Statutory Provisions Governing Arbitration of Patent Disputes

• Author: David A. Allgeyer
• Pages: 15-20

15

CHAPTER 3

Statutory Provisions

Governing Arbitration

ofPatent Disputes

Patent arbitration is governed by a general federal arbitration

statute as well as two specific statutes addressing arbitration of

patent matters.

ARBITRATION IN GENERAL: THE FAA

Many courts were, at one time, hostile to arbitration. Apparently

in a pro-arbitration mood in 1925, Congress passed the Federal

Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. The act applies in both

state and federal courts and preempts any inconsistent state

law in matters that involve interstate commerce.1 Your patent

dispute almost certainly will involve interstate commerce, so

the FAA will apply. The FAA provides, simply, that agreements

to arbitrate, “shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save

upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revoca-

tion of any contract.”2 This establishes a “liberal policy favoring

1 See 9 U.S.C. § 2; Volt Information Sciences, Inc. v. Board of Trustees of

Leland Stanford Junior University, 489 U.S. 468, 477 (1989).

2

9 U.S.C. § 2.