Fourth Circuit Protects Patent Licensees from Termination of Licenses in a Foreign Bankruptcy

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Jaffé v. Samsung Electronics Co. (In re: Qimonda AG), No. 12-1802, 2013 WL 6388591 (4th Cir. Dec. 3, 2013) (the “Opinion”) held that a German debtor could not use a chapter 15 proceeding to enforce the termination of the debtor’s licenses of U.S. patents under German insolvency law without providing the protections afforded to licensees under section 365(n) of the Bankruptcy Code.