View Print Friendly Version
The “Understanding-Based Model of Mediation” in IP Disputes
© Cheryl Hodgson 2007 | Posted on June 25, 2007
By Cheryl L. Hodgson
© Hodgson Law Group 2007
After years of professional frustration as a lawyer, participating largely in the “caucus” model of mediation, and more importantly, the ineffective results of the court system, I’m happy to say how thrilled I was to recently attend two workshops hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. The introductory and advanced workshops, for Mediation of Intellectual Property Disputes were taught by two amazing professors and attorneys, Gary Friedman, and Harvard Professor Robert Mnookin, using the “Understanding-based Model of Mediation.”
For four days, participants were divided into groups of two and three where we practiced various techniques foreign to most lawyers, including active listening by using looping; framing of issues, and working to have the parties themselves reach agreement as to the best resolution of their dispute. While this type of mediation required new skills which are not easy to learn, much less master, the advantages of this type of dispute resolution process quickly became apparent to all the participants.
I inspired not only by the content, but the participants themselves, who came from countries such as India, Australia, Greece, Russia, Germany, and Italy, to name a few. For those individuals for whom English was not the first language, it was amazing to see the determination with which these participants strove to present the concepts in English, to communicate effectively and to be understood. Not only did I learn some new skills, I made some wonderful new colleagues from around the world with a passion for learning a new and more effective means of representing their clients in both disputes as well as negotiations. Finally, I was amazed at the workings of WIPO which services the trademark community world wide in both dispute resolution mediations as well as international registrations under the Madrid Protocol System.
No Comments »