The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) plans to enhance its mediation unit next year - partly by accrediting more mediators -  as they push mediation as a beneficial intellectual property (IP) dispute settlement method for all parties and to ease their caseload.

IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba shared these plans at a panel discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of voluntary and mandatory mediation during the IP Mediation Conference 2023 held by the European Union IP Office on Oct. 19 to 20 at its headquarters in Alicante, Spain.

During the panel discussion, Barba also shared the benefits of mandatory mediation and the IPOPHL’s plans to improve it.

In October 2019, IPOPHL launched its mandatory mediation model, offering lower costs to parties compared to court litigation; faster resolution planning; and the potential to convert competitors into allies through amicable negotiations.

Barba explained that parties refusing to participate under the voluntary medication, tend to skip ahead to litigation or adjudication, resulting in neglected cases that could have been successfully mediated with the right mediator or encouragement.

Meanwhile, he stressed that mandatory mediation is appealing given that the parties will have an opportunity to discuss the IP issue or matter outside of its legal aspects.

Through mandatory mediation, Barba said that the average annual cases settled at IPOPHL has increased from 54 to nearly 60 a year.

But challenges remain as the influx of cases going through mandatory mediation has urged the employment of more people at the mediation front.

Barba highlighted that only 115 cases were being handled annually by the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) unit under voluntary mediation, while an average of 226 cases each year were resolved under mandatory mediation.

“We were able to address this challenge by having an effective ADR unit which ensures that the process proceeds smoothly but we may need to refresh and expand the current roster of mediators,” Barba said.

He also noted that the annual dispute settlement rate averaged nearly 30 percent from 2020 to 2022 when mandatory mediation was already in place.

To improve settlement rates, he shared that IPOPHL is currently looking to accredit more mediators who are well-versed in the latest trends and technologies that could be of concern in future IP disputes.

Last August, IPOPHL conducted the five-day 2023 IP Mediation Accreditation Course event, gathering over 40 practicing and aspiring mediators who gained theoretical, practical and ethical knowledge and skills, as well as emerging trends, crucial to settling complex IP disputes and having higher chances of securing accreditation at IPOPHL.

“Hopefully, having more skilled mediators will alleviate the caseload of each of our current mediators and create a positive impact in positioning mediation as the way to go for settling IP disputes effectively,” Barba added.