No. 17-1657October Term 2018Decided May 20, 2019
Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC
After Tempnology filed for bankruptcy, it rejected a licensing agreement that let Mission distribute certain products and use Tempnology’s trademarks.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released May 20, 2019
- What it's about
After Tempnology filed for bankruptcy, it rejected a licensing agreement that let Mission distribute certain products and use Tempnology’s trademarks. The Supreme Court held that rejecting the contract counted as a breach, not a cancellation, so it did not automatically strip Mission of rights that would have survived an ordinary breach outside bankruptcy.
Question presented
Whether, under §365 of the Bankruptcy Code, a debtor-licensor's "rejection" of a license agreement which "constitutes a breach of such contract," 11 U.S.C. §365(g)-terminates rights of the licensee that would survive the licensor's breach under applicable non-bankruptcy law.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit / Decision released May 20, 2019
- Area
Business and Regulation
Timing
Decided May 20, 2019
The Court released its decision on May 20, 2019 without hearing oral argument.
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Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jun 1, 2026
- Method
- Methodology