Patent Dispute Mediation

Attorneys and mediators often define mediation simply as a facilitated negotiation. While that is an apt description of mediation in general terms, it fails to encompass the multi-faceted nature of mediation in complex legal disputes. Patent dispute mediation, for example, is a multi-faceted process in which the parties seek to maintain control over the risk associated with what is usually a complicated, high stakes litigation process involving complicated, dynamic legal subject matter and, very often, highly complex technologies.

Failing a negotiated agreement, both plaintiffs and defendants may incur significant exposure to jury or judicial verdicts that may not favorably decide the complex legal and factual issues at hand. Even if a jury renders a completely accurate and appropriate verdict on the merits, it may fail to apportion damages that are perceived as fair and equitable.

Moreover, because of the intensely focused legal teams and extensive discovery required to litigate these cases through trial, both plaintiffs and defendants alike find their respective entities exposed to tremendously high litigation costs, regardless of the ultimate outcome. Defendants and their counsel, in particular, may believe their organizations have been unjustifiably accused of wrongdoing, but feel forced to litigate the controversy to verdict in order to prevent an injustice or subsequent accusations from the same or other litigious parties. Plaintiffs and their counsel, on the other hand, may perceive they face seemingly insurmountable costs in order to enforce their alleged intellectual property rights.

An effective mediation process can serve to mitigate these types of exposure since control of the resolution process remains in the hands of the respective parties.