A district court judge recently reversed and remanded a well-known bankruptcy decision discharging a significant student loan debt.

Each week, Crowell & Moring’s State Attorneys General team highlights significant actions that State AGs have taken. Here are this week’s updates.

Monday, November 8, 2021

Antitrust

Executive Summary

When a company receives notice that one of its customers has filed for bankruptcy, the initial response may be “Great, there goes the prospect of receiving payment of those outstanding invoices.” While that may be the ultimate outcome, the only way that result may be locked in with certainty is if the company fails to properly assert its claim against the debtor customer in the bankruptcy proceeding. Fortunately, in many instances, filing a proof of claim in a bankruptcy is a simple and straightforward process, and may not even require the assistance of counsel.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (“SC”) has held that National Company Law Tribunal (“NCLT”) cannot exercise its residuary jurisdiction under Section 60(5)(c) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”) to adjudicate upon the contractual dispute between the parties.

The problem of Non-performing Assets (NPAs) in the Indian banking system is one of its foremost predicaments.

Federal Court of Justice, Judgment of 24 August 2021, Case No. X ZR 59/19 (BPatG) – Oscillating Drive

In the underlying case, the Federal Patent Court had dismissed the nullity actions of four separate plaintiffs against the German part of a European patent (judgment of 26 February 2019, case no. 3 Ni 29/17). All four plaintiffs appealed against this decision to the Federal Court of Justice.

In August 2021, Sir Alistair Norris sanctioned the restructuring plan of Amicus Finance PLC (Amicus) (as we wrote about at the time). On 15 November 2021, the judge handed down his reasoning for sanctioning the plan.

Background

Bundesgerichtshof, Urteil v. 24. August 2021, Az. X ZR 59/19 (BPatG) – Oszillationsantrieb

Im zugrundeliegenden Fall hatte das Bundespatentgericht die Nichtigkeitsklagen von insgesamt vier Klägern gegen den deutschen Teil eines Europäischen Patents abgewiesen (Urteil v. 26. Februar 2019, Az. 3 Ni 29/17). Alle vier Kläger legten hiergegen Berufung zum Bundesgerichtshof ein.

Criminal prosecutions for administrators are rare, and rarer still are prosecutions under employment legislation. However, a recent decision has confirmed that an administrator can be prosecuted and personally liable for a failure to notify the Secretary of State of proposed collective redundancies under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA).