Countering Move, Inc (the parent company of Realtor.com) and its court-filed request last week for a preliminary injunction that would prevent a former employee from using proprietary information allegedly accessed after joining rival Homes.com. parent company CoStar, a new filing Sept. 5 by CoStar listed three reasons the presiding judge, George H. Wu, should reject it.
The reasons listed by CoStar in the continuing battle between Move, Inc., which falls under billionaire media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp corporate umbrella, include:
- “Move cannot establish it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims against CoStar. The unrebutted evidence demonstrates that CoStar does not have, has not received, and has never accessed or used the documents at issue. Those documents do not constitute trade secrets and were not treated by Move as such.”
- “Move cannot demonstrate that it will suffer irreparable harm. Neither CoStar nor (employee in question James) Kaminsky used the supposed trade secret documents at issue, as confirmed by forensic experts and the testimony of Kaminsky’s co-workers and supervisors, and there is no risk they will do so.”
- “The balance of hardships and the public interest counsel against the entry of an injunction. At a fundamental level, there is nothing to enjoin: neither CoStar nor Kaminsky have used or are using Move’s documents. Further, Kaminsky confirmed that his contracts with both Move and CoStar prohibit him from using such documents.”
In an emailed statement to RISMedia, CoStar Group General Counsel Gene Boxer explained his company’s side in more detail.
“To be clear, CoStar has never had interest in Realtor.com’s strategies or alleged trade secrets, as its ‘lead diversion’ tactics are anathema to Homes.com’s agent and user-friendly ‘your listing, your lead’ model. Move’s lawsuit is based on false, and now shifting, premises.
“To start, Move filed a case accusing CoStar of using Move documents to build a rival news business. This accusation was completely false, as we said publicly at the time. Nothing more than a PR stunt. As Move knows, CoStar doesn’t have any of those documents, and certainly hasn’t used them. When we wrote to Move’s lawyers threatening sanctions, Move quickly backpedaled. No wonder: making false claims in federal court gives rise to serious consequences. Move then tried to salvage its case with an even weaker new theory: admitting that—in fact—no one at CoStar is using any stale Move documents, but maybe, just maybe, an employee who edits descriptions of New York condos might use documents he doesn’t have, to do a job he doesn’t have: directing CoStar’s search engine optimization. This is speculative nonsense. CoStar has, and has never had, access to Move’s five supposed trade secret documents. Pretending we do, pretending Kaminsky has a different job, and pretending that a handful of stale and unsecure Move documents are trade secrets, is the weakest case imaginable.
“No wonder that Move—incredibly—refused to take any discovery. The ostrich approach was far preferable to confirming what Move already knew: its case against CoStar was meritless. And the real reason for bullying Mr. Kaminsky and suing CoStar has now been revealed. In detailed testimony, Kaminsky recalls Damian Eales, the Move CEO, calling CoStar an ‘existential threat.’ As Move has fallen far behind CoStar’s Homes.com in the marketplace, Move has tried to weaponize litigation against CoStar and a former employee who is simply trying to provide for his family. It’s truly desperate. Move should focus on its own legal troubles, including the class action suit by brokers alleging systematic fraud, and competing fairly on the merits. We look forward to holding Move to account.”
A Realtor.com spokesperson emailed this comment to RISMedia: “We don’t comment on pending litigation.”
