Licensee May Continue Using a Trademark after Rejection, Supreme Court Rules

From the American Bankruptcy Institute:

Recently, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology LLC, 17-1657 (Sup. Ct.), reversed the First Circuit and held that rejection of an executory trademark license does not bar the licensee from continuing to use the mark. As Justice Elena Kagan said, “A rejection breaches a contract but does not rescind it.”

The opinion was almost unanimous, with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch dissenting; he believes the petition for certiorari should have been dismissed as improvidently granted. In his view, the Court could not grant effective relief.

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This article was submitted by Kay Dee Baird, Krieg DeVault LLP. If you would like to submit content or write an article for the Commercial & Bankruptcy Law Section, please email Kara Sikorski at ksikorski@indybar.org.