WinZO Files Suit Against Zupee For Unethical Trade Practices And Corporate Espionage

WinZO Files Suit Against Zupee For Unethical Trade Practices And Corporate Espionage

WinZO, India’s largest social interactive entertainment platform, has filed a suit in the Delhi High Court seeking a permanent injunction against Zupee for unethical and unfair trade practices, corporate espionage, and attempts to steal confidential information. The legal action follows evidence of Zupee’s alleged inducement of WinZO employees and business affiliates to breach confidentiality agreements and exploit sensitive business data, trade secrets, and proprietary business practices.

WinZO has filed evidence of Zupee reaching out to employees and business associates via intermediary market research firms, Data Empiric and Alpha, offering compensation for divulging confidential information and trade secrets. The allegations state these firms’ solicited employees under the pretext of "research exercises" but attempted to extract proprietary details such as revenue, distribution channels, proprietary algorithms, user retention techniques, performance metrics, and revenue data. WinZO claims Zupee’s senior officials, including its COO and Chief of Staff, actively participated in calls designed to gather confidential information under false pretenses.

“This data is critical from the standpoint of a real money gaming company, as it directly reflects the company's market position, strategic priorities, and operational efficiencies. Understanding which game categories and specific games drive the most revenue provides deep insight into consumer preferences, monetization strategies, and the effectiveness of ongoing marketing campaigns. Competitors gaining access to this information would have a precise blueprint of WinZO’s successful ventures and could easily replicate or undercut these strategies, significantly harming WinZO’s competitive edge,” the suit stated.

“Additionally, revenue patterns, deposits, and payouts reveal financial health and stability, giving away crucial data about user behavior, retention, and churn rates. Such information is critical to shaping future business decisions, partnerships, and investment strategies. Unlike generalized industry research, which provides aggregate data trends, the specifics sought here are unique to WinZO's operations and cannot be reasonably obtained or deduced through external analysis. The unauthorized access or use of this data would irreparably damage WinZO's economic interests and business operations by exposing strategic insights that are central to sustaining and growing its market presence in the real money gaming sector,” it added.

The court recorded a statement from Zupee’s counsel, who admitted that Zupee engaged two of the four agencies named in the suit but claimed these engagements were for generic market research and not to seek confidential information. Zupee also provided an undertaking that it has not and will not directly or indirectly contact WinZO’s employees or business partners to solicit confidential information.

WinZO has sought permanent injunctions to prevent Zupee and the agencies from soliciting or inducing its employees and business partners to disclose sensitive information and from using trade secrets obtained through unethical means.

A spokesperson for WinZO commented on the development, stating, “At WinZO, we uphold zero-tolerance for unethical business practices and remain steadfast in our commitment to protect what we have built. We will pursue and expose anyone who threatens the integrity of our business.

Innovation is the lifeblood of the startup ecosystem, and we refuse to stand idle while unscrupulous elements and competitors attempt to undermine it with deceitful tactics. This is not just about WinZO—this is about defending the very principles that drive progress and entrepreneurship.

This is a call to arms on behalf of every entrepreneur, especially early-stage innovators who don’t have enough resources to fight back. Through this stand, we are sending a loud and clear message: unethical behavior should have no place in our ecosystem, and those who engage in it will face the consequences.”