This program offers 1 participatory MCLE credit. You must register in advance to participate.

Co-presented by the Trademark Interest Group and the Litigation Interest Group

Nowhere are mediation skills more important than in resolving intellectual property disputes. This program will examine how mediators adapt the process to fit the situation presented by individual cases and how counsel for the parties can be most effective in using the process to achieve positive results for their clients. The focus will be on how resolution through mediation is often quite appropriate for intellectual property cases, especially those where non-monetary and/or relationship issues predominate.

Moderator: Robert Payne

William A. Finkelstein is an experienced mediator, particularly with respect to intellectual property, franchising and licensing disputes. He serves on several mediator panels including the International Trademark Association Panel of Neutrals and is the editor/author of ADR in Trademark and Unfair Competition Disputes, A Practitioner’s Guide. He has extensive experience and expertise in all aspects of U.S. and international trademark and licensing law and practice and has also handled franchising, copyright, patent, trade secret, marketing, branding, and related electronic commerce issues. He was a partner with Alschuler Grossman Stein and Kahan, LLP and Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Los Angeles, California and, prior to joining these firms, was Vice President and Intellectual Property Counsel of PepsiCo, Inc. This blend of real-world corporate practice with his transactional and litigation experience provides him with the insights, creativity and practicality to seek business-driven resolutions to IP disputes.