Key goals of technology and biotechnology companies include maximizing the value of distressed assets, such as problematic but valuable licenses, untested but promising intellectual property or a division or product that should be reformed or terminated. Another key goal is finality and a smooth transition allowing entrepreneurs and investors to move on to new projects with minimal disruption. We have represented technology and biotechnology companies in a variety of situations, including bankruptcy and litigation.Technology companies often require special handling and expertise, including the careful handling of issues surrounding assumption, assignment and rejection of intellectual property licenses; the orderly termination of burdensome contracts; negotiation, termination or transfer of leased facilities; perfection of liens against intellectual property; protection of trade secrets and methods; data privacy; recovery of claims against third parties and other issues.We bring our experience with high technology clients to bear. We have represented technology and biotechnology companies in and out of court, reorganizing in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, liquidating in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, winding up and dissolving out of court, proceeding with an assignments for the benefit of creditors (ABC’s), handling liens and licenses involving intellectual property, terminating development agreements and other matters.In one example, we successfully wound up and dissolved a technology company out of court. The company was incorporated in Delaware but doing business primarily in California with several lines of high-technology products, one in healthcare, another in 3D graphics and a third in social media. Dissolving out of court provided the entrepreneurs with the advantages of a smooth, low-profile process at minimal expense. We have also represented companies developing and selling technology-based marketing platforms, health aids, Bitcoin-based businesses, data centers and others.
We also assist other types of businesses with the intersection of technology and legal issues. A key issue for non-high-tech companies is protecting the company’s right to its data in an immediately available and usable form; if the data disappears or is inaccessible, the company can suffer significant delays and expense in moving forward. For example, we assisted a large grocery store in negotiating the termination of an e-commerce website development contract with terms protecting the store’s right to all customer data and content, allowing the store to transition to a new developer with no interruption.