This will depend on the type of IP involved.
Where a licensee may legally assert its license against any third parties, the licensor cannot terminate the IP license agreement and, therefore, the licensee may continue to use the licensed IPR even after the commencement of the Insolvency Proceedings.
Trademark:
To assert a trademark license against third parties, the license needs to be registered at the Japan Patent Office (JPO). Therefore, the licensee can protect the right to use the licensed trademark by recording the license with the JPO.
Patent rights, utility model rights, design patent rights and copyrights:
The licensee of patent rights, utility model rights, design patent rights and copyrights may assert the license even if the license is not registered. In this sense, a licensee of these rights would generally be protected without any special action.
Escrow arrangements are often used for software, and Insolvency Proceedings can be used as a trigger to release the source code to the licensee.Yes, the licensor can prevent a trustee or debtor-in-possession from selling or transferring the license by refusing consent to the transfer or prohibiting the transfer in the course of the business transfer or company split in the license agreement.
Intellectual property laws in Japan (including the Patent Act, Trademark Act, Copyright Act, Utility Model Act and Design Act) generally require a licensor's consent to sell or transfer the license of the IPR to third parties. This consent requirement is unaffected by the commencement of Insolvency Proceedings.
However, the transfer of the license of patent rights, utility model rights and design patent rights is allowed without a licensor's consent where the license is transferred in conjunction with the transfer of the business relating to the IPR or as a result of general successions (e.g., company split). A transfer of the license of trademark rights is also allowed without the licensor's consent in the case of general successions.
That being said, the licensor may prevent a trustee from transferring the licenses in the course of a business transfer or company split by including contractual provisions that allow the licensor to terminate the license agreement in the event of a business transfer or company split.