A new Mediation methodology, in which the mediator acts as an awareness of the parties about weaknesses and strengths of their positions and advances the possible outcome of the process, has been shown to be more effective in resolving conflicts, signaled the vice president of the AIPPI (Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle in the acronym in French), Luiz Henrique do Amaral, debater, yesterday, 28, of the third edition, of IP Meetings – series of virtual meetings held by the Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property (ABPI), World Organization of Intellectual Property (WIPO) and, this time, the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI).
“Very evolved in the United States, in Brazil, this methodology is still in its infancy”, explains Amaral, adding that in the country Mediation prevails by the traditional method. “The other model, the traditional one, works very well when both parties are imbued with a spirit of doubt about some point and, in good faith, recognize the arguments of the opposite party”. institution: in mediation it was 70%, while in arbitration one third of the cases resulted in agreements.
With almost 400 accesses, the webinar “Mediation and Arbitration in IP as an alternative to legal proceedings”, also had as discussants Ignácio Castro Llamas, Director of the IP Dispute and External Relations Division of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, in Geneva, and Carlos Maurício Ardissone, from INPI’s General Coordination of Appeals and Administrative Proceedings, under the mediation of the president of ABPI’s Dispute Resolution Center (CSD-ABPI) Manoel J. Pereira do Santos. The opening table was integrated by the presidents of ABPI, Luiz Edgard Montaury Pimenta, and INPI, Claudio Furtado, in addition to the WIPO advisor in Brazil, Isabella Pimentel, who represented the regional director José Graça Aranha.
In his presentation, Ardissone highlighted the INPI’s experience in Mediation, which, among other reasons, he explained, was not successful due to the efforts concentrated in the elimination of the patent backlog, which, by the way, continue to be undertaken, successfully until now, by the new administration. He also dealt with the “coexistence agreements” entered into within the scope of Mediation, a topic that is often controversial, since the agreement between the parties is not always accepted by the INPI as it needs to contemplate not only the private interest, but questions of the public. However, “the INPI has accepted most of the coexistence agreements”, assured Ardissone.
Castro Llamas, in turn, explained that of the Mediation and Arbitration cases administered by WIPO at least half are covered by contractual clauses. And the effectiveness of out-of-court agreements in resolving conflicts can be measured by the index of closed agreements within the institution: 70% in mediation, while in arbitration, a third of the cases resulted in agreements.
The search for extrajudicial solutions for the solution of conflicts in the scope of the internet is also growing. To date, ABPI’s Domain Name Dispute Resolution Chamber and Chamber has recorded a total of 386 cases and is the main chamber used by the parties to resolve their conflicts under the Internet Conflict Management System (SACI-Adm ).
See the full webinar on ABPI’s YouTube channel by clicking here.
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