HARNESSING ARBITRATION FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DISPUTES IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION
As the energy transition accelerates, the development and adoption of new technologies will be critical to its success. The International Energy Agency concluded in its ‘Net Zero by 2050 Report’ that nearly half of the emission reductions required by 2050 are expected to be generated by technologies which are still at the early stages of development. Finding ways to accelerate the path to market for these technologies has been a focus of successive UN Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings, with the role of technology development and transfer in the energy transition being a key part of the agenda in both 2023’s COP28 and 2024’s COP29.
From a commercial perspective, this will inevitably involve a vast volume of new collaborations, partnerships and deals, as market players seek to access and operationalise novel technologies to fuel their own transition plans.
Throughout all of this, safeguarding the intellectual property (IP) underlying these technologies through appropriate contractual structures will be key – and as energy sector players race to conclude these deals at speed, disputes will inevitably arise as to how risk, cost and value are allocated. This article explores the ways in which arbitration, as the preferred method of resolving disputes in the energy sector, can play a vital role in resolving IP-related disputes arising from the energy transition.
Jan-Mar 2025 issue
Herbert Smith Freehills