Kazakhstan IT company Relog has reported the initiation of criminal proceedings and the consideration of civil lawsuits against former employees. According to the company's assessment, the total damage exceeds 2 billion tenge.
WHAT PROMPTED THE PROCEEDINGS
The company initiated criminal and civil proceedings following an internal investigation which, it is alleged, revealed possible violations related to the use of the company's intellectual property.
It is alleged that the former acting general director Mukhtar Leker and former analyst Almaz Kisapov, while working at Relog, may have orchestrated the transfer of the analytical product Census through a legal entity registered by them. According to the company, existing client contracts were re-registered to this legal entity, and after leaving Relog, copyright for the product was registered and a lawsuit was filed against the company itself.
WHICH CASES ARE BEING HEARD
A criminal case has been opened against Mukhtar Leker under Article 250 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Abuse of Authority"). Additionally, two civil cases are being considered in court, related to copyright protection and an alleged violation of legislation on limited liability partnerships.
Relog also reports that it is continuing its internal analysis of the company's activities for previous periods. According to the company, the review is being conducted to identify possible additional violations, though information on the results of this work is not yet available.
WHAT THE COMPANY SAYS ABOUT THE SOFTWARE CODE
Relog states that during the internal investigation, circumstances were uncovered which, in the company's view, indicate that the source code of its main product was copied. According to the company's version of events, former programmer Torezhan Botakanov copied the software code, modified it, and handed it over to Mukhtar Leker and Almaz Kisapov.
The company also claims to have information about attempts at the commercial use of a software product which, it believes, was created based on this code. No independent confirmation of these statements is provided in the materials presented.
POSITION OF THE COMPANY FOUNDER
The founder and general director of Relog, Bauyrzhan Rustemov, stated that the company intends to seek protection of its rights through the courts. According to him, Relog views what has happened as an abuse of trust by former employees.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE COMPANY
Relog was founded in 2016 by Bauyrzhan Rustemov. The company develops software for logistics automation. Its product portfolio includes the Relog TMS system, as well as the Census and Relog BI solutions. According to the company, its products are used by more than 500 clients in various countries around the world.
TMS (Transport Management System) is a software system for managing transportation and logistics processes. In this context, intellectual property refers to the results of software development, including the software code and associated copyright.
