High frequency trading firm Jane Street Capital failed in a bid to secure a temporary restraining order against Millennium Management from a Manhattan court on Friday as it looked to stop the multi-strategy hedge find firm using an allegedly stolen trading strategy, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Jane Street recently filed a law suit against two former employees – Douglas Schadewald and Daniel Spottiswood, who left the firm to join Millennium earlier this year – over the alleged theft of an international options scheme it said was a “highly valuable, unique, and proprietary” trading strategy.

US district judge Paul Engelmayer however ruled that Jane Street had not demonstrated irreparable harm since the duo joined Millennium in February. During the court hearing he said: “Jane Street has certainly identified smoke, but it has not established a fire.”

Millennium has denied Jane Street's accusations in a written statement saying that rather than using any of the trading firm's secret strategies, Schadewald and Spottiswood "are simply applying their knowledge and experience to trade in a market where Millennium and its affiliates have long been engaged in trading activity (including in options) and has established relationships with relevant brokers and other third-parties.”