The trustees in the bankruptcy of the D-Reizen travelgroup have agreed on a restart with Prijsvrij. Part of the restart includes the transfer of the IP rights of D-Reizen to Prijsvrij for an amount of € 500,000. A condition for the success of the restart is that these IP rights are transferred to Prijsvrij free of pledges and other encumbrances. Selten BV, founded by the former directors of D-Travel, claims to have a lien on the IP rights and refuses to cooperate in transferring them to Prijsvrij free of liens. The lien was registered in the trademark register shortly before the bankruptcy. The trustees believe that Selten is abusing its right of pledge with its attitude and therefore demand (among other things) Selten’s cooperation in the transfer of the IP rights free of pledge. The trustees believe that there are objections to the construction by which Selten BV obtained the right of pledge.
According to the Interim Injunction Judge, in this case it is a question of weighing Selten’s interest in recourse against the interests of the stakeholders in the bankruptcy of D-Reizen in the realization of the restart. This weighing up was in the stakeholders’ favour. The lien on the D-Tours brand must therefore be cancelled.
TIP: To prevent this type of situation, it is advisable to never register IP rights in the name of the operating company but in the name of a special IP holding company. No unpleasant situations can then arise in the event of bankruptcy or seizure by creditors. Do not forget to register a license on behalf of the operating company!
