 The paper was the first London newspaper to be published in direct competition with the "Evening Standard" since 1987 and Robert Maxwell's short-lived "London Daily News".It was also the first newspaper to be launched by News International (the publisher's other titles were bought many years after initial publication).The week before "The London Paper" was first published, Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the "Evening Standard", re-branded their existing free lunchtime newspaper "Standard Lite" to "London Lite" and changed the publishing time to include the evening rush-hour, a move that was widely seen as a 'spoiler' to protect against the launch of "thelondonpaper".