International Investment Arbitration as an Alternative Venue for Litigating Intellectual Property Disputes : The Example of beIN Corporation v Saudi Arabia

In some countries an IP owner’s attempts to defend or enforce its IP rights in a conventional way may face difficulties, particularly if the country’s judiciary is not able to effectively render justice since it lacks the necessary resources, if the courts are subject to interventions by the government and other local interest groups, or if judges are biased towards foreign right holders. Such difficulties in enforcing and defending its IP rights may impel the IP owner to seek legal protection outside a country’s domestic legal system, which turns the case from regular litigation to an unconventional dispute. Venues for litigating IP cases outside the national domain include, inter alia, the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as arbitral tribunals which are established under the investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms of international investment agreements, the latter having recently seen a rise in disputes related to IP. The present paper aims at explaining the different fora in which an IP owner can seek redress. The currently pending case of beIN Corporation v Saudi Arabia will serve as an example