NIPC News

Author SSolbergj   Australia_(orthographic_projection).svg : Creative Commons Attribution Shae Alike 3.0 unreported licence Source Wikipedia Jane Lambert I should like to congratulate my colleague, Caroline Kenny QC , on her election as President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in Australia  (see  Top QC elected President of Australian global arbitration body   30 May 2017). Caroline is one of several distinguished international tenants of 4-5 Gray's Inn Square. We have a distinguished team of arbitrators and mediators based in the United Kingdom of which I am one.  I specialize in resolving intellectual property and technology disputes and am a member of the WIPO's panel of neutrals . I am also on the IPO's list of mediation providers . Finally, the London branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators is holding a seminar on ADR and film disputes at the offices of Herbert Smith Freehills at Exchange House, Primrose...

Jane Lambert Most IP disputes arise out of conflicts between competitors and competition is what businesses do. In fact, businesses are compelled to compete by law. Disputes will therefore happen unless precautions are taken to avoid them. The risk of disputes can never be eliminated entirely because folk miscalculate and act emotionally but if a dispute cannot be avoided it can at least be managed. How Disputes arise and what can be done to prevent them Disputes arise because of uncertainty as to the existence, extent or nature of an IPR or because one party believes that the other lacks the means or will to enforce its rights or defend its interests. In order to minimize the first risk businesses should ensure that they have obtained appropriate legal protection for their most revenue generating intellectual assets. To minimize the second risk they should ensure that they had sufficient funding through insurance or otherwise to enforce their rights or defend the...

Jane Lambert Earlier this year I discussed mediation as a method of resolving IP disputes (see IP Mediation 22 May 2015). Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution ( "ADR" ) , that is to say resolving a disputes without going to court.  ADR offers a number of advantages which the World Intellectual Property Organization ( "WIPO" ) listed in ADR Advantages . As I noted in my previous article "the courts and the Intellectual Property Office ( "IPO" ) hearing officers expect parties to consider mediation or some other form of alternative dispute resolution before issuing proceedings" in every case. In that article I described mediation as "chaired" or "facilitated" negotiation. Like all forms of negotiation it works through consent. However. there are some disputes that can never be resolved in this way.  They require an  adjudication , that is to say a decision based on a finding of fact and law....