IPOPHL highlights early mediation benefits, new mediation incentive package in forum

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), through the Bureau of Legal Affairs (BLA), once again emphasized the benefits of early mediation and highlighted its latest incentive scheme seen to encourage more stakeholders to leverage IPOPHL’s mediation service.

“We are now in our 12th year of delivering mediation services to the public. It was in 2011 when we reengineered the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program and mediation really took off,” BLA Director Nathaniel S. Arevalo said at the Stakeholders’ Forum on mediation. The event was held last April as part of the National IP Month 2022 celebration.

Mediation is a type of ADR where parties can work to resolve their conflicts cooperatively and amicably before pursuing the costlier and lengthier legal track in courts or an administrative agency like IPOPHL.

Meanwhile, Mediation Outside Litigation (MOL), BLA’s newest ADR service, allows parties to enter early into mediation even before filing a case. As filing a case may require additional time and financing to hire lawyers or seek legal advice, early mediation presents a more affordable solution for IP rights holders, especially micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs, compared to an adjudication proceeding.

Office for ADR (OADR) Executive Director Atty. Irene P. De Torres-Alogoc described how early mediation can effectively settle IP disputes.

“Early mediation opens the door to a large range of possibilities, including creative solutions and the preservation of relationships even after being in conflict,” De Torres-Alogoc said.

For her part, Gloria Zosa-Seno, a mediator at IPOPHL and an accredited neutral in WIPO, dubbed early mediation as a prevention to greater conflicts.

“If you’re called in for early mediation, it is important for the mediator to be able to identify how the issues will prevent a lot of future headache and heartache. That’s why early mediation is called war prevention. So it needs a sixth sense in understanding this and a third eye in being able to see strategically in the future,” Zosa-Seno said.

Incentive package for early mediation

The BLA also highlighted at the forum its MOL Incentive Package which it launched early April.

“Our incentive package is a form of encouragement to parties who might be eyeing the option for mediation. We want them to experience first-hand how mediation opens the door towards the best resolution over a potential dispute,” said BLA Assistant Director Atty. Christine V. Pangilinan-Canlapan.

The incentive package includes waived mediation fees for the first five applicants who have not filed an IP case in any court or administrative agency.

MOL clients can enjoy the ease of using IPOPHL’s online services for mediation and can also take advantage of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) mediation option.

WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center Legal Officer Chiara Accornero lauded IPOPHL for its strong commitment in promoting ADR while citing the benefits of WIPO’s own mediation services.

“We have a number of 2,000 experts all over the world that can act as expert mediators who also handle dispute resolutions in the Philippines. Of course, because of our international cross-border nature, we handle mostly international cases,” said Accornero.

IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said that WIPO and BLA’s ADR solutions are “a strong step towards IP protection, especially as the Philippines seeks to benefit from the opportunities in the digital economy where IP conflicts can be more widespread.”

To date, IPOPHL is the first and only public ADR provider accredited by the OADR. The BLA has settled nearly 40% of all cases for mediation as of end-2021.