this is a very very grey area that up until now nobody in the industry has wanted to explore. In general, *algorithms* are pieces of mathematics which can't be patented. You can, usually, get around this by getting a *software* patent, where you file for a patent on "a device consisting of a computer and software, the software capable of doing bla bla bla". But the financial industry doesn't do this, out of the assumption that by the time you got round to filing the patent, the algorithms would be outdated. The way banks usually protect their algo systems is as "trade secrets" by a) making the developers sign really really aggressive non-disclosure agreements (which this guy pretty certainly broke, which is the crime he's done) and b) stuffing their mouths with dollar bills - if anyone's looking for an example to illustrate clasroom discussions of the efficiency wage, this is a great one. So Doug's right that this stuff is protected, but it's protected by employment law more than by IP law.
. If anyone's interested in the question of "what are these algorithms anyway", this is a good white paper on the general subject of algo trading. http://www.themistrading.com/article_files/0000/0348/Toxic_Equity_Trading_on_Wall_Street_12-17-08.pdf best dd -----Original Message----- From: "Doug Henwood" [[email protected]] Date: 07/07/2009 11:14 AM I'm no lawyer, but trading algorithms must be protected under IP law, no?) _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
