Nothing lasts forever – a legal entity may close by choice or circumstance. It is often the case that during liquidation procedures and following settlements with creditors, rights holders are no longer able to manage their trademarks. This article addresses the fate of those trademarks. The liquidation of a legal entity does not automatically result in a transfer of rights and obligations. However, after settlements are made, it is common for the legal entity’s property to be transferred to the founder of that entity that has proprietary or corporate rights.

On 20 May 2019 the Supreme Court resolved a significant issue of trademark and bankruptcy law that was decades in the making. Until then, a circuit split with no grey area dictated one of two outcomes when a trademark licensor files for bankruptcy and either the bankruptcy trustee (or debtor in possession) rejects a trademark licence: the licensee's rights terminate as a result of the rejection or they survive.

On 26 October 2018 the US Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case of Mission Product Holdings Inc v Tempnology LLC. The court will consider to what extent a debtor or licensor's rejection of a trademark licence agreement terminates the rights of a licensee to continue to use the mark. The decision, expected in mid-2019, will resolve a growing split between the circuit courts of appeal.