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IP Mediate is analternative dispute resolution (ADR) service, established in Ottawa, Canada, at the beginning of 2009 by Charles Kent, a retired Canadian intellectual property (IP) attorney with over 40 years experience in patent, trade-mark and copyright matters in Canada and internationally.
The service is focused on facilitating the resolution of disputes in the IP legal field using mainly mediation, but also other forms of ADR.
Intellectual property is a broad-ranging field of law, encompassing trade-marks, patents, copyrights, industrial designs and design patents and trade secrets. Disputes arising in this field include infringements of IP rights, questions of ownership and validity of the rights, and license disputes. These disputes can often be highly technical in nature and be based on law which is quite complex. Speedy, mutually acceptable resolution worked out through a mediation process can often significantly reduce the legal costs and inconvenience of such disputes and give the parties needed certainty and speed with respect to the outcome. Mediation may be particularly advisable:
· Before a dispute results in legal proceedings being commenced;
· Where it may be desirable to maintain a business or other type relationship between the disputing parties;
· Where the costs/ongoing costs of litigation may not be justified by the ultimate outcome, should the matter proceed to a judicial decision;
· Where it is difficult for counsel to predict the outcome based on uncertainties in the facts or uncertainties in applying the law to the facts;
· Where the time is appropriate (for instance when the next stage in proceedings will be expensive for the parties).
Often a mediation will bring significant benefits to ALL parties to a dispute such as:
· a more creative (business) solution than would be the case with the conventional win/lose legal decision from the Court
· certainty of outcome (since both parties have a hand in crafting the final settlement agreement)
· potential resolution of ALL issues driving the dispute and not just particular issue raised by the immediate dispute (i.e. resolving the entire war and not just a battle).
How Does a Mediator Work?
A mediator is usually a person highly trained and skilled in helping the parties to a dispute resolve that dispute in a mutually acceptable manner. A skilled mediator will not only assist the parties in developing and selecting appropriate ways to resolve the dispute, but also in ensuring that the negotiated outcome makes sense to the parties and has a reasonable chance of success. The mediation process will take many different forms and have many different steps, depending on the mediator and on the nature of the dispute.
Other Services
Besides mediation services, IP Mediate can provide IP counsel the following:
As well, IP Mediate offers IP counsel and their clients training in ADR processes.
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