Judge Grants Applied Systems Preliminary Injunction Against Comulate

Applied Systems has secured a preliminary injunction against its competitor, Comulate, accused of creating a fictitious insurance agency to gain unauthorized access to Applied’s software platform and misappropriate trade secrets.

The ongoing rivalry in the insurance technology sector has led to a series of legal battles. On February 11, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that Applied “is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief.” This ruling mandates that Comulate cease using any information obtained through its access to Applied’s insurance agency management software, Epic, within a week. Furthermore, Comulate is prohibited from selling any products developed, tested, or trained using Applied’s proprietary information, as per the court’s directive.

Last November, Applied Systems filed a lawsuit against Comulate, alleging the misappropriation of trade secrets. Recent court documents reveal that Ardent Labs, operating under the name Comulate, developed software that “integrates” with Epic. To facilitate this development, Comulate allegedly created a fake insurance agency named “PBC” to utilize Epic. However, in October 2025, Applied observed unusual activity from PBC, characterized by “abnormally large” usage patterns.

In a memorandum detailing the case, the judge noted that Comulate does not dispute the creation of the fake insurance agency but referred to it as a “sandbox” account intended to showcase the functionality of its artificial intelligence-powered platform integration with Epic.

Attempts to reach Comulate for comment were unsuccessful.

Earlier this year, Comulate initiated a federal antitrust lawsuit against Applied in the same jurisdiction. Comulate aims to “halt an entrenched monopolist’s unlawful campaign to destroy a competitor it could not acquire or outcompete.” This lawsuit followed an original filing in the Delaware Court of Chancery on December 3, which was later voluntarily dismissed, according to court records.

In granting the preliminary injunction, the judge indicated that Comulate likely breached its contract with Applied by utilizing the fake agency for product demonstrations and enhancing the integration with the Epic platform. Additionally, Comulate was found to have granted access to Epic to unauthorized users.

While the judge concluded that Applied did not demonstrate a breach of contract regarding reverse-engineering clauses, it was determined that Applied suffered harm due to the costs incurred in investigating Comulate’s actions and the loss of at least one customer to Comulate.

“If there was no preliminary injunction, Comulate could continue to seek out and contract with customers using information it is not entitled to exploit,” the judge stated.

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Applied Systems has secured a preliminary injunction against its competitor, Comulate, accused of creating a fictitious insurance agency to gain unauthorized access to Applied’s software platform and misappropriate trade secrets.

The ongoing rivalry in the insurance technology sector has led to a series of legal battles. On February 11, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that Applied “is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief.” This ruling mandates that Comulate cease using any information obtained through its access to Applied’s insurance agency management software, Epic, within a week. Furthermore, Comulate is prohibited from selling any products developed, tested, or trained using Applied’s proprietary information, as per the court’s directive.

Last November, Applied Systems filed a lawsuit against Comulate, alleging the misappropriation of trade secrets. Recent court documents reveal that Ardent Labs, operating under the name Comulate, developed software that “integrates” with Epic. To facilitate this development, Comulate allegedly created a fake insurance agency named “PBC” to utilize Epic. However, in October 2025, Applied observed unusual activity from PBC, characterized by “abnormally large” usage patterns.

In a memorandum detailing the case, the judge noted that Comulate does not dispute the creation of the fake insurance agency but referred to it as a “sandbox” account intended to showcase the functionality of its artificial intelligence-powered platform integration with Epic.

Attempts to reach Comulate for comment were unsuccessful.

Earlier this year, Comulate initiated a federal antitrust lawsuit against Applied in the same jurisdiction. Comulate aims to “halt an entrenched monopolist’s unlawful campaign to destroy a competitor it could not acquire or outcompete.” This lawsuit followed an original filing in the Delaware Court of Chancery on December 3, which was later voluntarily dismissed, according to court records.

In granting the preliminary injunction, the judge indicated that Comulate likely breached its contract with Applied by utilizing the fake agency for product demonstrations and enhancing the integration with the Epic platform. Additionally, Comulate was found to have granted access to Epic to unauthorized users.

While the judge concluded that Applied did not demonstrate a breach of contract regarding reverse-engineering clauses, it was determined that Applied suffered harm due to the costs incurred in investigating Comulate’s actions and the loss of at least one customer to Comulate.

“If there was no preliminary injunction, Comulate could continue to seek out and contract with customers using information it is not entitled to exploit,” the judge stated.

Topics
Legislation