UK derivatives trading ASP Ffastfill says it has settled a US patent lawsuit filed by Chicago-based Trading Technologies. The news follows reports that US brokerage Rosenthal Collins Group is in turn suing Trading Technologies for "misuse of patents".
In a statement, London-based FfastFill says a settlement agreement has been signed with TT in relation to a lawsuit filed yesterday in the United States District Court, alleging infringement of TT patents.
Under the agreement, FfastFill will license TT's X-Trader front-end trading screen - which features the patented MD Trader screen-display technology - and incorporate the system into its managed service offering.
Trading Technologies has been pursuing multiple cases over the last 12 months in a bid to protect its patented MD Trader technology, and is currently contesting suits against companies including futures broker Refco, UK hedge fund manager Man Group and bond trading network eSpeed.
Along with the FfastFill settlement, TT says it has also settled a patent lawsuit filed against German ISV Realtime Systems Group (RTS). In a statement, TT says the lawsuit was resolved with the entry of a consent judgment finding infringement of RTS's RTD Static Dartboard (which was not widely distributed by RTS), a part of the RTD Realtime Trading Desktop.
TT has also recently settled claims with Colorado-based NinjaTrader and UK-based Patsystems, having earlier secured a number of settlements and loyalty agreements with ISVs and broker-dealers including Advantage Futures, Kingstree Trading and Goldenberg Hehmeyer.
Last month TT filed a new batch of patent infringement lawsuits against rival ISVs GL Trade and Nyfix and futures dealer Peregrine Financial.
But, according to a report by Securities Week, Rosenthal Collins Group is counter-suing TT for misuse of patents and has asked a judge to declare that it did not infringe on either of TT's MD Trader patents and that the patents are unenforceable because of TT's conduct relating to them.
In December TT asked the four biggest futures exchanges for a share of their revenues in return for protection from patent lawsuits. The vendor estimates that over 50% of electronic volume on the world's top four futures markets goes through its X_Trader order entry platform.
These claims are rumoured to have sparked the interest of the US Justice Department which is said to be investigating TT for possible monopoly abuse.