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In 2010 IPOPHL requested the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center to provide technical assistance in the establishment by IPOPHL of an arbitration option for IP disputes that could otherwise be submitted to the Philippines courts or to IPOPHL, as the case may be. Such assistance notably took the form of Center support of IPOPHL’s drafting of specific arbitration rules based upon the WIPO Arbitration Rules with amendments to reflect local laws and practice. This new arbitration procedure, intended to complement IPOPHL’s existing mediation services, was launched in early 2011, but, as we understand, so far has met with little concrete demand.
The Center has also collaborated with IPOPHL in the provision of training programs, which included a session on arbitration undertaken by Mr. de Castro in 2010 and a session on mediation undertaken by WIPO neutrals Peter Moody and David Perkins and myself in 2011.
Following a meeting between IPOPHL representatives and colleagues de Castro and Toscano at the sidelines of the 2013 WIPO Assemblies, IPOPHL has expressed a desire for further Center cooperation. This concerns an envisaged Center role as administering authority of mediations, and possibly arbitrations, where at least one party is domiciled outside the Philippines, and the training of further local IP and ADR experts.
These intentions have been recorded in the attached draft of a Memorandum of Understanding (pre-cleared by OLC), which IPOPHL is presently considering with a view to conclusion around the May 2014 session of the WIPO General Assembly or on the occasion of the mission which is the subject of the present memorandum.
As part of this collaboration, IPOPHL and the Center now plan to organize an IP Mediation Workshop in Manila, on May 7 and 8, 2014. As faculty, this Workshop would include Mr. Moody and myself.
The Workshop is aimed at IP lawyers, mediators and prospective mediators (including arbitration specialists) based in the Philippines |