Forgetting FRAND: The WIPO Model Submission Agreements

Eli Greenbaum, Yigal Arnon & Co., Attorney

9/02/2015
(Original Publish Date: 2015)

The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, estab - lished in 1994, offers alternative dispute resolution services for international commercial disputes involving intellectual property. The WIPO Center has published model submission agreements for the arbitration of disputes involving commitments to license patents under “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” (FRAND) terms. These model submission agreements provide for flexible arbitral procedures based on the standard WIPO arbitration rules, but surprisingly refrain from setting out rules and procedures specifically tailored for FRAND disputes. This preference for flexibility over tailored rules can be explained as resulting from tensions inherent to the standard setting process and the choices adjudicants have between different arbitral forums.