On May 6, 2019, the Supreme Court of California published an opinion drastically altering the way strategic lawsuits against public participation ("SLAPP") statutes are interpreted. The anti-SLAPP statute allows for a "special motion to strike meritless claims early in litigation - but only if the claims arise from acts in furtherance of a person's right of petition or free speech...in connection with a public issue." (pg. 1) The case setting this in motion, Filmon.com Inc. v. Doubleverify Inc., deals with two for-profit companies who are disputing how one company was portrayed in a confidential report. The trial and appellate courts both held Doubleverify, Inc's reports were protected under the anti-SLAPP statute. They further held context was irrelevant in analyzing whether an anti-SLAPP statute was applicable. However, the Supreme Court of California reversed this decision, holding "the context of a defendant's statement is relevant, though not dispositive, in analyzing whether the statement was made 'in furtherance of' free speech 'in connection with' a public issue." (pg. 2)
Trademark Licensee's Rights Not Rescinded Upon Debtor/Licensor's Rejection of the License
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) resolved a circuit split when it recently held in Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, No. 17-1657 (May 20, 2019) that the debtor's rejection of Mission's license agreement did not terminate Mission's rights to use the debtor's trademarks because outside of bankruptcy, a licensor's breach cannot revoke the licensee's continuing rights. The SCOTUS focused on the language in Section 365(a) of the Bankruptcy Code that rejection constitutes a breach. Since breach is not defined in the Bankruptcy Code, the SCOTUS looked to the result of a licensor's breach outside of bankruptcy, which is that "a licensor's breach cannot revoke continuing rights given to a counterparty under a contract." In other words, "rejection breaches a contract but does not rescind it" when breach is deemed to have occurred pre-petition.
