Bankruptcy Law and Insolvency Law

When a company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, its intellectual property assets become part of the bankruptcy estate, potentially affecting licensors, licensees, and IP rights holders.

The Southern District of Texas addresses critical questions left open by the Supreme Court's Purdue decision regarding consensual third-party releases in bankruptcy plans. The court establishes when opt-out mechanisms suffice for creditor consent and clarifies the permissible scope of gatekeeping provisions that restrict litigation against non-debtor parties in Chapter 11 reorganizations.

Multi-national companies continue to grow and expand their global networks, with subsidiaries, assets, creditors, and contracts spanning across multiple jurisdictions, and the need for a coherent legal process to coordinate insolvency proceedings across borders has grown correspondingly.