Lehman Brothers Special Financing, Inc. v. Ballyrock ABS-CDO 2007-1 Limited (In re Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.) No. 09-01032 (JMP) (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. May 12, 2011)
CASE SNAPSHOT
On September 7, 2011, NewPage Corporation ("NewPage" or "Debtors") filed petitions for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. As stated in NewPage's Declaration in Support of First Day Motions (the "Declaration" or "Decl."), filed with the Bankruptcy Court, NewPage produces coated paper used in magazines, brochures catalogs and textbooks. NewPage manufactures its products in paper mills located in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and in Nova Scotia, Canada. Decl. at *4.
On August 16, 2011, the Second Circuit held that Irving H. Picard, the Trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC ("Trustee"), utilized the correct methodology to determine the "net equity" of each Madoff investor under the Securities Investor Protection Act ("SIPA").
After filing more than 275 copyright infringement lawsuits, it now turns out that Righthaven was not the owner of the copyrights asserted in the lawsuit, and as a result is now on the verge of bankruptcy. The copyright infringement claims were made for reposting pictures and stories previously published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, owned by Stephens Media.
The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California recently held that the filing of a bankruptcy petition by a borrower can void a trustee sale even where the petition is filed after the trustee sale, so long as the borrower files the petition before the execution of the trustee's deed upon sale. In re: Gonzales 2011 WL3328508 (Bkrtcy. C.D.Cal. August 1, 2011).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that prematurity redemptions of commercial paper made by Enron Corp. shortly before it filed for bankruptcy were protected from avoidance by 11 U.S.C. § 546(e)’s safe harbor for securities transaction settlement payments. In re Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. v. Alfa., No. 09-5122-bk (2d Cir. June 28, 2011). In so doing, the Second Circuit resolved a clash between the Bankruptcy Code’s interest in avoiding preferential debt repayment and the securities industry’s interest in preserving transaction finality.
In re XMH Corp., Nos. 10-2596, 10-2597, 10- 2598 and 10-2599 (7th Cir. July 26, 2011)
CASE SNAPSHOT
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently answered the following questions: (a) whether, under the Bankruptcy Code, a trademark license is assignable (that is, salable) without the licensor’s permission, in the absence of a clause in the agreement stating that it is assignable (NO); and (b) whether a trademark license can be “implied” in an agreement that does not say it’s a trademark license (NO).
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
In re Prosperity Park, LLC, 2011 WL 1878210 (Bankr. W.D.N.C. May 17, 2011)
CASE SNAPSHOT
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn of the Southern District of New York has approved a stipulation between bankrupt bookseller Borders Group Inc. ("Borders") and email marketer Next Jump Inc. ("Next Jump") that will require Next Jump, a former marketing partner of Borders, to stop emailing Borders' customers and remove Borders' trademarks from its website and email blasts.
On June 23, 2011, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that has sent waves through bankruptcy courts across the nation. Stern v. Marshall, 131 S.Ct. 2594 (2011), is the latest opinion in a long running dispute between the estate of Vickie Lynn Marshall, better known as Anna Nicole Smith, and the estate of her late husband’s son, Pierce Marshall.