LEGAL TERMINOLOGY YEAR 1 (DIDASKALEION)

Assignment to prepare for Thursday, April 14, 2022

Please review the case below and prepare to work in teams. One team will be representing the biotech company, the other team will represent the pharmaceutical company, whereas the third team will be the arbitral team.

Here is the scenarioQ

Case 3

A French biotech company, holder of several process patents for the extraction and purification of a compound with medical uses, entered into a license and development agreement with a large pharmaceutical company. The pharmaceutical company had considerable expertise in the medical application of the substance related to the patents held by the biotech company. The parties included in their contract a clause stating that all disputes arising out of their agreement would be resolved by a sole arbitrator under the WIPO Arbitration Rules.

Several years after the signing of the agreement, the biotech company terminated the contract, alleging that the pharmaceutical company had deliberately delayed the development of the biotech compound. The biotech company filed a request for arbitration claiming substantial damages.

The Center proposed a number of candidates with considerable expertise of biotech/pharma disputes, one of whom was chosen by the parties. Having received the parties’ written submissions, the arbitrator held a three-day hearing in Geneva (Switzerland) for the examination of witnesses. This not only served for the presentation of evidence but also allowed the parties to re-establish a dialogue. In the course of the hearing, the arbitrator began to think that the biotech company was not entitled to terminate the contract and that it would be in the interest of the parties to continue to cooperate towards the development of the biotech compound.

On the last day of the hearing, the parties accepted the arbitrator’s suggestion that they should hold a private meeting. As a result of that meeting, the parties agreed to settle their dispute and continued to cooperate towards the development and commercialization of the biotech compound.