Legal Expertise
In addition to court proceedings, alternative forms of dispute resolution have become established. These include arbitration proceedings offered, for example, by the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce), WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
WR has represented clients in numerous mediation proceedings and offers all forms of dispute resolution in intellectual property, copyright, and competition law.
We also act as arbitrators and are asked by courts to provide expert opinions in patent litigation.
Arbitration proceedings have the advantage that the parties to the dispute are largely autonomous in shaping the proceedings and possible solutions. This means that the special needs of the parties involved and the particularities of the dispute can be taken into account.
Private arbitration, for example, allows for confidentiality, and the arbitrators can be (co-)determined by the parties themselves. This form of dispute resolution is frequently used, especially for international licensing, distribution and research, and development agreements, as it means that neither party has to submit to a legal system that is foreign to them.
Mediation is a process in which the parties to a dispute try to find a solution with the help of a mediator that could not be reached in bilateral negotiations.
The key advantage of mediation is that it is less confrontational. This allows the parties to maintain their business relationship. In addition, mediation leads to a result more quickly and is therefore less expensive than other methods of dispute resolution.
In the mediation process, the mediator does not make a decision, but acts as a kind of moderator. He helps the parties to express their positions and work together to find a solution.
This solution is not limited to the clarification of the specific issue in dispute, but can also lie in further agreements, such as economic cooperation. The mediator can make a substantive recommendation, but this is not binding on the parties.
Furthermore, German courts are increasingly offering mediation alongside court proceedings. If the parties to the dispute agree to the transition to court-accompanying mediation, the court proceedings are suspended and the case is handed over to the court mediator - usually a judge of a parallel judicial chamber.
