CoStar, real estate website competitor end trade secret lawsuit

Andy Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group, said in a statement on Monday that the case was "a PR stunt" and "devoid of merit." He said that CoStar did not settle.

Kaminsky's attorneys did not respond to a request for comment and details of the settlement on Monday.

Realtor.com said in its lawsuit last year that CoStar misused confidential information from Kaminsky, who ran its "News and Insights" platform, to bolster CoStar's competing real-estate listing website. The lawsuit said that Realtor.com is the second most-visited real-estate listing website in the United States, and that CoStar has been working "aggressively" to grow its rival website Homes.com.

Realtor.com alleged that Kaminsky stole documents related to business strategy, industry contacts and "a vast array of other competitively sensitive and valuable information" for CoStar.

CoStar responded in a court filing that the claims were "knowingly false" and part of a "flailing effort to stymie the success of Homes.com," which it said had surpassed Realtor.com in the marketplace. Kaminsky also denied the allegations in a separate filing.