Craiglist Countersues EBay Claiming Theft Of Corporate Secrets, Running Misleading Ads

Craiglist is changing the tone and trying to change the venue for a legal battle with minority shareholder eBay (NSDQ: EBAY). The online-classifieds company filed suit in California Superior Court in San Francisco today, accusing eBay of using its minority stake to steal corporate trade secrets. EBay started the legal tiff with a suit filed in Delaware Chancery Court claiming that the Craigslist board intentionally diluted its stake after the online auction company offered to buy out Craigslist.

Reuters: “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.”

NYT: “Craigslist also charges eBay with running misleading ads on search engines that mentioned Craigslist but directed traffic to eBay properties. The company asks the court to return eBay