Intellectual Property

Companies often rely on third parties (licensees) to ensure optimal commercial exploitation of a protected right. If conflicts arise regarding the manner in which the right is utilised, the business performance of both licensor and licensee can quickly suffer. Although comprehensive licence agreements typically regulate in detail how a protected right may be marketed, CenaCom’s experience shows that differing interpretations of contractual provisions are common. this often leads to fundamental disagreements.

Once a conflict escalates, it can rapidly cause significant contractual disruptions, resulting in diminished commercial exploitation of the protected right for both parties.

This is where out-of-court conflict management comes into play, through mediation, conciliation, or settlement procedures. With the support of a neutral CenaCom mediator, the parties first clarify the interests they are pursuing in the conflict. Only then does the process shift to developing a mutually acceptable resolution. A frequent goal is to swiftly terminate a licence agreement or to realign it with a future-oriented perspective.

Even at the earliest stages of developing a technical intellectual property right (patent), out-of-court conflict management has proven to be an effective tool for achieving amicable conflict resolution. Research and development projects (R&D projects) often suffer because the participating team members pursue differing objectives.

Conflicts that arise in this context tend to become emotionally charged and risk escalating. ultimately causing the project to fail. Ensuring the successful completion of an R&D project becomes considerably easier with the support of professional conflict management.

Disputes involving trademark rights typically concern the following situations:

• The owner of an allegedly older trademark takes action against the applicant of a newer trademark.
• The applicant of a newer trademark seeks to request revocation of an older trademark that has not been used by its owner within the five-year grace period.
• An agent registers a trademark as a European Union trademark without the trademark owner’s consent.
• Former shareholders of a company dispute ownership of the trademark rights.

Traditional procedures for resolving trademark disputes include opposition, appeal, or litigation proceedings. These processes focus exclusively on assessing the parties’ legal positions. Mediation or conciliation, however, offer a genuine alternative. In addition to evaluating the legal positions, these procedures also enable full consideration of the parties’ actual commercial interests. In a structured process led by a neutral third party, the underlying interests behind the legal positions are identified, and joint solution options for the trademark conflict are developed. It is not uncommon for an apparent trademark dispute to conclude with the parties continuing to use the trademark rights jointly for their mutual economic benefit.