Entering into international contracts online is now a commercial fact of life. These contracts can be simple, such as the purchase of a pair of jeans by a consumer, or more complex service agreements between sophisticated legal entities. In both cases, it is customary now to ‘tick’ or ‘click’ a box to accept a set of terms and conditions, which may become binding whether or not they have in fact been read. These terms and conditions may also include a clause referring disputes to binding arbitration in a foreign country.
Read moreThe International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has announced record requests in 2020 for its arbitration and ADR services.
The world’s preferred arbitral institute, the ICC International Court of Arbitration recorded a total of 946 new arbitration cases in 2020 – the highest number of cases registered since 2016, when a complex cluster of small disputes effectuated a marked increase in the statistics.
Read moreArbitration of intellectual property and licensing disputes
Rights holders have traditionally turned to court litigation to protect IP rights such as patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets – or to enforce IP licensing agreements. This brings certain challenges, such as a public forum, unfamiliar laws and procedures, judges with varying IP law expertise, concern for national interests, and the risk that a judgment cannot be enforced in other jurisdictions. Arbitration offers an alternative mechanism and has a number of advantages, including confidentiality, a neutral forum or a single forum, the ability to select arbitrators with technical expertise, symmetrical risk for licensors, and cross-border enforceability of arbitral awards. This chapter considers the viability and desirability of arbitration as a means of resolving cross-border IP and IP-related disputes with a focus on Asia.
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