The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to revisit its June ruling reviving antitrust claims against CoStar, leaving the real estate giant facing accusations it has monopolized commercial listing markets.
On Friday, the appellate panel denied CoStar’s petition for rehearing, a last-ditch effort to unwind the earlier decision that gave rival Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. (CREXi) new momentum in its lawsuit. Judges Lucy Koh and Anthony Johnstone voted against rehearing, and no other judge called for a full panel review.
“The Ninth Circuit has now definitively rejected CoStar’s appeal, ruled in favor of CREXi, and green lit CREXi’s antitrust claims,” said Nicholas S. Goldberg of Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP, counsel for CREXi. “CoStar’s efforts to bob and weave, and delay its day of reckoning for its monopolistic and oppressive behavior, have run their course.”
CoStar Pushes Back
CoStar’s general counsel Gene Boxer countered Monday that the company took solace in the court amending parts of its June opinion. The new version, he argued, requires CREXi to prove that nearly every CoStar client misunderstood its terms.
“CREXi’s makeweight counterclaims never made any sense, and they make even less sense now,” Boxer said. He also noted that many brokers maintain listings with both CoStar and CREXi, undercutting the exclusivity allegations.
Meanwhile, CoStar continues to press its copyright lawsuit against CREXi, accusing it of copying photographs and data. CREXi has sought to pause that case until its antitrust claims are resolved.
