US lawmakers have denied eSpeed's request for a preliminary injunction against BrokerTec in a patent infringement claim involving the electronic trading systems that both companies operate for the treasury securities market.
The suit, which also names BrokerTec parent company Icap and technology partner OM, is for the so-called "580" patent, which describes "a data processing system for implementing transaction management of auction-based trading for specialised items such as fixed income instruments".
In its ruling, the US District Court for the District of Delaware found that "BrokerTec has raised a substantial question as to the validity of the '580 patent". The Court also noted that "if proven BrokerTec's claim of inequitable conduct would invalidate the entire patent."
The court also decided that "the public interest strongly outweighed any interest eSpeed may have in obtaining a preliminary injunction".
Icap says this public concern was supported by the US Department of the Treasury.