Patent, Trademark & Copyright Law Daily Bulletin

Reproduced with permission from Patent, Trademark & Copyright Law Daily, 58 [ptd-bul], 03/26/2014. Copyright 2014 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http:// www.bna.com

Supreme Court

Conan the Barbarian IP Ownership Dispute Subject of High Court Petition

petition for writ of certiorari was led in Stan Lee Media, Inc. v. Conan Sales Co. (U.S., No. 13-1141, review sought 3/21/14), appealing an unpublished Oct. 21 opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit involving the ownership of intellectual property rights to Conan the Barbarian. Stan Lee Media Inc.an entity no longer associated with Marvel Comics creator Stan Leefailed in its attempt to get control of Conan and related copyrights. The appeals court held that there was no error in a district courts dismissal of an action seeking to overturn a 10-year-old bankruptcy settlement. Stan Lee Media, Inc. v. Conan Sales Co., (205 PTD, 10/23/13). The questions presented in the cert petition are:

of the debtors business, does due process require giving notice to the shareholders of the debtor and an opportunity for them to oppose the motion for approvaleven if the sale is proposed as part of a settlement agreement with the buyer that also resolves a claim asserted by the buyer against the debtor? 2. Or, as the Ninth Circuit held here, are the due process rights of shareholders satised if the transfer has been negotiated between the buyer of the assets and other parties, namely, unsecured creditors of the corporation, who were highly motivated to maximize the value of the estate?

Robert E. Kohn of the Kohn Law Group Inc., Santa Monica, Calif., led the petition. The response is due April 21. Conan Sales Co., which claimed ownership of the Conan properties via Stan Lee Medias default, was represented by Sacha V. Emanuel of Los Angeles before the Ninth Circuit.

BY TONY DUTRA
Petition is available at http://pub.bna.com/ptcj/ 131141petition.pdf.

1. When a bankruptcy court is asked to approve a sale of a corporate debtors property outside the ordinary course

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