Final disposition can take years, jeopardizing product development, factory construction and marketing plans. Positive motivation was Mr. Rasser's experience in European patent courts, where government judges know patent law and decide cases without juries or extensive, costly pretrial work. Within 60 days of a complaint against an advertiser, a full-time hearing officer must decide whether there is a reasonable basis for an ad's claims. NAD director Andrea Levine in New York said 4 percent of the rulings are challenged, and compliance with 96 percent of the recommended changes is typical, even though the forum is voluntary and decisions are nonbinding. No one can be compelled to participate.
Participants can decide in advance whether to accept the decision as binding or nonbinding.
When both sides submit to board jurisdiction, briefs will be filed, and judges will convene a pretrial conference to focus the arguments. Except where both sides agree in advance, the judge will not determine damages. A one-day hearing will include oral arguments and a decision. Unlike mediation and arbitration, where the neutral party, venue and rules change from case to case, the patent board will have a panel of lawyers from whom judges are chosen, fixed rules and a permanent home after trustees choose an executive director. Patent court costs will be modest by trial standards.