WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center: New 2014 WIPO Rules; WIPO FRAND Arbitration

The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO Center) is a neutral, international and non-profit dispute resolution provider that offers time- and cost-efficient alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options. The mediation, arbitration and expert determination procedures offered by the WIPO Center are widely recognized as particularly appropriate for technology, entertainment and other disputes involving intellectual property. With twenty years of experience handling such disputes, about 40% of the WPO Center's cases involve patents, and 33 % concern information and communication technology. Effective on June 1, 2014, the WIPO Center amended its Mediation, (Expedited) Arbitration and Expert Determination Rules. Informed by WIPO case experience and the global evolution of ADR practices, the new WIPO Rules introduce several novelties, notably with a view to multiparty arbitration and emergency relief. In a separate development, the WIPO Center recently made available tailored model agreements that companies involved in the telecom industry may use to refer a dispute concerning the fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms to WIPO Mediation and (Expedited) Arbitration. Aiming to facilitate cost- and time-effective FRAND adjudication, these model agreements were developed in consultation with patent law, standardization and arbitration experts from various jurisdictions, including the Secretariat of the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI).