A notice to owners of Arbitrating Patent Disputes: please update AAA rule references

Thanks to all who have gotten a copy of my ABA book, Arbitrating Patent Disputes, A Practical Guide.  I hope you have found it useful not only for your patent-based arbitrations, but also commercial arbitrations in general.  Most of the material discussed in the book is applicable to both.

Please know that AAA has revised its commercial rules.  The new rules apply to arbitrations filed on or after September 1, 2022.  So, for arbitrations that weren’t already filed by then, you’ll need to be sure to use the new rules. 

Most rules have not changed, but many of the numbers have.  For example, former Rule 34, which sets the standard for the admission of evidence at the hearing, is now Rule 35. 

So, you’ll need to look at the rules themselves to make sure you have the right one rather than rely on the numbers in the book.  They tend to be off by one or two numbers.  For the new rules, go to adr.org and click “rules, forms & fees.”  For the old rules, go to adr.org and click “rules, forms & fees,” then click archived rules.” The book refers to the October 2013 rules. 

I hope you’ll think of this as a chance to have a quick review of the rules rather than a big inconvenience when using my book.

And there are some important rule changes you will want to know about.  For a quick summary, see my earlier article in this series, “New AAA Commercial Rules.”  (Not the catchiest title I’ve ever come up with, but the info is there.  Let’s face it.  It’s hard to make a summary of rule changes much fun to read, even if the changes are important.)

Thanks again for getting my book!