Are Trademarks Really That Special, or Did Congress Just Miss Something?

The Supreme Court recently resolved a long-standing open issue regarding the treatment of trademark license rights in bankruptcy proceedings by ruling in favor of Mission Product in Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology LLC, a licensee under a trademark license agreement that had been rejected in the chapter 11 case of Tempnology, the debtor-licensor. This panel analyzes the scope and breadth of the Court’s decision and will consider the implications for commercial licensing and bankruptcy administration.