IEX seeks to have Nasdaq patent infringement lawsuit thrown out

IEX Group on Wednesday filed a motion seeking to throw out a federal patent infringement lawsuit against the exchange by rival Nasdaq.

In its motion in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J., IEX said Nasdaq's lawsuit was "baseless" and that Nasdaq's abstract ideas could not be patented, according to a news release from IEX. Also, IEX claimed Nasdaq did not say where or how key elements of its alleged patent infringements were in IEX's exchange and did not cite "specific facts" supporting its claims, the news release said.

Nasdaq claimed in its suit, filed March 1, that seven of its patents were violated by IEX, which transformed itself from a private trading venue to a full-fledged stock exchange in 2016.

Sophia Lee, general counsel at IEX, said in the release that the timing of Nasdaq's lawsuit coincides with IEX's announced intention to launch a corporate listing business to compete directly with Nasdaq and NYSE Group, a subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange.

Nasdaq and NYSE Group were both opposed to IEX's effort to turn itself into a public stock exchange, which was approved by U.S. regulators in 2016.

A Nasdaq spokesman said the company had no comment.

Bloomberg contributed to this story.