19bk06272, 19ap00587
On a motion for a preliminary injunction by the plaintiff, a former franchisor of a business owned and operated by the debtor-defendant, to prohibit the debtor-defendant from operating such business in alleged violation of a covenant not to compete entered into in connection with the now-terminated franchise, where the covenant not to compete provides for liquidated damages designed to fully compensate the plaintiff as an alternative remedy to injunctive relief, held:  The plaintiff’s rights under the covenant not to compete, including to injunctive relief, constitute a “claim” within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. § 101(5), which claim will be treated in accordance with bankruptcy law.  The plaintiff is therefore unlikely to succeed on the merits of its claims for a permanent injunction, the only relief sought in the adversary proceeding, and the preliminary injunction motion is therefore not well taken.