The experience of applying Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) to
intellectual property matters in India can be examined over three
phases, namely :
- Prior to July 2002;
- From July 2002 to 2006;
- Post-2006
In the first phase, i.e. prior to July 2002, there was hardly
any experience of using ADR as a tool to settle intellectual
property disputes. In this phase, a large percentage of IP law
suits filed in India would get settled after the initial stage of a
lawsuit relating to the grant or denial of an interim injunction.
Whichever way the injunction was decided would invariably determine
the final outcome.
Some would venture to say that 90% of the cases settled this way
with very few cases moving towards trial and of the remaining
cases, a good number would fizzle out before the trial. This
resulted in judges, lawyers, litigants and academics treating
intellectual property disputes as essentially interim injunction
matters.
