i agree, they don't control patents. however, going forward the patent office has already indicated that it will be looking for "experts" to weigh in. "experts" in this case could be a regulator, such as cftc, whose oversight responsiblities and "knowledge" base would be positive input. similar to other arenas where patent issues have arisen. in this particular area, the issue that has not been resolved is how does the cftc respond when a patent recipient acts in a manner that the cftc believes is anti-competive, monopolistic, etc. (i am not suggesting anyone is doing that currently, however, we all know trading cases where that has occured and the resulting legal actions). a patent in-and-of-itself does not always have value. it's what's done with the patent that allows for its monetization. And in the US futures markets, the CFTC has absolute authority over the actions of it's participants - traders, ISVs, exchanges, etc. I suspect any violator of cftc rules that tries to claim, "Well I have a constituitionally protected right to behave like this by virtue of my patent regarding....?" will have made a losing trade .
What upsets me is TT's desire to charge 2.5 cents for every contract traded. If, as Brumfield states, TT has 50% of the market and is, in fact, the market leader, why do they want the whole pie? I keep going back to the example of TradeStation. How many real innovations have they had since Easy Language? I fear TT, besides grabbing the whole pie will dumb down the competition so we are left with a giant similar to TradeStation in responsiveness to customers and innovation.
Everyone tries to trade numbers anymore thanking it is free money or something. I asked this before. What brokers are you noticing the lag with??
I'm deputy editor on FO Week and I wrote most of our TT stories. The court ruling essentially says that TT's patents are valid and eSpeed is infringing, but as its market share is so small compared to TT there is no evidence of irreperable harm. However, it suggests that eSpeed and others should probably pull out of the market - it's very strongly worded on that front. There is no news yet on motions by CME, CBoT and FIA to unseal documents related to the case, but my sources told me it should come soon. My gut feeling is that eSpeed may settle pretty soon though based on the last ruling.
Thanks for posting that LRD. Are you aware of any place online that we could get the the judge's written ruling (in his own words so to speak?)
It's available via the Northern Illinois District Court website, http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/PUBLIC/Dkt_Info/docket_sheets.cfm, but you need to register and the wait is pretty long. If anyone is particularly keen to see it, PM me an email address and I can send on the PDF version. Alternatively, you could subscribe to FO Week and get the highlights, plus market comment and the thoughts of Mr Brumfield. Watch me get barred for advertising ;-)
here's the PDF of the judge's decision so you can read the language directly from the judge's mouth. The way I read it the patent doesn't seem likely to be overturned. If someone else reads it differently i'd be interested to hear...