A former partner of Archipelago founders Gerald Putnam and MarrGwen Townsend has been given the go-ahead to proceed with a $100 million lawsuit against the pair relating to the launch of the electronic communications network.
A Cook County judge ruled that Lewis Borsellino was free to pursue his claim that Putnam and Townsend diverted assets from a previous business partnership to found the Exchange. All claims against Archipelago itself - which generated $126.5 million in an initial public offering in August - were dismissed by the judge in September.
Putnam and Townsend say they returned Borsellino’s $250,000 investment in their pre-Archipleago venture Chicago Trading under a 1998 settlement that they argue releases them from future claims.
A hearing on Borsellino's claim is scheduled for 21 December.
Archipelago is also fighting a claim by Nasdaq to prevent the use of its "Nasdaq" and "QQQ" trademarks in advertising campaigns, under the Federal Lanham Act.