“I did not want you to hear this on the news for the first time, but we are filing for bankruptcy next week.” “This is a difficult call to make. We are going out of business and will probably be filing a chapter 7 in the next couple of days.” Needless to say, bankruptcy is problematic for a licensor: the licensee may cease performing, the royalty stream may run dry, and the licensee or a trustee could attempt to sell or assign the license in bankruptcy to an undesirable licensee, or even a competitor.

The French conciliation procedure, introduced in 2005, has become such a key procedure in France that it cannot be ignored. For any restructuring involving France (whether partially or wholly), the possibility of a conciliation procedure has to be seriously considered.

Concept of conciliation procedure