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    I'm also quite interested by this question. What would happen if the company was unable to sell their assets? Say, no one was interested in purchasing the rights to the game. What would happen to the rights to the game? Commented Nov 20, 2019 at 11:38
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    Speaking as someone who's worked for a few: small businesses that fail spectacularly often do not sell their IP when they fail. There's not enough value to either the failed business or any hypothetical buyer to justify the labour involved in striking a deal. I have no idea what legal status the IP ends up in in such a scenario, but you absolutely can't just take for granted that it will have been sold off, like this answer does. Commented Nov 20, 2019 at 11:53
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    @ESR: Assets not sold in bankruptcy revert to the owners of the company. Commented Nov 20, 2019 at 12:08
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    @ESR one scenario (which, if I recall correctly, I have read about exactly in the context of old game IP, but I can't remember which game) is that near the end of the asset sale some company gets a bulk deal to purchase "any and all remaining assets of company X" with the expectation that they'll earn a profit by sorting out various remaining odds and ends, everything from unused packaging and spare fire extinguishers left at their facilities to long-uncollected unpaid debts. Such an "all-inclusive" deal would also make them legal owners of any unsold IP, even if they ignore it at the time. Commented Nov 20, 2019 at 13:19
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    It's also very common for the original shareholders or founders to buy the assets of a liquidated company. The price will be set either by auction, or by agreement with the liquidator if there are no other likely purchasers. It's in this way that wound-up companies can reappear the next day with the same name and same directors. Commented Nov 20, 2019 at 13:44