Construction information provider Reed Construction Data (RCD), US, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reed Elsevier, has amended a suit in federal court against McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge, a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. The amended complaint raises new charges that Dodge unlawfully misappropriated RCD’s confidential and trade secret information regarding specific construction projects and used that information to populate its own project database.
The original lawsuit, filed October 8, 2009, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, charged that Dodge since 2002 used a series of fake companies to pose as RCD customers and gain access to RCD’s construction project information database.
RCD’s amended complaint now alleges that Dodge also used its access to RCD’s database to misappropriate RCD’s construction information by downloading hundreds of project-related documents and viewing the specific details for thousands of construction projects. Dodge subsequently used this information to populate its own database.
Because of this conduct, Dodge was able to make misleading claims that its products were superior to RCD’s, thus preventing companies from making fair and objective comparisons of RCD’s and Dodge’s products. As a result, hundreds of companies made misinformed buying decisions and in many instances paid a higher price for construction data services.
The amended complaint cites multiple counts of misconduct by Dodge, including fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, misappropriation of confidential information, unfair competition, tortious interference with prospective economic advantage, violation of New York’s general business law, violation of the RICO Act, RICO conspiracy, monopolisation, attempted monopolisation and unjust enrichment.
The suit seeks an unspecified amount in lost profits and punitive damages, trial by jury, and injunctive relief as a result of Dodge’s misuse of RCD’s proprietary construction project information.
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