The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (“BAP”) has held for the first time that neither sovereign immunity nor the Younger abstention doctrine constrain bankruptcy courts from enjoining State governmental disciplinary...more
Court: United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit - Debtor Ben Nye Co. Inc., a manufacturer and distributer of theatrical makeup, filed for subchapter V bankruptcy in March 2024. Its proposed bar date...more
This blog previously covered the Supreme Court’s decision in Bartenwerfer v. Buckley, 598 U.S. 69 (2023), which held that, under Section 523(a)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code, an individual debtor may not discharge through...more
In a recent pair of decisions, the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel held that even fully secured creditors with nonrecourse claims and unsecured creditors who are paid off after the involuntary petition may qualify as...more
Recently, two significant distressed companies with thousands of commercial leases, Rite Aid Corp. and WeWork Inc., each filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, seeking in part to rationalize their geographic footprints through...more
The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel holds that a discharge injunction does not bar an alter ego claim against a non-debtor where, under applicable law, the result of an alter ego finding is not to deem the entities...more
The discharge provided in bankruptcy is fundamental, allowing the “honest but unfortunate” debtor a fresh start. There are various exceptions to the discharge found in Sections 523 and 727 of the Bankruptcy Code—designed to...more
The Ninth Circuit BAP explains that “commercial or business activities” that satisfy section 1182(1)(A)’s Subchapter V eligibility requirement “would include not-for-profit businesses, and would not be limited to those having...more
I recently had the pleasure of working with my colleagues Benny Roshan and Jillian Berk on an appeal before the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (B.A.P), which tested the ever-evolving intersection between bankruptcy...more
The ability of a bankruptcy trustee or chapter 11 debtor-in-possession ("DIP") to obtain credit or financing during the course of a bankruptcy case is often crucial to the debtor's prospects for either maintaining operations...more
In Hafen v. Adams (In re Hafen), 616 B.R. 570 (B.A.P. 10th Cir. 2020), a bankruptcy appellate panel from the Tenth Circuit ("BAP") held that the bankruptcy court is the only court with subject-matter jurisdiction to decide...more
It is generally well understood that an "oversecured" creditor is entitled to interest and, to the extent provided for under a loan agreement, related fees and charges as part of its secured claim in a bankruptcy case....more
“Can an unsecured creditor be better off when the debtor defaults rather than paying off the debt? Yes: Law can be stranger than fiction in the Preference Zone.”—Ninth Circuit Untimely payment by tenants and other obligors...more
So you (allegedly) violated a bankruptcy court order. Whether the debtor alleges you violated the terms of a confirmed plan, failed to provide certain notices required by the bankruptcy rules, violated the discharge...more
In Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, 139 S. Ct. 652, 2019 WL 2166392 (U.S. May 20, 2019), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the rejection in bankruptcy of a trademark license agreement, which constitutes a...more
What happens if you are a trademark licensee and your licensor files for bankruptcy protection? Can the licensor unilaterally terminate your license and prohibit you from using the license – even if you're in the middle of...more
The United States Supreme Court has rendered a decision that represents a victory for licensees of trademarks throughout the country when faced with a bankrupt licensor....more
Our May 22 post reported on the Supreme Court’s May 20 decision in Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC,[1] an 8-1 decision holding that the rejection of a trademark license in which the debtor is the licensor...more
In an 8–1 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and held that rejection of a trademark license in bankruptcy constitutes a breach of the license agreement,...more
This past May, in a highly-anticipated decision, the Supreme Court held in Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC that a debtor’s rejection of an executory contract under Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code has the...more
In May 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC case. The Mission Products Holdings decision provides a reminder to intellectual property license parties that periodic review...more
The Supreme Court holds that a debtor’s rejection of an executory contract in bankruptcy constitutes a breach. Introduction - In Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC (Tempnology), the US Supreme Court...more
On May 20, 2019, the US Supreme Court clarified that when a trademark licensor rejects a trademark license agreement in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, the rejection does not rescind the use rights of the licensee under...more
Settling a circuit split, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, has concluded that a trademark licensee’s rights are not automatically terminated when a debtor in bankruptcy rejects the license agreement. The...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, 139 S. Ct. 1652 (2019) that a trademark licensor’s rejection of a trademark license does not terminate the licensee’s right to use...more