Writ of execution on a company itself and/or intellutual property/investments,etc..

[Camalot316]

You REALLY need a FL lawyer that specializes in the collection of judgments.

If there is a fighting chance this is viable course of action then I probably should. These kind of complex business laws are not obvious on due diligence. I need to first know if there is a viable legal theory that I can follow before going to the expense of an attorney.

 

[Camalot316]

Ask.
Your.
Attorney.

You said it was already answered on here so give me the answer.

 

[Camalot316]

I am saying that a levy or writ is insufficient for patents and copyrights. Patent rights and copyrights are granted by the US government. These rights must be transferred by assignment and you, as creditor, cannot force a debtor to assign these rights to you to satisfy the debt.

What is the amount of debt owed?

Over 1 million dollars judgement and the company claims to be out of business. What I read is " generally" this is the case however it left the door open to not 100% of the time. Perhaps my situation falls in small percent that would allow it? Perhaps dissolving a company is the owner forfeiting these rights to the company's I.P. ? This is not obvious to me giving the situation.

 

[Camalot316]

The company is an asset of the owners of the company.

Would the fact that the company is now dissolved change the situation?

 

[quincy]

These are from the 18th century, about 140 years old. Is this information still relevant? There are supreme court rulings now that are different from the 1990's

So bottom line is that these say " Patent Rights not Subject to Levy "

In my situation, I am looking at digital I.P. technologies. This technology did not even exist when these cases were out.




https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/execution


It begs the question on what exactly does generally immune to execution means and what situation can you levy it.

In my situation, the company owes a very large amount via my Judgement and has dissolved. Perhaps that is a situation in which you can levy the Intellectual property?

The need for an assignment of copyrights and patent rights has not changed over the years.

If the company has already been dissolved, the assets possibly/probably have already been sold and distributed.

Although you probably would have mentioned this by now, were you ever granted a security interest in the IP? If so, was it a recorded interest?

Whatever the answer, the answer to your original question was answered. Where you go from here is best discussed with an attorney in your area who has access to all of the facts.

edit to correct

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Over 1 million dollars judgement

If you have a $1,000,000 judgment you are trying to collect and you didn't immediately hire the best folks in Florida to collect the judgment you are an idiot.

 

[quincy]

If you have a $1,000,000 judgment you are trying to collect and you didn't immediately hire the best folks in Florida to collect the judgment you are an idiot.

Haha. I was SO tempted to say that.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Haha. I was SO tempted to say that.

You are nicer than I am Quincy.

 

[quincy]

You are nicer than I am Quincy.

Haha. If I am, it’s not by much.

 

[zddoodah]

So are you saying that somehow the state court has to work with the federal court somehow?

I neither wrote nor implied that, and I can think of no situation in any context in which a "state court has to work with [a] federal court." Nor would a federal court necessarily need to become involved in a judgment creditor's effort to enforce a state court judgment against the judgment debtor's copyrights and patents.

In my state (not FL), there is a two volume treatise on enforcing judgment and debts that I would consult with if I had a client with a judgment against a company that owned copyrights and patents. While I haven't looked at this in a long time, I do know that, as concerns copyrights, there are necessarily filings that must be made with the U.S. Copyright Office.

I'm going to repeat and echo what I and others have previously written: you need to retain the services of an attorney who handles judgment collection matters.

These are from the 18th century, about 140 years old. Is this information still relevant?

I haven't read the cases either, but I can tell you that 19th Century case law regarding copyright is almost certainly not relevant today because, among other things, federal copyright has has been completely re-written twice since then.

Would the fact that the company is now dissolved change the situation?

A proper dissolution means that the company's assets have been liquidated, with the proceeds used to pay creditors, and anything remaining being distributed to the owners of the company. Doesn't sound like that has happened, so please explain what you mean by this.

 

[quincy]

The cases are still relevant because the law on assignment of rights has not changed. Ager v. Murray is an oft-cited seminal case where the Supreme Court established the method for acquiring the IP of a judgment-debtor.

As repeated several times now, the creditor can move the court to appoint a receiver to acquire and sell the intellectual property or the court can order the debtor to transfer rights. But the creditor cannot use levy or writ for copyrights or patents.

By the way, @zddoodah, you need to contact the administrators of this site and provide them with your legal credentials. Be sure you check your emails (and spam folder) for an email from FA. Thanks.

 

[Taxing Matters]

So the company itself is not considered to be an asset of the company?

Correct. The company is the asset of the person or persons who own the company.

So I would need a judgement against the company owner for that to happen is what you are saying?

In general, yes.

You also said that may change during a Chapter 11 bankruptcy or receivership?
What about if the company filed for to be dissolved? Does that mean the owner has forfeited the rights of the company?

When the owner dissolves the corporation or LLC, what is supposed to happen is that the company sells off the assets of the company and uses the proceeds to apply to the debts of the company in priority order. If there is anything left over then the company can distribute that to the owners of the company. If the company transfers assets to the owners without first paying the debts then the owners may be pursued by the creditors up to the value of the assets they received,

Would a judgement against a now dissolved company allow to collect the company as part of the judgement the same way a Chapter 11 or receivership would?

No. Again, the company is owned by other persons and your judgment against the company will not allow you to get the shares/interests of the company that those other persons have. You need a judgment against the owners for that.

 

[Taxing Matters]

If the company has already dissolved, the receiver appointed by the court to handle the dissolution has probably already sold the company’s assets.

Most non public corporate dissolutions do not involve receivership or bankruptcy. They are done by company management following the applicable state statute on winding up corporations.

 

[quincy]

Most non public corporate dissolutions do not involve receivership or bankruptcy. They are done by company management following the applicable state statute on winding up corporations.

The fact that the company was dissolved was a fact added by Camalot late in the thread. But I see what you are referring to and will edit my post accordingly.

A few things on a reread of the thread that could use clarification is if the intellectual property was federally registered (I have assumed it was) and if the IP was used as collateral and, if used as collateral, if the security interest was perfected.

Not that this really needs to be clarified here as Camalot needs to personally sit down with an attorney in his area.

 

[Camalot316]

If you have a $1,000,000 judgment you are trying to collect and you didn't immediately hire the best folks in Florida to collect the judgment you are an idiot.

No I am not an Idiot. The situation is extremely complex and not a standard post judgement situation. The company refuses to show up in court including the post judgement hearing to explain their financial situation. Company headquarters has gone dark and they have filed to be dissolved. They don't have $1,000,000 laying around. Sorry, there is not an obvious way to collect.

I won the judgement because they never showed up in court. Their intellectual property and company name is all they have of value.
There may be a play by going after the former employees who illegally took technology from the company they were not entitled to.

If you have a better idea on how to collect, I am open to suggestions.