知识产权和商业 IP is about business Archives · Page 16 of 27

For Intellectual Property licensees, where is the best venue place for filing bankruptcy?

Generally large Chapter 11 cases choose the venue of Delaware and the Southern District of New York. Research shows that companies that file in Delaware – and its close competitor district, the Manhattan Division of the Southern District of New York – are significantly more likely to survive, according to an article by two UCLA School of Law professors. A better chance of saving jobs, paying creditors and protecting shareholders could explain why bankruptcy lawyers and lenders to bankrupt companies might choose Delaware and New York over other districts. The one variable that determines Delaware’s and New York’s edge is the experience of judges handling the cases. The relationship between judge experience and bankruptcy survival is probably the most important. Bankruptcy participants can thus increase the survival level, simply by shifting cases to more experienced judges. And since 1989, the Wilmington court has built a reputation for its level of experience and consistency in handling big Chapter 11 cases.

However, in October 2014, GT Advanced Technology (GT), a Delaware corporation, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the District of New Hampshire, the First Circuit. The full reasons are not clear, but there are actually several advantages for an IP licensee debtor to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the First Circuit.

In-licensed IP rights – the right of a debtor to use IP as licensee – are often among the most valuable assets in a business bankruptcy case. Section 365 concerns whether a debtor can reject, assume or assign executory contracts. An executory contract is a contract under which both parties have unperformed obligations. Most IP licenses qualify as executory contracts because their standard terms usually create ongoing material obligations, such as the duty to maintain IP, territorial restrictions and payment of yearly royalties. Section 365(c) precludes those executory contracts from being assumed or assigned by a debtor if (1) the other party does not accept performance from an entity other than the debtor; and (2) the other party does not consent to the assumption or assignment.

There is sharp disagreement as to whether a debtor can assume (keep for itself) an IP license without the consent of the licensor between the Third Circuit and First Circuit. The Third Circuit uses a “hypothetical test” under which the ability of a debtor to assume is based on whether the debtor is hypothetically permitted to assign the license to a third party even when no assignment is planned. Conversely, an IP licensee debtor may only assume the license if the licensor consents.

In the First Circuit, however, the courts have adopted the “actual test” under which a court must determine whether a debtor licensee actually intends to transfer the license, and if so, section 365 (c) prevents the debtor from assuming the license. This provides two significant advantages: 1) the debtor is allowed to keep using the licensing rights to continue business operations; 2) the debtor may be able to effect some “de facto assignments” of license rights through a stock sale. In Institute Pasteur v. Cambridge Biotech Corp. 104 F.3d 489 (1st Cir. 1996), the First Circuit held that a debtor’s sale of all of its stock did not constitute an a assignment of the debtor’s patent license because the debtor remained to be counter party of the license.

对于拥有知识产权许可的公司，哪里是最佳法院区申请破产？

一般大的破产公司都会选择在特拉华州和纽约州南部法院区来申请破产。研究表明，在特拉华州和纽约南区申请破产的公司更容易生存下来，它们有更好的机会保留工作，支付债权人和保护股东。其中一个重要因素是特拉华州和纽约州的法官有丰富的处理破产案件的经验。而法官的经验和一致性与破产后生存有重要关系。仅仅通过转移案件到被更有经验的法官处理，破产公司就增加了生存的机会，何乐而不为呢。

然而，2014年十月，GT先进技术公司（GT），一个特拉华州注册公司，却在区新罕布什尔州第一巡回法院提出破产申请。虽然整个的原因尚不清楚，但实际上在第一巡回法院对拥有IP许可授权合同的债务公司确有几个优点。

知识产权许可授权往往是破产企业最有价值的资产之一。破产法第365允许债务人拒绝，保留或转让已生效待执行合同。已生效待执行合同是合同双方都有尚未履行的义务。大多数IP许可授权都是已生效待执行合同，因为其标准条款通常都包括持续的合同义务：例如有义务维护IP，地域限制和支付每年的使用费。但破产法第365（C）不允许债务人保留或转让已生效待执行合同如果（1）合同对方不接受除了债务人之外的其他实体执行合同; 和（2）合同对方不同意债务人保留或转让。

但是第三和第一巡回对于债务人是否可以保持IP授权合同有尖锐的分歧。第三巡回采用了“假想试验”，即债务人是否可以保留IP授权合同是基于在假想情况下，债务人是否被允许转让该IP授权许可，而不是实际上债务人是否有转让的计划和意愿。其结果是，在第三巡回法院，有IP许可授权的债务人往往必须经过IP授权人的同意才可能保留该IP授权许可合同。

