"Post-Judgment Remedies in Reaching Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks in the Enforcement of A Money Judgment"

Excellent article in the Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, "Post-Judgment Remedies in Reaching Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks in the Enforcement of A Money Judgment" [pdf],

"Confronting a recalcitrant debtor, the judgment-creditor should recall Winston Churchill’s description of Russia 'as a riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma.' To unravel the enigma of a debtor’s inventory of secreted, hidden, and concealed assets, post-judgment remedies compel the judgment-debtor to appear in court and disclose assets and liabilities by testimony and documents through an Order to Appear ('ORAP'). ORAPs are in personam proceedings that compel the judgment-debtor to physically appear for an examination and disclose assets and liabilities. The judgment-creditor has great latitude in compelling the disclosure of information necessary to discover assets available for enforcement. An ORAP also provides the judgment-creditor with the right to compel the judgment-debtor to turn over assets and subject the debtor to direct enforcement under the power of contempt.

The procedure to reach the judgment-debtor’s property through an ORAP is straightforward. At the conclusion of the ORAP, the judgment-creditor can seek an order compelling the judgment-debtor to transfer or assign property to the sheriff or receiver under Cal. Civ. Proc. § 708.205(a), who would then take the property into possession and provide for an orderly sale. If the asset is a patent, the court may order the judgment-debtor to execute an assignment of the patent in favor of the receiver but not the sheriff."

Debtors try to stiff their creditors all the time. There are plenty of tools that creditors can use to try to get paid.