Board of Trade of the City of Chicago v. Dow Jones & Co.

The Chicago Board of Trade (plaintiff) sought federal approval to trade stock market index futures contracts and planned to base those contracts on Dow Jones's (defendant) well-known stock indexes, which the Board already accessed through an existing subscription for real-time display. Uncertain whether its contract allowed this new futures-contract use, the Board sought a declaratory judgment that the use was proper. The circuit court ruled for the Board, but the appellate court reversed in Dow Jones's favor, and the Board appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.