Bad boardroom blood between Craigslist and eBay ends up in lawsuits.SAN FRANCISCO
(Reuters) - Online classifieds leader Craigslist.com on Monday filed a
countersuit against business rival eBay Inc, alleging eBay had used its
minority stake in Craigslist to steal corporate trade secrets.
In a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco on
Tuesday, Craigslist challenged allegations in an eBay suit filed in
Delaware state court in April that accused Craigslist of discriminating
against eBay as a shareholder.
Craigslist's complaint alleges a plan by eBay to use its position as
a minority shareholder in Craigslist and its position on the Craigslist
board to gather competitive information that led to the launch of
eBay's rival classifieds business. The suit claims eBay code-named
Kijiji its "Craigslist killer" in internal strategy discussions.
"In the months leading up to the launch of its competing Kijiji site
... eBay used its shareholder status to plant on Craigslist's board of
directors the individual responsible for launching and/or operating
Kijiji," the latest suit alleges.
(Reporting by Eric Auchard; Editing by Gary Hill)
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