The bankruptcy of a licensor can dramatically impact the rights of an intellectual property licensee.
On December 1, Bankruptcy Rule 2019 became effective. This rule relates to the disclosure requirements in Chapter 9 and Chapter 11 cases for holders of distressed loans and eliminates the requirement for the disclosure of the price paid for a claim in bankruptcy and the date the claim was acquired (except in very limited circumstances) in Rule 2019 verified statements. Rule 2019.
Minnesota law requires that an employer must immediately notify all of its employees in writing if the employer files a petition for bankruptcy or if an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against the employer. SeeMinn. Stat.
The Sixth Circuit is one of only five federal appellate courts to institute a bankruptcy appellate panel under 28 U.S.C. § 158(b). (The others are the First, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth circuits.) As the bankruptcy appellate panel is unfamiliar to many non-bankruptcy attorneys, this post will review the Sixth Circuit’s bankruptcy appellate panel.
In a case of first impression that has important implications for parties who acquire intellectual property rights under international license agreements, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that the protections of Section 365(n) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code applied to licensees of U.S. patents in a Chapter 15 case, despite the fact that those protection were not available under the foreign law applicable to the foreign debtor. In re Qimonda AG, Case No. 09-14766 (Bankr. E.D. Va., Oct. 28, 2011) (Mitchell, Bankruptcy J.).
Earlier today AMR Corporation, its subsidiary American Airlines, Inc., and 18 other affiliates ("Debtors") filed petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.1 The case was assigned to Bankruptcy Judge Sean H. Lane. The Debtors have asked the Court to consolidate all 20 cases for procedural purposes under the captionIn re: AMR Corporation, Case No. 11-15463.
Summary
On October 31, the MF Global enterprise collapsed into bankruptcy and a number of related insolvency proceedings. Amid allegations of improper commingling of customer accounts and rumors of misbegotten proprietary Eurobond trades, two unregulated entities – MF Global Finance USA Inc. and MF Global Holdings Ltd. (the Unregulated Debtors) – filed voluntary bankruptcy petitions on October 31, 2011. Later the same day, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation filed a complaint in the U.S.
On October 31, 2011, the Honorable Kevin J. Carey, Bankruptcy Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, issued an opinion denying confirmation of two competing proposed plans of reorganization in the chapter 11 cases of In re Tribune Company, et al.
As expected the Harrisburg City Council has filed a reply to the numerous objections to the Chapter 9 filing of Harrisburg initiated by the City Council. The City Council’s brief (harrisburg response.pdf) appears to be the only timely filed reply to the objections to the Chapter 9 filing.