Bombay HC to Cognizant: You cannot use your logo in India till …

The Bombay High Court may have reinstated a ban that prevents US-based IT company Cognizant from using its logo in India. The decision, reportedly announced last week, will remain in effect until the conclusion of a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Bengaluru-based company Atyati Technologies Pvt. Ltd. The decision was announced by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep V. Marne. The division bench overturned a previous single-judge order from June 13, 2024, which had allowed Cognizant to continue using the logo. The court's interim ruling reinstates an injunction from March 19, 2024, that had initially barred the company from using the disputed branding.

What Bombay High Court said in its order regarding Cognizant logo

The order (seen by Livemint) 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."“We are currently reviewing the interim Order and intend to pursue available legal remedies to defend our position and challenge it. Cognizant is firmly committed to complying with the laws and regulations in every jurisdiction in which we operate,” Cognizant said to Livemint, responding to the development.

Why the Bombay HC banned Cognizant’s logo in India

Domestic fintech company Atyati sued Cognizant in 2023 over trademark infringement, claiming its orange hexagonal honeycomb logo had been in use since 2019. In March 2024, the Bombay High Court issued an injunction, noting that the similarities between the two marks could mislead the public and ruling in Atyati’s favour. In recent years, Cognizant has faced a series of legal disputes, including cases of employee poaching and alleged intellectual property violations. In September 2023, the company hired former Wipro CFO Jatin Dalal, prompting Wipro to sue him for breaching a non-compete clause and seeking Rs 25.1 crore in damages. The matter was later settled, with Cognizant covering Rs 4.2 crore of Dalal’s costs, including legal fees.A similar dispute arose in December 2023 when Wipro’s former healthcare head, Mohd Ehteshamul Haque, joined Cognizant as chief commercial officer for the Americas. That case was also settled, though details were not disclosed.Separately, Cognizant is engaged in an ongoing high-profile conflict with Infosys, which has accused it of misusing software trade secrets to build a competing healthcare product. Infosys even named Cognizant CEO S Ravi Kumar in its filings. Cognizant has denied the allegations. In May 2025, a Dallas court directed both companies to resolve disagreements over the scope of information exchange before the trial proceeds.