Article Summary:
- Despite recent gains around the world, intellectual property rights often receive disparate treatment and protection when an insolvent firm enters a cross-border restructuring or liquidation.
- Recent rulings in the Chapter 15 case of Qimonda AG highlight these disparities, and raise questions about the circumstances under which the US cross-border insolvency recognition statute should be used to further the uniform treatment and protection of intellectual property rights.
- Qimonda AG also raises more fundamental and general questions about the construction and application of Chapter 15. When parties to recognised cross-border insolvency proceedings have relative rights and protections in the US which differ from those available in the debtor’s home jurisdiction, Qimonda’s analysis provides an important test case for how such rights and protections should be allocated.
This 2010 article is accessible here. Republished by kind permission of LexisNexis Butterworths.