Citing recent media interviews given by CoStar executives, Move, Inc.—the parent company of Realtor.com®—filed for a preliminary injunction in a California U.S. District Court on Aug. 14, asking a federal judge to “(restrain and enjoin) Defendants CoStar Group, Inc. and (former Realtor.com employee) James Kaminsky from any further unauthorized access of Move-owned files, and from any use or disclosure of Move’s confidential and trade secret information contained in the files.”
Kaminsky is accused in the lawsuit of surreptitiously granting himself access to Realtor.com’s proprietary data files and metrics in relation to its “News & Insights” platform.
Upset with what it perceived to be CoStar’s lack of seriousness in the matter, including an alleged refusal to meet with Move’s legal counsel to discuss the issues, Move wrote that “(i)t could not be clearer the Court’s help is needed to stop a brazen—one might say out of control—competitor that is not taking its legal obligations seriously.”
Specifically, the filing cites comments made by CoStar General Counsel Gene Boxer, who told RISMedia earlier this month that the lawsuit “is like the pimple on the elephant of my litigation (duties).”
The legal maneuver is the latest development in what has become an escalation between CoStar’s Homes.com and Move’s Realtor.com, battling for second place in the residential real estate portal business. The unpleasantries and insults from the CEOs have just added to the mix.
Move originally filed a lawsuit July 2, claiming that Kaminsky—who had been laid off in July and joined CoStar a couple months later—had accessed proprietary data at his former employer dozens of times and had sought to hide evidence by wiping hard drives and browsing history on Realtor.com issued computers.
CoStar responded with CEO Andy Florance calling it a “sick, twisted PR stunt,” disputing the value of any information the employee, Kaminsky, might have had, while insisting it did not use any of it in any event.
Move wrote in its filing that “(a)fter Move filed this lawsuit, CoStar made crystal clear an injunction is needed, taking no accountability for its employee’s conduct but instead rushing to attack Move in the media. CoStar’s general counsel doubled down on its employee’s actions, implying it was acceptable business behavior.
“Although the breadth of wrongdoing by CoStar and its employee is wide, the requested preliminary injunction is narrow. It would not stop Mr. Kaminsky from working or CoStar from constructing a competing product. It seeks only to stop further unlawful use of specific misappropriated files, preserve evidence, and help Move determine what happened to its stolen information.”
In an emailed statement, Boxer told RISMedia that the latest salvo was a “knee-jerk filing” by Move, Inc. and continued to characterize Kaminsky as a relatively low-level employee at Homes.com
“Last week we noted that plaintiffs with real concerns about trade secrets file for injunctions when they file complaints, and that Move had not, and we predicted that now that we had called them out, they would file such a motion. That’s exactly what happened. And Realtor.com’s motion confirms that they’re using a mid-level employee as a pawn, and that they have zero evidence of any involvement by CoStar. None. As we have said from the beginning, this is a PR stunt, and it is backfiring spectacularly.
“Even more telling is the admission in their motion that Realtor.com knew of Mr. Kaminsky’s purportedly improper conduct at least as early as June 3rd, yet they made no attempt to contact him or CoStar to inquire about such conduct. Instead, they waited a month to take any action. And instead of trying to resolve this directly with the parties involved, they went straight to court and the media to tout their filing.
“CoStar welcomes the chance to litigate this case on the merits, where Realtor.com and (Move CEO) Mr. (Damian) Eales will no longer be able to hide behind press-statements dressed up as legal arguments.”
A hearing to consider the injunction has been scheduled for Aug. 15.
