WIPO recently reported on discussion from a November 2009 session of the WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) relating to concerns about the high cost of IP litigation.
The concern is not surprising. However, it is also not new. Concerns about the costs of litigation are perennial. Of course, IP litigation is especially expensive. However, as noted in the article, it really does (in all modesty) require specialized legal expertise.
In my humble opinion, another factor that often drives costs up in IP litigation is that the parties themselves are often business competitors and the substance of the dispute is a monopoly that one claims in the marketplace. Unlike other litigants, the parties therefore may not be highly motivated to settle.
