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Opinion Casts Doubt on Licensees' Ability to Protect Licenses

Ever since '365(n) was added to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in 1988, a party with a license to use intellectual property &mdash; defined to include patents and copyrights but not trademarks &mdash; could rest assured that a bankruptcy filing by the licensor would not divest them of their right to use the property. Section 365(n) expressly provides that the rejection of an intellectual property license allows the licensee to retain its rights under the license, including the right to enforce any exclusivity provision. But a 2003 decision by the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, <i>Precision Industries Inc. v. Qualitech Steel SBQ, LLC</i>, casts serious doubt on the ability of licensees to protect their licenses under '365(n).

10 minute read September 02, 2003 at 03:07 PM
By
William B. Finkelstein and James H. Billingsley
Opinion Casts Doubt on Licensees' Ability to Protect Licenses

Ever since '365(n) was added to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in 1988, a party with a license to use intellectual property ' defined to include patents and copyrights but not trademarks ' could rest assured that a bankruptcy filing by the licensor would not divest them of their right to use the property.

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