A Delaware judge ordered Armstrong World Industries Inc., a maker of walls and ceilings, to let the new buyers of its bankrupt former unit Armstrong Flooring Inc. continue to use its name and trademarks, clearing the way for the flooring company to sell its assets out of chapter 11, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., told publicly traded Armstrong World to sign over the right to use the corporate name and related trademarks, handing a win to Armstrong Flooring and the companies buying its assets. Armstrong Flooring, which was spun off from Armstrong World in 2016, filed for chapter 11 in May, saying it couldn’t raise prices enough to counter supply-chain disruptions and higher costs. A dispute over the brand name had threatened to derail imminent asset sales valued at $200 million, according to Armstrong Flooring, which said Armstrong World was playing hardball about allowing the buyers to keep using the business name. Armstrong Flooring sued Armstrong World earlier this week, seeking a court order granting buyers the trademark rights. The judge said in an emergency hearing Friday that the harm that would result from failing to close the sales outweighs any harm to Armstrong World from allowing the buyers to use the Armstrong name.
