The Dispute:

• X supplies raw materials to retail company Y.
• X and Y enter into a 5-year contract for the supply and delivery of raw materials.
• Y defaults in payments upon delivery by X after 2 years of the contractual relationship.
• X files Civil Suit in Court for specific performance of the contract, after making numerous requests for payment.
• Case pending in court for over 2 years. 

The Process:

• X and Y agree to Mediation with CAMP.
• Y shares confidentially with Mediator that there has been a cash crunch because of diversification and expansion. X has been a reliable and quality supplier to Y. Y was keen to continue business with X.
• The Mediator helped X understand the potential for increased business from Y and recognize the timely payments that had been made for the first 2 years.
• Y understood the need for some payment to be made to X to cover minimum costs.
• Mediator changes focus to helping X and Y understand each other’s financial needs as well as potential growth opportunities that could ensue from a continued relationship.

The Outcome:

• X and Y renegotiated the contract keeping in mind expansion and diversification plans of X.
• A new payment plan agreeable to both was created.
• The case settled in 2 months.

The use of ODR:

• Civil suit was filed in 2017.
• There was very little movement in the court even before COVID. With the lockdown and courts shut, parties were concerned about further delays and were open to the alternative of mediation.
• The availability of a virtual option of joining the mediation through video conferencing made the process accessible for both the parties.
• The mediator was able to facilitate crucial conversations between the parties after 3 years of no communication. 
• The Mediation was conducted with one of the parties in the north east and the other in the southern part of India. Mediator was based in Bangalore.
• The convenience helped resolve this dispute in 2 months. 

Case Study 2 – IPR Dispute

The Dispute:

A scientist named X is Founder & Lead Scientist of company C. 

• Senior employees Y and Z who had been part of the R&D Team for 5 years leave company C and start their own venture, Company D. 
• X believes company D uses competing design and technology and files criminal and civil cases against Y, Z and company D for infringement. 
• After 5 years of unproductive litigation, the parties agreed to try mediation.

The Process:

• The Mediator was successful in moving the focus from whether or not there was infringement to understanding what the Parties really wanted in this situation. 
• Mediation uncovered both Y and Z, are young, brilliant scientists with very promising careers. 
• Since the filing of this lawsuit, they had to shut down Company D and have not been able to work. Their real interest was to be able to reclaim their lives and move on personally and professionally.
• X had no clarity on what was ‘his’ IP and ‘their’ IP. He needed to identify his core IP and ensure that there is no future infringement.

The Outcome:

• This dispute was settled within 1 month (Approx.).
• An expert was brought in to understand the concept, design, and technology that belonged to X and to all three. 
• With the expert and mediator, the parties identified technology that belonged to X and technology that belonged to all three. 
• Y and Z agreed to pay X for the technology that was identified as his that they had used. 
• Y and Z were allowed to use the IP that was identified as belonging to all three. 
• They took time to draft a watertight settlement agreement & continue to maintain good relations to date.
• The parties saw value in moving forward and not dwelling on whether or not there was infringement.