New WIPO ADR Guide for IP Cases

The Arbitration and Mediation Center (AMC) of WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, just released an updated guide providing an overview of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes for intellectual property disputes. Since intellectual property portfolios became an essential part of business value, businesses started looking at more efficient methods to settle disputes than litigation. WIPO's AMC was created almost 25 years ago, recognizing a growing ADR trend where international parties informally gathered to settle disputes without litigation. The new WIPO guide is designed to provide an overview of ADR processes without purporting in any way to be authoritative or prescriptive. Chapter One of the guide offers background information concerning the early use and rise of ADR around the world, followed in Chapter Two by a description of potential advantages of ADR for intellectual property disputes. Chapter Three explains in more detail the different ADR procedures that may be used in intellectual property disputes, while Chapter Four outlines some practical considerations that may be relevant for IPOs and courts that wish to institutionalize such ADR procedures. For the substantive and procedural implementation of such procedures, the guide identifies as a core element the interface with existing regulations. The guide reminds litigants that ADR processes can deliver outcomes that provide a certain and conclusive resolution to disputes. This finality is a clear advantage for ADR, as the complexities of intellectual property litigation can make outcomes uncertain. Legal judgments can be overturned on appeal and jurors that often lack technical expertise may make incorrect decisions. See more here-- https://bit.ly/2vpuocT

Bruce Willis's Yippee Ki-Yay Arbitration Award

Last week, Bruce Willis asked a Superior Court judge to affirm an arbitrator's award and enter it as a formal judgment against Benaroya Pictures in the amount of $5.8 million. An arbitrator found the head of a movie production company thoroughly non-credible after his misrepresentation about a film that died a week into shooting. The award found that the company and its alter ego breached a contract to pay Willis $8 million to star in an action thriller called Wake. Willis was to play a sociopath with a violent history attempting to reconnect with his estranged family at his brother's wake. Reportedly, Willis typically earns $6 million to $8 million to lead a feature film and as much as $3 million for a one or two-day cameo role. The defendant was a producer in more than 20 films, including a 2011 crime thriller called Catch .44 that starred Willis. In the deal for Wake, an escrow agreement was created under which the film company was to place payment in an escrow account before principal photography began. The account holder was to pay Willis a portion of the fee each week over the planned seven-week shooting schedule. The producer failed to find full financing for the $25 million project and managed to put only $3 million into escrow by the time production was abandoned. By that point, Willis already spent two days in front of the camera. Willis took the dispute to arbitration, claiming breach of the escrow agreement. The arbitrator found the producer negligently misrepresented the film was fully funded, but denied remaining tort claims and counterclaims. The producer asked the Superior Court to vacate the award because the arbitrator had gone too far in adding him personally as a defendant, despite being a non-signatory. See more in stories here-- http://bit.ly/2cM7i7y and http://bit.ly/2cInisa and http://bit.ly/2bHVJNW

Met Mediation

The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) is facilitating negotiations with the Metropolitan Opera, the American Federation of Musicians, and the American Guild of Musical Artists. In a tactic I have employed successfully in the past, the parties retained an independent financial analyst and highly regarded industry expert, to conduct a confidential study of finances in an effort to help reach new labor agreements. As a result, the Met will further extend the contracts for approximately a week to allow for the completion and evaluation of the report. FMCS, consistent with its practice, will not comment during this period, due to the highly sensitive nature of these discussions and confidentiality of this process. Sometimes using facts and figures within the confines of mediation makes the parties more comfortable with coming to a deal instead of arguing with CPAs in a courtroom. See more here--http://bit.ly/1smUJB2