Hedge Fund Renaissance Loses Bid to Patent Speedy Algorithm (1)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lost its latest attempt to legally protect a valuable trading program that helps it outrun the competition.

The U.S. fund failed to overturn an earlier denial of a British patent for the computer system that enables it to synchronize trades across multiple exchanges at the same time. A London judge said Tuesday that the program doesn’t offer a technical solution to get around problems with minuscule delays in processing trades.

Renaissance has been trying to get patents for the similar systems in the U.K. and the U.S. since at least 2015. The invention consists of not only ...