CoStar Moves On as 'Baseless' Lawsuit Dismissed

In Arlington, VA, real estate data, analytics and marketplace firm CoStar Group has announced the dismissal of a trade secrets lawsuit filed against it by Move, Inc., the operator of rival marketplace Realtor.com.

CoStar Group was founded in 1986 and provides online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics for the commercial and residential property markets. The firm's revenue places it in the top ten IA insights and data firms. Its major brands include CoStar, a global provider of commercial real estate data, analytics and news; commercial real estate marketplace LoopNet; rentals platform Apartments.com; residential real estate marketplace Homes.com; spatial building data company Matterport; hospitality data and benchmarking division STR; commercial real estate auction and negotiated bidding platform Ten-X; and OnTheMarket, a residential property portal in the United Kingdom.

Move's federal complaint was filed nine months ago, and accused CoStar Group of hiring its former employee James Kaminsky to launch a news division with the help of information obtained from his time at Move. CoStar says it appointed Kaminsky to write descriptions of New York condominiums for Homes.com, and that the role was 'publicly disclosed and discussed with multiple former colleagues at Move'. CoStar says Move quickly amended these claims and 'pivoted to a new, equally unfounded theory,' then sought a preliminary injunction which the court denied in September, citing 'the speculative nature of Move's allegations, lack of demonstrated harm, and Move's unprecedented refusal to take any discovery - including the decision not to depose Kaminsky or any CoStar Group employees.' CoStar says after the failure of its further attempts to get Move to provide more significant and substantial evidence, and a move to seek sanctions against Move in March, the latter has 'abruptly' asked CoStar if it would consent to the dismissal of the entire case 'with prejudice.'

'This lawsuit was a PR stunt from the start - ridiculous, and totally devoid of merit,' says CoStar Group founder and CEO Andy Florance (pictured). 'Nine months later, after a warning from our lawyers about sanctions, Move folded. We did not settle. We didn't pay a dime. Move simply capitulated. From the beginning, Move had no evidence linking CoStar Group to any trade secrets, and this dismissal proves it. This was a desperate, anti-competitive stunt to slow down Homes.com as we passed Realtor.com in the marketplace.'

Web site: www.costargroup.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.