Overview
Cohen Milstein, along with co-counsel Elsberg Baker & Maruri, represents Ardent Labs Inc., d/b/a Comulate, in an antitrust lawsuit against Applied Systems Inc., a dominant provider of enterprise-level insurance agency management systems (AMS). On November 20, 2025, a day after filing its antitrust lawsuit, Comulate moved for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to enjoin Applied’s ongoing conduct. Â
Comulate is an insurance technology startup that develops automated accounting software for enterprise-level insurance agencies and brokers, which serve as intermediaries between policy holders and insurance carriers. Comulate alleges that Applied, which controls over 80% of the enterprise-level insurance AMS market through its Epic platform, has unlawfully wielded its monopoly power to stifle competition in the adjacent market for enterprise-level automated insurance agency accounting software, in which Comulate has operated with great success until recently due to Applied’s misconduct.
According to the complaint, Applied engaged in numerous anticompetitive tactics, including revoking Comulate’s customers’ software development kit licenses to prevent Comulate from servicing customers on Epic, coercing Comulate’s customers to use Applied’s (or Applied-controlled) automated insurance agency accounting software, and weaponizing false allegations of intellectual property theft in sham litigation. Through these actions, Applied has attempted to leverage its existing monopoly over enterprise-level insurance AMSs to drive Comulate out of—and to solidify Applied’s domination over—the enterprise-level automated insurance agency accounting software market, to the detriment of Comulate as well as insurance agencies and brokers, which are forced to use Applied’s inferior offerings.
This case marks the latest escalation in a multi-pronged dispute between the two companies.
Operative case name and number: Ardent Labs, Inc., d/b/a Comulate v. Applied Systems, Inc., Case No. 1:26-cv-00591-MSS, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.