Cyberspace is ripe with potential intellectual property legal issues. However, intellectual property (IP) issues which arise out of cyberspace, and which are dealt with using cyberspace-based alternative dispute resolution methods (ADR) are rare. Although copyright and trademark violations occur regularly in cyberspace, with the exception of UDRP domain name disputes, IP issues are generally handled using standard DMCA notifications and traditional litigation. Here you can see eBay's and YouTube’s forms for such complaints. Other cyberspace-based IP issues may be resolved using WIPO’s mediation and arbitration center, but such disputes certainly represent a minority of all claims filed.
Legal scholars have commented in the past on the benefits ADR might be able to offer such disputes. For example, Aashit Shah has endorsed the use of cyberspace-based ADR to resolve such IP issues for many of the same reasons which make ADR an attractive option to all litigators. In particular, ADR offers parties the ability to have their sophisticated and emerging IP issues heard by an arbitrator or mediator who is experienced in the field of contention. See Aashit Shah, Using ADR to Solve Online Disputes, 10 RICH. J.L. & TECH. 25 (2004); see also Casey Lide, ADR and Cyberspace: The Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Online Commerce, Intellectual Property and Defamation, 12 OHIO ST. J. ON DISP. RESOL. 193 (1996-1997). In traditional litigation, however, such expertise is rarely possessed by the judge or jury. As cyberspace-based ADR continues to grow, we expect that IP disputes which arise out of online interactions will become progressively more common.
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