Brussels, 28 October 2025
On Tuesday 28 October, the ACLP Board organised a training in Brussels for the ten arbitrators appointed to assist parties in concluding a licensing agreement when negotiations over royalty fees reach an impasse.
The training — the first of its kind for the Agricultural Crops Licensing Platform (ACLP) — attracted wider attention across the seed sector and was recently featured in Seed World Europe. The article highlighted the ACLP’s commitment to ensuring fairness, transparency, and equal treatment for all members, regardless of company size, through a professional arbitration process guided by sector experts.
The ACLP has implemented a distinctive “baseball arbitration” mechanism, under which three arbitrators (two chosen by the parties and one jointly) determine which of the two proposed royalty fees — one from each party — is closer to the true market value of the patented trait under negotiation. Unlike conventional arbitration, there is no compromise option.
“This is a brutal and risky process for Parties, as arbitrators will have to say black or white. There is no middle ground possible,” said John Bloomer, one of the ten arbitrators.
The diverse panel of arbitrators includes experts from both the public and private sectors, bringing together experience in intellectual property law and the seed business. This combination ensures a balanced approach that reflects both commercial realities and technical considerations.
To test the system, arbitrators and ACLP members role-played mock cases, helping to fine-tune the process and highlight its effectiveness as an incentive for parties to agree before reaching the final arbitration stage. The practical exercises also strengthened understanding of how evidence is evaluated and how arbitrators assess market value in complex licensing negotiations.
As ACLP Chair Claudia Hallebach explained: “The training gave arbitrators a deeper understanding of their important role… and helped members appreciate what kinds of evidence companies must provide for arbitrators to assess the market value of a trait.”
The ACLP plans to regularly organise similar trainings to maintain the readiness of its arbitrators and uphold members’ confidence in the fairness and integrity of the process.
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