A Tentative Analysis Of Resolving Multinational Patent Disputes Through ADR

With the increasing economic globalization and the prosperity of the knowledgeeconomy, the number of the multinational patent disputes increases dramatically. Ithas increasingly become an essential way for the maximum interest of economicsociety to establish an economical and less time-consuming dispute solution system ofmultinational patent disputes, which is indispensable to every countries’ foreignintellectual property rights protection. With the theme of the times: Peace andDevelopment, it has been the common voice of the international community toestablish an efficient dispute solution system, which focuses on cooperation andcommunication, praises highly respect and tolerance and proposes harmonious idea.However, the parties concerning multinational patent disputes often pay a doublepenalty for the litigation with so many drawbacks, since litigation isn’t qualified forthe multinational patent disputes with sophisticated specialty, large sum of object,complex legal relation, contradictory application of law and multi-jurisdiction.In the1960s—1970s, realizing the gap between the procedural justice of civilaction and the substantive justice the parties desires, the developed countries in theWest launched a judicial reform wave access to justice proposing the application ofADR. However, it has been a long time for the creative application of ADR tomultinational patent disputes to gain the international community’s conditionalacceptance. With countries enlarging the scope of public interest, ADR is applicablefor the patent field handled only by suit otherwise.The rule and practice laid down by some important international organization notonly underlied the application of ADR to multinational patent disputes, but alsoserved as much rewarding experience. The most distinctive is the practice of theWIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center and the WTO Mediation Panel.With the method of comparative analysis, the author drew the followingconclusion by comparing the effect of multinational patent disputes dealt by ADR andsuit respectively: ADR is more flexible than suit and guarantees the parties’ autonomyof will; in favor of the correct,quick, economical and peaceful solution of disputesmentioned; in favor of the friendly commercial relationship between the parties;satisfying the parties’ demand of case secrecy; in favor of the actual execution of thecase result. The article demonstrated the necessity of the application of ADR tomultinational patent disputes in point of view of jurisprudence, management, psychology, ethics, law economics. Also, the article discusses the law and practicerelated to application of ADR to multinational patent dispute system of the majorcountries, such as America, Britain, India, etc. At last, the author analyzed the statusquo of multinational patent dispute system in China, and put forward with some ideain this respect.