Financial analytic software firm Suite takes Currenex, State Street to court over copyright infringement

Maria Nikolova

The defendants allegedly misappropriated Suite’s intellectual property, including its source-code, with the matter taken to the New York Southern District Court.

Suite LLC, a vendor of quantitative financial analytic software, is targeting Currenex, Inc., State Street Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary State Street Global Markets LLC, as well as Frost & Fire Ltd. in a copyright infringement action at the New York Southern District Court.

As per court filings, seen by FinanceFeeds, Suite has launched the case over the alleged efforts by the Defendants “to infringe upon and misappropriate Suite’s intellectual property, including its source-code”.

The case is based on events dating back to September 2011, when Suite signed an agreement (the document was seen by FinanceFeeds) with State Street and Currenex providing the latter with a perpetual license of Suite’s ALib Analytic Library (ALib), analytical software used for pre-execution pricing, risk management and valuations on bonds, interest-rate swaps and related rates derivatives products, including options and credit derivatives. The license was limited to State Street’s and Currenex’s use and precluded resale or sharing with third parties.

Currenex and State Street allegedly distributed Suite’s copyrighted, confidential software and source-code to third parties (including an existing customer of Suite, “TradingScreen,” and a competitor of Suite, Frost) without the consent or authorization of Suite, thereby breaching the confidentiality provision and the restrictions stipulated in the contract.

In particular, Bleron Baraliu, an individual at Currenex and State Street who was involved in negotiating the agreement signed in September 2011, abruptly terminated the agreement one year after it was executed and then, shortly thereafter, left to run Frost, a competitor to Suite that he founded while working for State Street. Frost is alleged to have improperly used and distributed Suite’s copyrights and created derivative works from Suite’s copyrighted source-code and software for use in its competitive risk management business. Specifically, Frost distributed Suite’s copyrighted source-code and software (that was licensed to State Street) directly to TradingScreen.

Suite charges all of the defendants in the case with copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets. In addition, Currenex and State Street are accused of breach of contract, whereas Frost is accused of unjust enrichment.

Accordingly, Suite seeks to: (1) permanently enjoin Defendants’ copyright infringement and misappropriation of Suite’s trade secrets; and (2) recover its damages arising from Defendants’ acts as well as punitive damages.

The case is captioned SUITE, LLC v. CURRENEX, INC. et al (1:17-cv-06920). Currenex and State Street are given until October 30, 2017 to answer to the plaintiff’s complaint.

Read this next

Institutional FX

Fortex adds GBE Prime to liquidity offering

“This collaboration enhances our liquidity distribution capabilities, offering our clients improved pricing, order execution, and risk management. We look forward to the positive impact this integration will have on our clients.”

Retail FX

Fullerton Markets Caps Off Stellar Year with Dual Triumph at Gazet International Awards 2023

Fullerton Markets, one of the fastest-growing brokerages in the Asia Pacific, has today announced its remarkable success at the prestigious Gazet International Awards 2023, where it secured two coveted accolades, reinforcing its position as a global leader in multi-asset brokerage and marketing a triumphant end to the year.

Inside View

Are brokers really ready for EMIR Refit and ESMA changes in 2024?

The EMIR Refit and ESMA reporting requirements necessitate a strategic approach from brokers, involving major updates to reporting systems, data collection processes, and internal resources. We spoke with brokers and RegTech providers to learn more about the upcoming regulatory challenges.

Digital Assets

Binance to phase out BUSD support in two weeks

Binance has announced its plans to gradually phase out support for its native stablecoin, BUSD (Binance USD) by December 15, 2023. This move comes after Paxos, the issuer of BUSD, decided to stop minting new tokens.

Web3

Binance Labs invests $3.15M in Open Campus to advance Web3 education

Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of the cryptocurrency giant Binance, has invested $3.15 million in Web3 education platform Open Campus.

Institutional FX

Brighty App unveils EU B2B payment platform amidst exploding market

Brighty App is set to launch its European B2B platform, Brighty Business, this month. This platform is geared towards improving how businesses handle their financial operations, especially in the digital banking and cryptocurrency domains.

Digital Assets

Celsius’ withdrawal process slowed by overwhelming demand

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius is taking steps to allow certain customers to withdraw their funds. However, some users have reported difficulties in logging in to process their withdrawals, as indicated by posts on various social media platforms.

Digital Assets

Cristiano Ronaldo hit with $1 billion lawsuit over Binance NFTs

Cristiano Ronaldo, the renowned footballer, is facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States over his promotion of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Digital Assets

Zipmex creditors offered 3.35 cents on the dollar payout

Zipmex, a Thai crypto exchange grappling with financial difficulties, has proposed a restructuring plan to repay its creditors.

<