Court of NY keeps alive lawsuit against Huffington Post (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - two democratic political consultants can proceed with their suit alleging that founders of The Huffington Post stole their idea for the new Web site, a New York judge has ruled.

Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer and TheHuffingtonPost.com co-founders lawyers had asked the Court to dismiss the complaint filed by the consultants, Peter Daou and James Boyce, who claims that the defendants broke their promise to work with them to create the site.

In the course of argument from Tuesday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos allowed the counts alleging the diversion of the idea and breach of contract to continue, but does not rule on the six other causes of action. Ramos also said that the parties could move forward with the discovery.

Despite the decision, a spokesman for the media group AOL Huffington Post said that they expect to prevail in the end.

AOL bought Huffington Post, 315 million in an agreement announced in February.

Daou and Boyce filed adapt last November, saying that after weeks of meetings, conversations and e-mails in 2004, "Huffington and Lerer breached their obligations of Peter James, excluded from the business and claimed for the ideas and contributions to the site that Peter and James had given their.".

In November 2004, according to the complaint, Boyce Huffington gave a memorandum entitled "1460", indicating the number of days between the presidential elections. Daou and Boyce both worked on the presidential campaign of Senator John Kerry in 2004.

The trial said this memo has been the basis of the presentation of the Boyce at home in the Huffington on 3 December 2004 and submitted "a specific combination of elements that have always been the power and the elements of the signature of the Huffington Post."

The next day, Boyce, Daou and Lerer joins Huffington to a small lunch at his home, the complaint and they "all shook hands and Huffington said:"It will be nice to work together"". ""

In the motion to dismiss, the lawyers of Huffington said that the applicants were far from having reached an agreement with the defendants.

"Of the applicants that their idea was that the basis for the Huffington Post is definitely rebutted by the memorandum of 1460 and the site itself," the motion said.

The case is Peter Daou et al v. Arianna Huffington et al., New York, Supreme Court, no. 651997-2011.

(Edited by Eric Beech)

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