Telangana High Court asks trial court to decide Digi Yatra IP injunction plea in four weeks

The Telangana High Court has directed a commercial court in Ranga Reddy district to decide, within four weeks, an interim injunction application filed by Data Evolve Solutions Private Limited in a copyright dispute relating to the Digi Yatra platform [Data Evolve v. Digi Yatra]..A Bench of Justices Moushumi Bhattacharya and Gadi Praveen Kumar issued the direction while dealing with a civil revision petition filed by Data Evolve, challenging the trial court’s refusal to grant ex-parte ad-interim relief in a suit alleging unauthorised use of copyrighted software said to underpin Digi Yatra deployments at airports."We deem it fit to dispose of the Civil Revision Petition by directing the Commercial Court to dispose of the petitioner’s I.A within four weeks from 04.02.2026," the Court ordered. .Data Evolve has instituted a commercial suit against Digi Yatra Foundation and other defendants, claiming ownership of software and related applications used in Digi Yatra products deployed nationwide. A trial court had earlier declined to grant Data Evolve ex-parte relief in the matter and adjourned the case to hear the defendants.Data Evolve then approached the High Court, challenging the trial court's refusal to grant it urgent interim relief. .The High Court declined to interfere with the trial court's refusal to give ex-parte interim relief.However, the Bench of Justices Bhattacharya and Kumar noted the urgency typically associated with intellectual property disputes and recorded that multiple adjournments had been granted by the trial court in the present case for filing counters. The Court, therefore, directed the trial court to dispose of the interim injunction application within four weeks, clarifying that it expressed no view on the merits of the copyright claims."The Court is informed that the Commercial Court has granted at least six adjournments for filing of counters by the respondents. We note that there is an urgency in the matter as in most Intellectual Property cases. The Trial Court must hence give due weightage to the urgency pleaded by the petitioner," the January 30 order said. .A related dispute is also pending before the Delhi High Court, where the Digi Yatra Foundation has sued Data Evolve over ownership and control of the Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem under the 2021 Minimum Viable Product Agreement (MVA).During hearings on whether additional issues should be framed in that suit, Data Evolve submitted that KPMG had conducted an unauthorised visit to its Hyderabad premises and cloned the Digi Yatra application.This cloned software, according to Data Evolve, was later deployed at 28 airports, despite the agreement allegedly permitting use only at four airports. These submissions were made during arguments on framing issues before the Delhi High Court and have not been adjudicated on merits yet. .Earlier, the Delhi High Court framed issues on: (i) whether Digi Yatra Foundation is the rightful owner of the Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem under the MVA; (ii) whether it holds intellectual property or other rights over software and services created by Data Evolve; (iii) whether Data Evolve infringed Digi Yatra Foundation’s rights; and (iv) whether Digi Yatra Foundation misused any intellectual property belonging to Data Evolve.Digi Yatra Foundation, set up as a not-for-profit entity under the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Digi Yatra Policy, 2021, had earlier selected Data Evolve through a startup challenge in May 2021. The parties executed an MVA on November 17, 2021. Digi Yatra Foundation maintains that the MVA vests in it all intellectual property in the Digi Yatra platform, including developed software and derivative works, while pre-existing software remains with Data Evolve.Following developments in late 2023, Digi Yatra Foundation issued a disengagement letter in January 2024, directing Date Evolve to hand over the Digi Yatra Central Ecosystem and operational credentials. Data Evolve disputes this, has accused Digi Yatra Foundation of withholding of payments, and asserts ownership over the software architecture. In March 2024, the Delhi High Court granted ad-interim ex-parte directions restraining Data Evolve from using or copying Digi Yatra passenger data..Before the Telangana High Court, Data Evolve was represented by Senior Advocate Avinash Desai with Advocate Sheela Nateshan from Wordict-IP.[Read Judgment].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.