SAN FRANCISCO – January 20, 2026 – Comulate today filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Applied Systems ("Applied") in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, bringing antitrust claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act and state law claims, and seeking expedited injunctive relief to stop Applied's ongoing coercion of its customers.

Per the Complaint, Applied and its private equity owner Hellman & Friedman had tracked Comulate as "#1 on their list of competition," with internal communications revealing they were "very very scared." In July 2025, Applied executive Chase Petrey called Comulate the "category winner" and "dominant" in accounting automation, while dismissing Ascend as "not competitive." Five months later, Applied could not buy Comulate and could not beat it, so it set out to destroy it—and profit from the destruction. The filing alleges Applied filed a lawsuit on legally baseless trade secret claims, timed to block flagship customer deployments, and threatened customers into abandoning Comulate for the very competitor Petrey had dismissed.

The complaint (PDF) alleges Applied conspired with Ascend to capture displaced customers using misleading marketing materials and misstatements about court rulings, while failing to disclose the full nature of Applied’s relationship behind the chaos.

Per the Complaint:  if Ascend succeeds, Applied acquires it—and Comulate's customers—at a fraction of what buying Comulate's independence would have cost. If Ascend fails, Applied cuts off its access and takes the market itself. Either way, Applied protects its monopoly and makes everyone else pay the price.

Accelerating Customer Relief: The federal complaint consolidates claims from Comulate's December lawsuit in Delaware with new federal antitrust claims in Chicago, where Applied is headquartered. In December, the Delaware Court of Chancery granted Comulate a temporary restraining order protecting customer access. Applied has since quietly dropped the core trade secret allegation from its own lawsuit—while continuing to weaponize those same baseless accusations to force customers to abandon Comulate. Comulate will seek a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on a heavily expedited basis well in advance of Applied’s threatened June 2026 cut-off to protect Applied's customers' long-term access to the third-party applications they choose.

"Applied's conduct is destroying customer choice by eliminating competition. Our attempts to de-escalate went nowhere and now we know why. We look forward to fully addressing and putting a stop to Applied’s conduct in this action," said Jordan Katz, CEO of Comulate.

About Comulate
Comulate is the technology company leveraging AI to transform the insurance industry. Powering the largest insurance brokers, Comulate's category-defining accounting automation eliminates 90%+ of manual work, creating a radically exciting future for the insurance back office.
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