NEW YORK, May 27, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dow Jones Indexes was granted an extension of a Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO") against the International Securities Exchange ("ISE") and the Options Clearing Corporation ("OCC") by the Federal District Court of the Southern District of New York this morning. Dow Jones Indexes sought the TRO to prevent the ISE from listing and trading options on DIAMONDS, a unit investment trust that holds equity securities comprising the Dow Jones Industrial Average ("DIAMONDS"), and the OCC from clearing such options, without a license.
Dow Jones Indexes took legal action, "to enjoin the ISE and OCC from engaging in this threatened unlawful act to capitalize on the intellectual property and trademark rights of Dow Jones." The ISE's trading of DIAMONDS options would also have undermined Dow Jones Indexes' exclusive licensing relationship with the Chicago Board Options Exchange ("CBOE") for this product.
Dow Jones Indexes was first granted a TRO on Tuesday that was extended after a further hearing by the Court today pending the Court's final determination on the application for a TRO.
"Dow Jones Indexes will defend its intellectual property rights vigorously. We are satisfied with the outcome of the TRO proceedings and we are optimistic that final resolution of this matter will result in the Court's recognition and defense of the intellectual property rights of index providers to require licenses for options on ETF's," said Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Indexes.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to: PR-Indexes@dowjones.com or contact Sybille A. Reitz, +1-212-597-5735
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About Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Indexes is a premier global provider of investable indexes, including the Dow Jones Averages, the Dow Jones Global Titans 50, the Dow Jones Asian Titans 50, the Dow Jones Sector Titans, the Dow Jones Country Titans Indexes and is co-owner of the Pan-European Dow Jones STOXX Indexes. Dow Jones Indexes is part of Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the world's most vital business and financial news and information.
In addition to Dow Jones Indexes, Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ) (dowjones.com) publishes The Wall Street Journal and its international and online editions, Barron's and the Far Eastern Economic Review, Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch and the Ottaway group of community newspapers. Dow Jones is co-owner with Reuters Group of Factiva, with Hearst of SmartMoney and with NBC Universal of the CNBC television operations in Asia and Europe. Dow Jones also provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
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