidentiality obligations. Sharma resigned on May 23, 2024 and was formally relieved on Aug 31.

However, On Aug 16, Sharma allegedly incorporated SquareRoots.ai at an address barely a km away from his former office. According to the complainant, the new company soon began offering 'identical' AI solutions and recruited 12 former ImageVision.ai engineers, including the lead developers, Raghavi Patnaik and Bhavika Patel. ImageVision.ai alleges that the trio 'acted in concert, breached trust, and unlawfully replicated proprietary technology,' causing severe financial and reputational losses.