Zoho-Freshworks tussle: US court seeks judicial assistance from Madras High Court

Zoho-Freshworks tussle: US court seeks judicial assistance from Madras High Court

In an ongoing legal tussle between Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) firms Zoho and Freshworks, the US district court of the Northern District of California has sought judicial assistance from the Madras High Court (HC).

A couple of complaints were filed by Zoho against Freshworks, the latest being in November 2020 the earlier one being in March. The complaint accused Freshworks of intentionally accessing the Zoho database without authorization and obtaining information through one of its employees who left Freshworks last year.

The request seeks to allow cross-examination and evidence collection from a former Freshworks employee, whom Chennai-based Zoho has accused of trade secret misappropriation and gaining illegal access to its customer database at the time of his employment.

A judge of the US district court of the Northern District of California issued the letter of request for international judicial assistance to the High Court of Judicature at Madras on January 15 "to obtain certain documents and testimony for examination," in the case.

According to the request, the subject matter for questioning/cross-examination will include information copied from Zoho's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database and with whom the employee shared that information and knowledge of other Freshworks employees' access to or possession of any Zoho confidential information.

Questioning will also include his knowledge of other Freshworks employees' access to or possession of any Zoho confidential information.

The letter also requests list of documents and other property to be inspected by Zoho that include the ex-employee's phone, personal WhatsApp account and personal Google accounts which may contain documents and communication related to Freshworks and Zoho.

The request listed "a forensic copy of the cellular device…used to take photos of Zoho's CRM database, access to and inspection of a copy of … personal WhatsApp account," among other details.

According to legal experts, the Hague Convention, 1970 allows for co-operation on exchange of evidence abroad in civil or commercial matters.