The owners of the classified ads’ site Craigslist have filed a countersuit against auction site eBay.com. This action is the latest in an unfolding legal battle between the two companies. The first move was made by eBay.com when it filed a lawsuit against Craigslist in April.

In its lawsuit, Craigslist claims eBay had malicious intent when it bought shares in the classified ads company. Craigslist founder Craig Newman and CEO Jim Buckmaster insists that eBay uses several practices against Craigslist. One was to detract traffic from Craigslist by placing false links that lead to eBay or eBay’s classified ads site Kijiji.

Craigslist also cites the creation of Kijiji as a clear sign of eBay’s plan. eBay was already a part of the board for Craigslist when it launched its own classified ads site. Craigslist claims that eBay used knowledge it learned as a shareholder to build a competitor.

The lawsuit filed by Craigslist asks that eBay refrain from using the Craigslist name or brand. The company is also asking that eBay return all the Craigslist shares it owns. Craigslist reasoned that the only reason eBay bought shares in their company is to collect insider information. The Craigslist founders believe that eBay is willingly undermining them because they are seen as a direct threat.

In the initial lawsuit filed by eBay, they claim that Craigslist made moves to devalue their share in the company. eBay holds a 25% stake in the classified ads company. eBay.com filed the lawsuit to protect their remaining assets in Craigslist. eBay.com believes that the board of Craigslist willingly engaged in actions that devalued the cost of their stock by 10%.

eBay responded to the claims by saying they purchased stock without any plans of sabotage. The auction site says the reason for interest in Craigslist was purely to get an idea what sets the classified ads site apart from similar endeavors.

eBay purchased the Craigslist stock in 2004. The shares were originally owned by a Craigslist employee. Several companies were approached with an offer of Craigslist stock, including Yahoo and Google.

Craigslist is a classified ads website that offers several listings. A wide variety of items can be found in the website from job openings to second hand furniture to personal ads. The website charges limited fees for its services. Only job openings posted for Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York require a fee.