NinjaTrader to License Trading Technologiesâ Patented MD Trader⢠Technology CHICAGO, July 14, 2005 â Trading Technologies International, Inc. (âTTâ) and NinjaTrader LLC (âNinjaâ), a leading developer of retail focused trading software, today announced that they reached an agreement under which Ninja will license TTâs patented MD Trader⢠technology and extend connectivity support for its advanced order management platform to TTâs ultra-high speed gateways. The agreement also settled a lawsuit pending in Federal Court in Chicago alleging that Ninja infringed TTâs U.S. Patent Nos. 6,766,304 and 6,772,132. The lawsuit was resolved today with the entry of a Consent Judgment finding infringement. Under the settlement agreement, Ninja admitted that its NinjaTrader SuperDOM trading screen infringes on TTâs patents and agreed that the patents are valid. Furthermore, TT granted Ninja a license under which it will pay to TT a variable royalty of at least $.10 per side for all contracts that trade in conjunction with the NinjaTrader SuperDOM trading screen. As part of the settlement, TT has absolved Ninja and Ninja customers of any past liability for infringement of TTâs patents . âWe believe the evidence has shown that TTâs issued MD Trader patents are solid. This invention has proven to be of great value to traders by providing a more efficient means to enter, modify and execute their orders. Ninja plans to continue to offer and enhance its NinjaTrader product and SuperDOM trading screen pursuant to the license. We are pleased to have reached an agreement with TT on the MD Trader patents and expect our business to continue to grow at an accelerated rate,â said Raymond Deux, CEO of NinjaTrader. âOur settlement with Ninja is another example of how TT seeks to proliferate the use of the concept behind MD Trader. Ninja has proven to be a leader in the retail space for futures traders by providing innovative features that add value to our MD Trader concept. I believe that the MD Trader concept has great value in that market and with the license, we expect Ninja to be able to help grow the use of the concept in the retail space,â said Harris Brumfield, CEO of TT.
How the heck is Ninja going to be able to make that happen I wonder? Is this the end of the retail license?
I don't understand this part, does it says NT will get X-trader connectivity for it's data, like patsystem?
I for one will be looking for a platform that isn't paying the licence fee - patenting the idea of a dom is like patenting the air and the only reason Ninja will have folded is because Ray can't afford the legal battle. A sad day when the little guy has to fold. Might be time for a bit more programming on my part ... time to develop a gnu interface for IB
Email from NinjaTrader: Dear NinjaTrader Subscriber: Last night there was an announcement made specific to NinjaTrader, LLC (NinjaTrader) and Trading Technologies, LLC (TTS). The announcement was that NinjaTrader had reached a license agreement with TT specific to their MD Trader family of patented technology. The purpose of this note is to provide you with information on the announcement and how this agreement may impact you as a NinjaTrader subscriber. The press release can be found below. http://www.tradingtechnologies.com/news/050714_NinjaSettlement.pdf Background on the TT patents Most of you are aware that in August 2004 Trading Technologies was issued a number of patents relating to their MD Trader product. The granting of the patents has caused a stir in the trading industry as many vendors, including NinjaTrader, had introduced a Depth of Market (DOM) interface with a static price latter prior to the granting of these patents to TT. In the time since the patents were granted, the CEO of TT, Harris Brumfield, wrote an open letter to the trading community asking the four primary exchanges to institute a $.025 transaction fee on all transactions as a global means to resolve any potential litigation with companies thought to infringe on the patents. The exchanges rebuffed Mr. Brumfieldâs request and since then TT has been aggressively pursuing all companies thought to infringe on their patents. Q&A The following question and answer section is intended to address the questions you may have on why NinjaTrader elected to license the TT MD Trader patents and how this decision may impact you as a NinjaTrader subscriber. 1. Why has NinjaTrader decided to license the patented technology? NinjaTrader considered all settlement options including potential workaround solutions and a legal debate on the validity of the patents and our purported infringement prior to pursuing the TT license agreement. NinjaTrader choose to license the patented technology for many reasons that impact both our company and to a lesser extent our subscribers. I have included more information on this subject below. 2. Did TT sue NinjaTrader? No, NinjaTrader pursued TT to discuss any potential concern they may have had with our platform and possible remedies. In the end, NinjaTrader choose to license the software and agree to a binding court settlement whereby NinjaTrader admitted to past infringement. 3. Why did NinjaTrader settle versus pursue a workaround or engage in a legal battle? NinjaTrader considered many workaround solutions but in the end all fell short of what we thought our subscribers would consider an acceptable option to our current SuperDOM trading screen. Further, any workaround solution introduced could still be challenged by TT thus perpetuating the issue and likelihood for protracted litigation. TT also assures NinjaTrader that as an early licensee we have received the most favorable licensing terms possible and subsequent licensees may not receive the same license terms, pricing, or waivers for past infringement. NinjaTrader is an expanding company and it is our mission to provide the best trading software in the industry. We felt pursuing patent litigation would distract from that mission and consume much of our development funds in legal expense. 4. Why did you admit to infringement? The admission of infringement was needed to absolve NinjaTrader and our subscribers from any past claims of infringement by TT. TT has agreed that neither NinjaTrader nor our subscribers can be pursued for past infringement damages. We viewed this as a critical item to protect you our customer as well as our company. 5. What is the license fee and do I have to pay it? NinjaTrader has agreed to pay a transactional license fee of $.10 per side for all futures contracts starting January 1, 2006. The details of how the transactions will be tracked and paid still needs to be finalized but ultimately each individual NinjaTrader subscriber will be responsible for their transactional charges. This is the lowest fee possible from TT and will be introduced by all vendors starting January 1, 2006 if they intend to distribute a DOM based product with a static price latter.
TT is going after small trade platform operators who can't defend themselves. I hope someone big challenges their "patents" and invalidates them. I'm sure they were'nt the first to come up with the DOM idea.
Truly believe they were the first with the DOM idea and the static price ladder... and REFCO isn't exactly what i would call a small operator that can't defend itself...believe me they tried!
Agree that TT was first, but i'm biased. It's still true though. eSpeed (ESPD - mkt cap 440M) isn't all that tiny either, they were one of the first people sued. although they might on the way to tiny from the looks for their chart (see link above)
I was told by Trademaven that they are negotiating with TT to settle a deal so that the confirmation box would disappear.