Texas-based company Intercurrency Software LLC has launched a patent infringement lawsuit against TD Ameritrade.

The complaint, seen by FX News Group, was filed earlier this week in the Texas Eastern District Court. The list of defendants includes TD AMERITRADE, Inc., TD AMERITRADE Clearing, Inc., TD AMERITRADE Services Company, Inc., TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation, TD AMERITRADE Online Holdings Corp. and TD Ameritrade Futures & Forex LLC.

Intercurrency Software is the sole and exclusive owner, by assignment, of U.S. Patent 10,062,107 (the “’107 Patent”), U.S. Patent 10,776,863 (the “’863 Patent”), and U.S. Patent 11,449,930 (the “’930 Patent”). The plaintiff accuses TD Ameritrade of infringement of these patents.

The inventions, Intercurrency Software explains, provide “a three-tier architecture which includes a brokerage, a market exchange where securities/assets are traded, and a currency exchange where amounts in one currency can be converted to corresponding amounts in another currency at prevailing rates,” which “presents all prices, market data, P&L estimates, and transaction results or settlements in a preferred currency, in conjunction with the market exchange and the currency exchange.

The inventions of the Patents-in-Suit also contemplate that “orders with conditions (e.g., a limit order, or a stop order) are only executed when the conditions are met with reference to the market price from the market exchange together with the currency exchange rate from the currency exchange”.

The plaintiff alleges that the defendant makes, sells, advertises, offers for sale, uses, or otherwise provides an apparatus and method for a consolidated trading platform covered by the Patents-in-Suit, including its “thinkorswim” platform and system, including all augmentations to these platforms or descriptions of platforms.

More specifically, Intercurrency Software says that TD Ameritrade :

• practices and provides a trading server, such as its trading servers coupled to one or more currency exchange servers, such as its forex servers, and one or more market exchange servers;
• practices and provides receiving in the trading server an indicator of a preferred currency from a trader;
• practices and provides causing a client computer associated with the trader to display at least an asset in the preferred currency while the asset is being traded in a market currency, wherein said causing a client computer associated with the trader to display at least an asset in the preferred currency comprises;
• practices and provides conducting in the trading server a transaction of the asset by transmitting a transaction request from the trading server to a market exchange server when the trader decides to proceed with trading the asset;
• practices and provides receiving a settlement notification in the trading server when the transaction of the asset is performed by the market exchange server in accordance with conditions set by the user, wherein the conditions include a price at which the asset is traded in the preferred currency, the trading server is configured to calculate the prevailing exchange rate from all exchange rates obtained from the one or more currency exchange servers right before the transaction takes place when the asset is not priced in the preferred currency, and executes the transaction with the calculated prevailing exchange rate obtained at the transaction to prevent uncertainty in currency exchanges in another time; and
• practices and provides performing a currency conversion of some portion or all of the transaction from the market currency to the preferred currency when the preferred currency is not identical to the market currency, the conversion being performed with the calculated prevailing exchange rate.

Further, TD Ameritrade is accused of taking active steps to induce infringement, such as advertising an infringing use, which supports a finding of an intention for the accused product to be used in an infringing manner.

In addition, Intercurrency Software claims that TD Ameritrade has a practice of not performing a review of the patent rights of others first for clearance or to assess infringement thereof prior to launching products and services. As such, Defendant has been willfully blind to the patent rights of Plaintiff.

Intercurrency Software argues that the alleged infringement on the part of TD Ameritrade has caused past and ongoing injury to the plaintiff.

Intercurrency Software LLC requests the Court to enter judgment against the defendant as follows:

1. Declaring that the defendant has infringed the Patents-in-Suit;
2. Awarding Plaintiff its damages suffered because of Defendant’s infringement of the Patents-in-Suit;
3. Enter a judgment awarding treble damages pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §284 for Defendant’s willful infringement of the Patents-in-Suit;
4. Awarding Plaintiff its costs, reasonable attorneys’ fees, expenses, and interest; and
5. Granting Plaintiff such further relief as the Court finds appropriate.