但是，第一巡回法院采取“实际测试”，即法院必须确定债务人是否实际上有转让该IP授权的计划和意愿，如果有，第365（c）将阻止债务人保留该IP授权合同。这提供了两个明显优势：1）债务人可能被允许继续使用该IP许可权进行经营，不需IP授权人同意; 2）债务人能够通过出售股份来实现“实际转让”许可权。在 In Institute Pasteur v. Cambridge Biotech Corp. 104 F.3d 489 (1st Cir. 1996)中，第一巡回法院认为债务人出售全部股票不构成专利授权转让，因为债务人仍然拥有对专利许可授权方的合同义务。

Intellectual property usually refers to the intangible property rights associated with ideas, writing, image and reputation. Different intangible properties are protected by different laws. For example, the originality that concerns authorship are protected by copyright law. Any original writings, graphs, arts, styles are automatically entitled to copyright protection. However, copyright does not protect the ideas contained in writings, graphs, arts, and styles. A painter’s painting of an apple is protected from copying by plagiarism, but other people can still make and paint the same apple and draw their paintings of apple. If an idea is new and useful, people can resort to patent law to protect it from being used by other people. Different to copyright law, patent law prevents other people from using and making a patented idea other than its own inventor. Once an idea is patented, other people cannot use and make the same idea, even if the idea comes out of their creation. Technology and product design related new ideas are mostly protectable by patent law. This protection has a limited time of 20 years. In exchange of this protection, inventors need to disclose the technical knowledge to the public domain. In the business world, there are many situations when a business may be better off when certain details of a product are kept secret and undisclosed to defer competition and thwart rivals. For this need, there is trade secret law. Anything that is kept secret by the business owner is protected by trade secret law. On the other hand, a time accumulated good will and reputation associated with a name or a product symbol is protected by trade mark law.

Therefore, business information concerning business strategies, plans, marketing schemes, pricing and costs, human resources, customer informations and connections, manufacturing processes, as long as they are not generally known, they can be kept secret and be protected by trade secret law. Many inventors also protect their patentable inventions as trade secrets during the initial stages of development. Later they seek patent protection when the invention is perfected, but at this juncture, the trade secret laws give the inventor the right to sue people who steal the invention. The protection of trade secret starts the moment the inventor discovers the secret, this is especially important where the invention may have a short commercial life that is constantly evolving.

Different from the monopoly exclusive rights of a patent, trade secret owners have no monopoly over their information. Trade secret owners have the legal right to prevent people from using or disclosing a trade secret without permission only when 1) people are bound by a duty of confidentiality not to disclose; 2) people obtain the secret through improper means, such as bribery, theft or industrial espionage. A trade secret is any information that is useful and private, it automatically ceases to exist the moment it becomes public knowledge.

In the US, there are federal laws for patent, trade mark and copyright protection, there are only state laws for trade secret protection. However, all countries have laws against misappropriation of trade secrets.

知识产权通常是指与想法，写作，形象和声誉相关的财产权。不同的无形财产由不同的法律保护。例如，版权的原创性受版权法保护，任何原始文字，图形，艺术，设计样式都自动享有著作权的保护。但是，版权不保护包含在这些著作，图形，艺术和风格中的思想。受版权保护一个苹果画不被复制和抄袭，但其他人仍然可以画同一个苹果。

如果一个想法是新而有用的，人们可以诉诸专利法，以保护它不被其他人使用。不同于版权法，专利法可以防止其他人使用相似的想法。一旦一个想法被申请专利，其他人将无法使用同样的想法，即使这个想法出于他们自己的原创。在要打退对手的商业战场上，专利赋予最强的垄断保护。技术和产品设计相关的新思路往往需要专利法的强力保护。但专利只保障20年。而且作为交换，发明人需要公开该专利相关的技术信息。在商业世界里，竞争往往需要保密信息。如果某种产品信息不容易被对手琢磨出来，这种信息最好是做为秘密保护。这种秘密受商业秘密法保护。凡是未公开的由业主保密的信息都受商业秘密法律保护。

因此，关于商务战略，计划，销售计划，定价和成本，人力资源，客户信息和连接，制造工艺，只要它们通常不是已知的，它们可以作为商业秘密，通过商业秘密法律保护。许多发明者在产品发展的初级阶段，把产品信息作为商业秘密来保护自己的专利发明, 在他们发明完善寻求专利保护之前，商业秘密法赋予发明人起诉别人偷盗他的发明。商业秘密保护开始于发明者发现这个秘密的那一刻。

与专利的垄断独占权不同，商业秘密所有人不能垄断该信息。商业秘密所有者只有权阻止两类人：1）有责任保密的人; 2）通过不正当手段获取该秘密的的人，如贿赂，盗窃或商业间谍获取秘密。商业秘密一旦为公众所知的那一刻，它自动停止存在。

另一方面，由广告和时间积累才有的声誉由商标法保护。

在美国，对专利，商标和版权保护有联邦法律，对商业秘密的保护只有州法律。然而，全世界所有国家都有反对盗用商业机密的法律。