We are proud to announce that our colleague Kilian Müller has become a member of the International Trademark Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee, serving for a two-year term as of 2024. The ADR Committee develops programming and resources on arbitration, mediation, online dispute resolution, and other methods of dispute resolution, such as pre-litigation negotiation. Before joining Sonnenberg Harrison, Kilian worked as a trainee in the arbitration department of one of the biggest law firms in the world.
ADR and, in particular, arbitration should always be considered as an option by parties in disputes on intellectual property, as it can offer multiple advantages. For example, in patent disputes, technical arbitrators with a high degree of technical expertise can be selected by the parties. These arbitrators will often be more familiar with the technology than judges in ordinary courts.
Arbitration is also important in other fields of IP, such as domain name and trademark disputes. When negotiating licensing agreements, the parties should consider whether they would like to include an arbitration clause to resolve potential conflicts efficiently and confidentially.
Our team is happy to assist you in IP arbitrations or other forms of alternative dispute resolution. With our colleague Harald Hofmann, we also have an experienced mediator in our team.