WilmerHale Senior Counsel James Carter participated in an event, sponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel and others at Fordham Law School, titled “Smarter, Faster, Cheaper Technology Dispute Resolution Conference.” Mr. Carter spoke on a panel on the subject “Strategic Planning for Technology Development, Licensing, Distribution and Outsourcing and Copyright, Trade Secret and Patent Disputes.” The panel considered:
- Strategic planning for technology disputes − when does it start/when does it end? What are the issues/concerns?
- Every industry has technology disputes but is court or ADR right for every dispute?
- What’s important in selecting counsel and the neutral in technology disputes − substantive law expertise, ADR expertise or technology expertise? Are two out of three enough?
- Keeping licensing and distribution contracts focused on business relationships.
- Thinking about dispute planning when outsourcing major operations.
- FRAND strategies in telecom and life sciences.
- Trademark protect strategies.
- Copyright when judge and jury don’t know how to use a computer.
- Is relying on the new federal trade secret act the best way to keep trade secrets secret?
- Is there a need for arbitration in patent disputes? Is the current system − including inter partes review, ITC and the Federal Circuit appeals − sufficient?
- What can in-house counsel do to make IP cases more efficient?
