InfoUSA Sues Acxiom Over Alleged Data Sale to Staples
InfoUSA has filed a lawsuit alleging that Acxiom Corp., in violation of a licensing agreement, sold InfoUSA’s business-to-business data to Staples Inc. at half the price InfoUSA was charging.
The complaint, filed on July 9 in federal court, asks for injunctive relief and damages.
A spokesperson for Acxiom said that the claims have no merit, and that Acxiom will be addressing them in a response that will be filed within the next few days.
According to the complaint, Omaha, NE-based InfoUSA granted a license to Acxiom in 1997 for data from the InfoUSA business database.
The agreement allowed Acxiom to sell this data to InfoUSA license holders like Staples as part of a “total solution.” But it required that Acxiom work with InfoUSA in each case, and that it endeavor to adhere to InfoUSA’s published prices, the papers continue.
The complaint alleges that Acxiom secured a contract from Staples last October by “offering to sell the data licensed from the plaintiff at half the price plaintiff was charging for the data,” and that Acxiom may have done so with other businesses mentioned on a list of InfoUSA license holders.
InfoUSA was at the same time negotiating to sell similar lists to Staples, the papers state.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska in Omaha, asks for an injunction restraining Acxiom from selling data to any other firms on the InfoUSA license holder list, and damages resulting from lost license fees.
