O'Halloran ex rel. Liquidating Trust of Teltronics, Inc. v. Harris Corp. (In re Teltronics, Inc.)

540 B.R. 481
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedNovember 8, 2015
DocketCase No. 8:11-bk-12150-MGW; Adv. No. 8:13-ap-00571-MGW
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 540 B.R. 481 (O'Halloran ex rel. Liquidating Trust of Teltronics, Inc. v. Harris Corp. (In re Teltronics, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Halloran ex rel. Liquidating Trust of Teltronics, Inc. v. Harris Corp. (In re Teltronics, Inc.), 540 B.R. 481 (Fla. 2015).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Michael G. Williamson, United States Bankruptcy Judge

Teltronics, the Debtor in this bankruptcy case, had the right to block the sale of a patent portfolio owned by Harris Corporation. Teltronics gave up that blocking right for $5,000. Five days later, Harris Corporation sold the patent portfolio to RPX Corporation for $12 million. The Court must decide whether the transfer of Teltronics’ blocking right was constructively fraudulent and whether Harris and RPX Corporation are hable for the value of the transfer.

The Court concludes that the Plaintiff, the trustee of a liquidating trust created under the Teltronics’ confirmed plan, has failed to meet his burden of proof on his claims under Bankruptcy Code §§ 544 and 550. To begin with, the Plaintiff failed to prove that Teltronics did not receive reasonably equivalent value in exchange for the blocking right. At trial, the Plaintiff only offered evidence of the value of the patent portfolio. But Teltronics did not transfer the patent portfolio — only its blocking right. Putting that aside, the Plaintiff failed to prove Teltronics was insolvent at the time of the transfer. Accordingly, Harris and RPX Corporation are entitled to judgment in their favor on the Plaintiffs claims.

Findings of Fact

The relevant facts of this case were, for the most part, undisputed at trial. Tel-tronics, the Debtor in this chapter 11 case, was in the telecommunications business.1 Harris Corporation, one of the Defendants, is an international communications company that provides goods and services to governmental and commercial customers.2 In 2000, Teltronics purchased a division of Harris known as the Enhanced Services Business Unit and, as part of that sale, acquired a patent portfolio that Harris owned.3

Initially, Teltronics gave Harris a $6.8 million promissory note for the division [483]*483and patents it acquired.4 The amount due on the note, however, was later increased to $9.2 million as part of an amendment to the original sale agreement and a later restructuring of Teltronics’ obligations under the promissory note.5 In 2004, Teltronics defaulted under the note and, as of June 1, 2004, owed Harris $9,177,646.27.6

In an effort to pay down that debt, Teltronics and Harris entered into a Patent Transfer Agreement.7 Under that agreement, Teltronics transferred the patent portfolio it had previously acquired from Harris back to Harris in exchange for (i) a $1,275,227.56 credit toward the amount it owed under the restructured promissory note; and (ii) a non-exclusive license to use the patent portfolio to make and sell digital telephone switch products.8 The Patent Transfer Agreement contained two provisions that are central to this dispute.

First, the Patent Transfer Agreement contained a “blocking right.”9 At the time of the Patent Transfer Agreement, Tel-tronics was apparently concerned that Harris would sell the patent portfolio to a Teltronics competitor.10 So Harris expressly agreed not to transfer or convey ownership of the patent portfolio to any third party before July 31, 2010.11 Second, the Patent Transfer Agreement also gave Teltronics a right of first refusal that allowed Teltronics to reacquire the patent portfolio from Harris in the event Harris intended to sell it after July 31, 2010.12

In October 2008, Harris began discussions with RPX Corporation, the other Defendant in this proceeding, about the sale of the patent portfolio.13 RPX Corporation is a defensive patent aggregator.14 As such, it acquires patents to prevent patent trolls from asserting patent rights against operating companies that are RPX Corporation clients or members.15 RPX Corporation had an interest in Harris’s patent portfolio because Cisco (one of RPX Corporation’s original clients) was concerned that some of the Harris patents may be asserted against it. On December 19, 2008, after several months of negotiations, Harris and RPX Corporation finally agreed on a $12 million purchase price for the patent portfolio, and RPX Corporation wanted to close the sale within the week.16

While performing its due diligence, Harris realized it needed to address Teltronics’ blocking right, which remained in effect until July 31, 2010, to close the sale with [484]*484RPX Corporation.17 So on January 7, 2009, Harris requested that Teltronics modify its blocking right and right of first refusal.18 Over the following week, Ewan Cameron (Teltronics’ CEO) and Scott Mi-kuen (Harris’s Associate General Counsel) exchanged several e-mails about Teltron-ics’ rights under the Patent Transfer Agreement.19 At one point, Cameron asked Mikuen if Harris had a deal pending,20 which it did. Mikuen, however, responded that he would have to defer to Harris’s intellectual property group but that it may be possible.21 Ultimately, Tel-tronics agreed to modify its blocking right.22

Under the First Amendment to Patent Transfer Agreement, which was entered into on January 21, 2009, the parties agreed that Harris had the right to freely transfer the patent portfolio before April 16, 2009.23 In other words, Teltronics gave up its blocking right. But in no case, could Harris transfer the patents to a Teltronics competitor. The First Amendment to Patent Transfer Agreement also moved up the date the right of first refusal became effective from July 10, 2010 to April 16. 2009.24 Five days after Teltronics gave up its blocking right, Harris Corporation closed the sale of the patent portfolio to RPX Corporation for $12 million.25

Two years later, Teltronics ended up in chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the Plaintiff, who is. the trustee of a liquidating trust created under Teltronics’ confirmed plan, filed this adversary proceeding seeking to avoid the modification of Teltronics’ blocking right under the First Amendment to Patent Transfer Agreement, as well as the transfer of the patent portfolio to RPX Corporation, under Bankruptcy Code § 544.26 The Plaintiff also seeks to recover the value.of those transfers from Harris and RPX Corporation under § 550.27 In sum, the Plaintiff alleges the transfers by Teltronics under the First Amendment to Patent Transfer Agreement were constructively fraudulent because (i) they were made at a time when Teltronics was insolvent; and (ii) Teltronics received less than reasonably equivalent value for the transfers.

During the trial in this proceeding, much was made of the fact that Harris did not affirmatively disclose to Teltronics that it had reached an agreement for the sale of the patent portfolio at the time it was negotiating with Teltronics to modify (or give up) its blocking right. Teltronics’ CEO (Ewan Cameron) testified . at trial that he was not told of the pending sale to RPX and that he did not learn the patents were sold for $12 million until trial.

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Bluebook (online)
540 B.R. 481, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ohalloran-ex-rel-liquidating-trust-of-teltronics-inc-v-harris-corp-flmb-2015.