Using alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve patent disputes

Abstract

Russell Levine is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP with over 25 years of experience in IP litigation and licensing and in the mediation and arbitration of patent disputes. Matthew Topic is a senior IP litigation associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and former law clerk to Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where he participated in over 100 settlement conferences. In this article the authors discuss the benefits of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) over litigation in resolving patent infringement, licence and other technology-related disputes. The benefits of ADR and the numerous different paths that can lead parties to a dispute to ADR are accelerating its use. In this article the authors discuss the various paths and also the different types of ADR that are available, including for example, mediation and arbitration. The authors provide readers with practical advice concerning best practice for making ADR work, concluding that it is here to stay and will probably continue to grow in importance given rising costs associated with traditional litigation.