US: Xceligent sues CoStar for antitrust violations

Commercial property data firm Xceligent filed an antitrust countersuit against The CoStar Group Wednesday, alleging the US$9 billion, Washington, DC-based data giant has created a monopoly and engaged in years of anticompetitive behavior.

Xceligent filed the 139-page counterclaim in US District Court for the Western District of Missouri after months of silence following an intellectual property theft lawsuit from CoStar. Xceligent accuses CoStar of employing internet blocks and data alteration practices to prevent its users from sharing their property information with its competitors.

Xceligent also accuses CoStar of violating restrictions the Federal Trade Commission placed on the company in 2012 to keep it from becoming a monopoly.

CoStar founder and CEO Andrew Florance has claimed Xceligent is engaging in a systematic effort to steal and resell his company’s proprietary images and data, its most valuable assets, while Xceligent views the lawsuit as the latest in a string of attempts by CoStar to dismantle its competition in the courts.

The legal battle, kicked off in December 2016, could determine not only the fate of the two companies, but also the future of how information on commercial property — the single-biggest investment asset class in the United States — is shared.

Full Content: Business Wire

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