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Pat Concannon and John Loughnane, partners in Nutter’s Intellectual Property Department and Corporate and Transactions Department, respectively, commented on quality control in licensing in reference to the Supreme Court case Mission Product Holding v. Tempnology in Managing Intellectual Property. In the article, “Justices Focus on Quality Control in SCOTUS Case on TM Licensing,” Pat and John note that because a majority of the Justices currently favor narrow statutory construction, it’s entirely possible that the Court will affirm the First Circuit’s interpretation because trademarks are missing from the exception. According to Pat, “Given the vagaries of the controlling statutory language, [the Court] might view ongoing uncontrolled usage as contrary to the purpose of preserving value in the bankruptcy estate – even if unfair to the licensee.” John added that there was a tension between searching for some overall harmonizing view versus interpreting the specific statutory provisions most applicable to the dispute.