The long-running legal battle over trade secrets between intelligent automation technology providers Appian and Pegasystems has reached another milestone. The Supreme Court of Virginia will review a 2024 decision of the Virginia Court of Appeals that set aside a $2 billion verdict that a lower court ruled Pegasystems must pay to Appian.
In May of 2022, the Circuit Court for Fairfax County, Va. ruled in a suit brought in 2020 that Pegasystems had paid a government contractor with access to Appian’s software for information about the product that helped Pega improve its products and more effectively train its salespeople based on the knowledge. Damages in the case, according to Appian and approved by the lower court, totaled $2.036 billion.
“We are encouraged that the Supreme Court of Virginia has agreed to review our case,” Christopher Winters, General Counsel of Appian, said in a statement. “We look forward to being heard by the highest court in Virginia and remain hopeful the Court will reinstate the jury’s verdict and corresponding damages, which were in line with the scope of wrongdoing found in this case and which we believe is the correct legal outcome.”
Read Appian’s petition to Virginia’s highest court here.