“The ability to understand and categorize what you are hearing, what motivation is behind it and what it is that you are not being told is crucial,” she said.
Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution that differs from arbitration in that it is a non-binding procedure where the parties must voluntarily agree to settle. The role of the mediator can change depending on the nature of the dispute, but the primary goal is to try and encourage the parties to be creative and think of a mutually beneficial way of solving a dispute.
INTA’s Panel Of Neutrals now has more than 150 members worldwide helping to solve trademark disputes out of court. Mediation is becoming increasingly popular for the simple reason that “if you can settle a case based on business interest you can get back to work more quickly and save a lot of money,” according to Sandra Sellers, president of Technology Mediation Services, which organized the training course.
Juliano said that one of the most common mistakes that trademark mediators make is to decide too quickly how they think the dispute should be solved and start recommending solutions too early in the process. “You miss out on a lot of possible benefits by keeping the mediation narrow,” she said. Juliano added that most cases settle in just “one long day” of around 16 hours, though some disputes need a series of one-day mediations.
Although mediation is most widely used in the US it is gaining popularity in Europe, and the Panel of Neutrals also has members throughout the Middle East, Asia and Africa. In the US the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) introduced a mandatory mediation program in 2007 to help reduce its backlog of cases.
CAFC Chief Judge Paul Michel in his State of the Court address on May 15 this year said that, of the cases selected for mediation by the court, over 40% settle. The court has two staff officers and 23 pro-bono mediation officers helping to process the disputes quickly and fairly.
The mediation training at this year’s Annual Meeting was an advanced course that looked at issues such as overcoming impasses and techniques to close out sessions. Forty members of the panel of neutrals from 24 different countries including Barbados, Haiti and Monaco attended the session. The training consisted of a series of lectures along with role plays, including one on the controversial issue of Internet keyword advertising – a problem that might tax the emotional intelligence of even the most skillful mediators.
