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Federal Circuit Holds a Sublicense Does Not Automatically Survive the Termination of a Master License

The Federal Circuit considered choice-of-law, bankruptcy, and contract law in vacating the district court’s grant of a motion to dismiss in Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V. v. Sirius XM Radio Inc., No. 2018-2400 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 17, 2019).

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Patents, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, Patent infringement, Title 11 of the US Code
U.S. bankruptcy laws may prevent a patent licensor from using foreign bankruptcy proceedings to cancel patent cross-licenses and impose new royalty-bearing licenses

First published in LES Insights

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Patents, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, Bankruptcy, United States bankruptcy court
Seventh Circuit holds that a trademark licensee is permitted to continue using licensed marks despite bankruptcy rejection of the license agreement

An issue of potential concern for any licensee of intellectual property is the possibility of losing that license if its licensor files for bankruptcy protection. For a bankrupt licensor, its intellectual property may be a significant asset that could be sold or otherwise licensed as part of a dissolution or restructuring. But any license on such intellectual property essentially acts as an encumberance on that property that may reduce the value of the asset to a potential purchaser.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Trademarks, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, Bankruptcy, Seventh Circuit