Considering the fate to befall certain trademarks upon an owner’s bankruptcy, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Court determined that a trademark license is not assignable without the owner’s express permission or in the absence of a clause explicitly authorizing assignment and a trademark license cannot be implied from a contract for services.  In re XMH Corp., Case No. 10-2596 (7th Cir. August 2, 2011) (Posner, J.).

Lexington Insurance Company participated in a tower of coverage for Dresser Industries, a manufacturer of asbestos-containing products that was forced into bankruptcy by the multi-billion dollar exposure it faced arising from product liability litigation against it. In the context of the bankruptcy proceeding, Dresser commenced an insurance coverage action against its various liability insurers.

This Installment will address the potential legal disabilities that exist under the New York Debtor and Creditor Law for the Wilpon/Katz families, the owners of the New York Mets (collectively, the “Wilpon Interests”), in their effort to sell a minority interest(s) in the Mets, in light of the existence of the lawsuit against them (the “Wilpon Case”) by Irving Picard, the Trustee in the Bernard L. Madoff bankruptcy.

Fred Wilpon, Saul Katz, and their families and affiliated enterprises (the “Wilpon/Katz Group”) last week formally requested the dismissal of the adversary proceeding commenced by Irving Picard, the trustee of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BLMIS”). In a two hour hearing before U.S.

In a recent decision1 involving TerreStar Networks, Inc., and its affiliates (“TerreStar” or the “Debtors”), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York held that the Debtors’ noteholders held a valid lien on the economic value of a license granted to TerreStar by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and that nothing in Article 9 of the New York Uniform Commercial Code (the “NYUCC”) or Section 552 of the Bankruptcy Code invalidated that lien.

Several states have recently added provisions to their insurance rehabilitation and liquidation acts which address the rights of parties to certain derivatives transactions with an insurance company in the event that an order of rehabilitation or liquidation is entered against the insurer. In short, these laws allow parties to exercise certain early termination and close-out netting provisions without regard to the applicable stay mechanism under state insurance insolvency law.

A recent opinion from the Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina adds another chapter to the continuing saga of attacks lodged against the validity of deeds of trust encumbering real property owned by debtors.  In re Deuce Investments, Inc.

Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) was amended to provide that the date a plan sponsor files a bankruptcy petition will be treated as the termination date when a defined benefit plan is terminated in bankruptcy.

On August 15, 2011, Evergreen Solar ("Evergreen"), filed chapter 11 petitions for Bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.  According to the Declaration of Evergreen's CEO, Michael El-Hillow (the "Declaration" or "Decl."), filed in support of its bankruptcy petitions, Evergreen incorporated in Delaware in 1994 and manufactures "multi-cystalline silicon wafers."  The company uses its silicon wafers in the production of photovoltaic solar cells, which in turn are installed in solar panels under the Evergreen trade name.  Decl. at 3.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ruled that an affiliate that held an indirect ownership interest in, and was a lender to, an employer could be liable for severance payments under the Federal WARN Act. In order for liability to apply to the affiliate, the affiliate and employer need to be found to constitute a "single employer" for Federal WARN Act purposes.