OANDA, StoneX clash over discovery in patent infringement lawsuit
About two months after OANDA Corporation filed its patent infringement case against StoneX Group Inc (NASDAQ:SNEX), the owner of brands such as Forex.com and City Index, the parties in the lawsuit have provided a status report to the Illinois Northern District Court.
The document, filed with the Court on March 4, 2021, and seen by FX News Group, reveals new points of disagreement between OANDA and StoneX. The parties have now clashed over discovery in this case.
Let’s note that, earlier this week, StoneX filed a motion to dismiss the Complaint in this action. StoneX argues that all three of OANDA’s asserted patents are directed to patent-ineligible subject matter (e.g., receiving, analyzing, and storing financial data) and are therefore invalid under 35 U.S.C. §101. Because all claims in the Complaint should be dismissed, StoneX says, it is premature and potentially wasteful of the parties’ and the Court’s resources to proceed with discovery while StoneX’s motion is pending.
Accordingly, StoneX requests that the parties be directed to meet and confer and set a schedule for discovery and other deadlines in this case (if needed at all) after this Court rules on StoneX’s motion to dismiss.
OANDA’s position is different. A stay, OANDA argues, would run afoul of (1) the general rule that discovery does not cease during the pendency of a motion to dismiss, and (2) the Local Patent Rules, which contemplate “early disclosure of the basis for each side’s allegations.”
According to OANDA, the fact that StoneX’s Motion is potentially “case dispositive” does not warrant delaying discovery in this patent infringement action between competitors. Notably, StoneX’s Motion does not raise any arguments that typically justify a stay such as standing, jurisdiction, or qualified immunity, OANDA says. Instead, StoneX’s Motion challenges the sufficiency of the Complaint’s allegations with respect to the patents-in-suit’s validity under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
While OANDA disputes the merits of StoneX’s Motion, the ultimate resolution of that dispute will be for the Court to determine after briefing on the issue. In the meantime, the case should proceed in the manner contemplated by the Local Patent Rules, and StoneX should not be permitted to delay its discovery obligations by merely presuming that its Motion has merit, OANDA concludes.
The patents at the core of this legal dispute are U.S. Patents Nos. 7,356,504 (the ʼ504 Patent), 7,702,548 (the ’548 Patent), and 7,742,959 (the ʼ959 Patent). OANDA is the owner of these three patents.
OANDA claims that StoneX uses the StoneX Trader platform, including the APIs, to operate automated infringing trading systems. OANDA alleges that the defendant’s platforms and systems practice each and every limitation of at least claim 1 of the ʼ504 Patent, claim 1 of the ʼ548 Patent, and claim 1 of the ʼ959 Patent.
In addition, OANDA says that the StoneX Select service, and its offered analysis tools and services are an infringing products and services offered by StoneX.
In this action, OANDA seeks an award of damages pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 284 sufficient to compensate Plaintiff for Defendant’s alleged past infringements, and any continuing or future infringement, up until the date that Plaintiff’s patent expires. OANDA also requests an injunction against continued infringement, including but not limited to an injunction against StoneX and/or its agents.