The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has issued an interesting opinion discussing the interplay between state and federal law regarding successor liability. In Mickowski v. Visi-Trak Worldwide, LLC, Case No. 04-3889 (Opinion filed July 13, 2005), the Sixth Circuit decided that an asset purchaser did not acquire liability on a patent infringement judgment when it acquired the assets of the bankrupt judgment debtor even though many of the same officers and other personnel remained in place. After lengthy discussion, the court concluded that state law, rather than federal common law, controlled on the issue of successor liability even though the underlying judgment arose under federal patent law. http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/05a0297p-06.pdf Mac McMahan