New mediation service offers quick IP dispute resolution for SMEs

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has introduced changes to its mediation service hoped to make the resolution of intellectual property disputes cheaper and easier for small companies.

UK IP minister Lord Younger announced the modernised service on Friday.

The IPO’s mediation service was established in 2006 to provide companies quick, efficient IP dispute resolution without resorting to the courts.

In his 2011 Review of Intellectual Property and Growth, Professor Ian Hargreaves cited the service’s cost as a deterrent to small companies, and improvements to the service were identified in a call for evidence in 2012.

Mediator sessions were previously charged on a day or half-day basis. The new service allows small businesses to opt for shorter telephone sessions with a wider range of specialist mediators.

Clive Davenport, policy chairman for trade and industry of the Federation of Small Businesses, said that the modernised service “better meet[s] the needs of small businesses.”

He added: “That it is linked to broader initiatives like the Business Dispute Resolution Commitment and the soon to be renamed and reformed Patents County Court is important.

“This will help to ensure that the service, and mediation generally, is a key alternative to help business reach more creative and beneficial solutions to their disputes.”

Lord Younger said: “For intellectual property disputes, going through the courts should be the last resort, not the first port of call.

“Mediation can help parties to reach agreements where a court cannot. This can be crucial where the dispute involves small businesses who don’t have the experience of going to court on IP matters or who don’t have the time and resources to devote to litigation.

“Mediation can help everybody maintain existing relationships and potentially create new business partnerships by avoiding often messy and drawn-out litigation.

“These changes provide more options for businesses to protect their innovation, and increase their access to justice.”

Dids McDonald, chief executive officer of designers’ IP advice group Anti Copying in Design and vice chair of the Alliance for IP said: “In litigation a court is limited to the remedies it can award. However, with a skilled mediator the parties have complete freedom and control over the outcome and the settlement terms.”