The UK Intellectual Property Office has announced changes to its mediation service for disputes involving registered and unregistered intellectual property, designed to increase its appeal to small and medium-sized enterprises. In particular, it has introduced a more flexible scale of costs for mediations to differentiate between different values of claim and provide for mediations lasting between one and eight hours, with costs ranging from £55 to £650 per party. The IPO’s announcement also explains which types of intellectual property disputes are most suitable for mediation, and makes it clear that mediation can be appropriate either before or after court proceedings have been issued. It also offers a mediation service by telephone, most suitable for disputes where the amount in issue is low but the issues are relatively complicated. This could be a big help for smaller businesses who find the cost of litigating prohibitive. If you need advice on this or assistance in any mediation then contact Christopher Evans.