Free Sessions (no CLE)

This panel will discuss the retention issues under Section 327 v. 362, Jay Alix Protocol, and other retention topics.

The same circumstances that lead debtors to bankruptcy often give rise to claims under various consumer-protection statutes. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s mortgage-servicing rules, and similar consumer-protection rules and statutes can have substantial impacts on the creditor/debtor relationship. Whether you represent business or consumer debtors, creditors, or estate fiduciaries, an understanding of how consumer-protection statutes intersect with bankruptcy will help you deal with the opportunities and challenges that your clients might face when bankruptcy and consumer-protection laws meet. The panelists will discuss practical implications of the common intersection of consumer-protection statutes and bankruptcy.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology LLC held that the absence of trademarks from the definition of intellection property in § 101(35A) of the Bankruptcy Code means that, unlike other types of intellectual property, a licensor’s rejection of a trademark license deprives its licensee of any right to continued use of the mark. The Supreme Court has accepted certiorari in the case and is expected to issue a decision late this Spring on the question of whether, under Bankruptcy Code § 365, a debtor-licensor’s rejection of a license terminates rights of the licensee that would survive the licensor’s breach under nonbankruptcy law. This panel will analyze the reach of the question presented, examine the arguments briefed, interpret the scope and breadth of the Court’s decision (assuming it is rendered before the term concludes), and consider the implications for commercial licensing and bankruptcy administration.