Today's ruling prohibits ISE from listing or offering a market for trading in options on either the S&P 500® Index (SPX) or the Dow Jones Industrial AverageSM (DJX), as to which CBOE holds an exclusive license. In addition, the ruling forbids OCC, which clears trading for all U.S. options exchanges, from clearing SPX and DJX options unless they are traded pursuant to CBOE's exclusive license.

"We are obviously gratified that the Court has ruled in CBOE's favor," said CBOE Chairman and CEO William J. Brodsky. "After nearly four years of defending our contractual right to exclusively list and trade these index products, we are elated that the time, energy and resources needed for litigation may now be redirected to focus on new initiatives to better serve our customers and benefit our shareholders. No third party should be able to interfere with contractual licensing agreements. Nor should any exchange have a free ride on the enormous investment CBOE made in creating options on these indexes and in developing and marketing them for over two decades."

On November 15, 2006, CBOE filed a lawsuit in Cook County, Illinois, against ISE and the OCC to prevent ISE from listing or offering a market for trading in SPX or DJX options and to prevent OCC from unauthorized clearing of such trades. CBOE was joined in the lawsuit by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. and its Standard & Poor's Division and Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (now CME Group Index Services, LLC).