Each patent infringement case is unique, with different technologies, different parties,
different damages and different dynamics. Despite these differences, I frequently observe
that most patent disputes are conducted with the same one-size-fits-all approach. Regardless of whether realistic damages are $100 thousand or $100 million, most patent disputes are
conducted using traditional litigation practices that include several rounds of written discovery, numerous fact depositions, exchanges of thousands...
In this 34th episode of the Conflict Specialists Show, Dave Hilton interviews Doug Noll – Mediator, Peacemaker, Author and Host of the Doug Noll Show.
Some of the topics in today’s episode:
Doug’s Journey From Ferocious & Tough Lawyer to Peacemaker
Peacemaking: Practicing at the Intersection of Law and Human Conflict (Book)
Sex, Politics and Religion at the Office (Book)
Elusive Peace (Book)
Negotiation Mastery for the Legal Pro Online Course
and more
In a case of first impression involving patent royalty settlement talks, the Federal Circuit in In re MSTG, Inc., 675 F.3d 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2012) has rejected a “settlement negotiation privilege,” at least for non-mediated communications. This holding conflicts with Sixth Circuit precedent that protects settlement negotiations in general and casts doubt upon several district court cases that have found such a privilege.
Brief History of the “Settlement Negotiation” Privilege
Evidentiary...
The scholarly literature on takings compensation emphasizes incentives for condemnors and condemnees. The widely accepted prediction that full compensation leads to overinvestment by condemnees, however, is not based on the correct understanding of the takings law in the United States. Condemnors are often assumed to be social wealth maximizers or to suffer from fiscal illusion, both theories lacking empirical support. In addition, costs and accuracy of assessing property value for takings compensation...
Settlement negotiations rarely proceed in a smooth forward motion; in fact, most feel more like a ride in a bumper car with a jerky stop and start motion. A good negotiator learns to move past the inevitable impasses.
Here are 8 tips for negotiating past an impasse:
Use Your Leverage.
Use Objective Standards.
Use Objective Procedures.
Name the Dynamic.
Exchange More Information.
Take a Break.
Carve Out Issues.
Reexamine Your Position.
Women, then, have not had a dog’s chance of writing . . . That is why I have laid so much stress on money and a room of one’s own. Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
I’ll be writing much more about Carnegie Mellon’s Negotiation Academy for Women in the coming months, but I want as many of our readers as possible to know about its existence right away.
It was founded by Linda Babcock of Women Don’t Ask fame – the Getting to Yes for women. I think of Women Don’t Ask as the Bible...
The X factor in mediation is the ability to influence the other side to pay more or take less. Finding the elusive X factor is the challenge for most mediators, and is often done in the face of uncertainty. This uncertainty takes many forms and can serve as a barrier if not acknowledged and addressed by the parties. Taking the uncertainty out of the negotiation requires the mediator to convey to each of the parties the ability to be strategic while at the same time presenting each negotiation move...
Roger Fisher, Samuel Williston Professor of Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on August 25, 2012, at the age of 90. Founder of the Harvard Negotiation Project and later the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, co-author of the seminal and perennially bestselling Getting to YES: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, pioneer in teaching negotiation, and inveterate, self-starting peacemaking interventionist, Fisher had an extraordinary impact...
In a dispute with reinsurers over coverage for the settlement of asbestos-related disputes valued at close to one billion dollars, in which the reinsurance contracts contained a follow the fortunes provision, the reinsurers challenged whether the doctrine applied to the cedent’s decisions in the allocation of the settlement amount, and, if applicable, it could be applied in a summary judgment context to the cedent’s allocation of the settlement. Modifying the decision of the lower court, the Court...