eSpeed Sees Court Decision as Win in TT Patent Case

Ivy Schmerken, Wall Street & Technology

On Monday, eSpeed said that a recent court decision over the scope of Trading Technologies International's (TT) patent infringement claims favors eSpeed and its Ecco subsidiary, and enables them to offer a variety of user interfaces to conduct futures transactions.According to eSpeed, a U.S. District Court squarely rejected an attempt by Trading Technologies International, the Chicago-based futures trading platform whose front-end order-entry screen is the most widely used in futures trading, to constrict eSpeed's and Ecco's future product offerings by claiming patent infringement.

In response, TT issued a release that stated, "eSpeed's release is incorrect. The Court did not rule on the issue of whether eSpeed or any other defendant is infringing its patents. TT remains very confident in its case and that the Court will find that eSpeed's products infringe."

However, eSpeed maintains the consistent view that its futures products were not covered by those patents, and in an October 31 claims destruction decision, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois supported eSpeed's position, according to the release.

"In a clear victory for the marketplace, the Court's decision supports our long-standing position that our eSpeed and Ecco products do not infringe on Trading Technologies' patents," stated Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of eSpeed, in the release.

"With this matter now materially behind us, our futures business in a stronger position to satisfy customers' needs as we continue to improve our competitive position in the marketplace," further stated Lutnick in the release.

In October of 2004, eSpeed acquired London-based ITSEcco Holdings Limited (Ecco) for $14 million, indicating Ecco will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of eSpeed. At the time, eSpeed cited Ecco's established front-end software and routing solutions to worldwide exchanges as well as software and intellectual property for credit and risk monitoring.

According to Paul Saltzman, COO of eSpeed who is quoted in the release, eSpeed and Ecco are now better positioned to offer customers a broader range of user interfaces to facilitate fast and easy futures execution capabilities. Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio