Intellectual Property

+ 15 other experts

The only full-spectrum IP practice at a full-service firm in the Netherlands

Firmly embedded in our 150+ litigation practice, we are uniquely positioned to handle the most complex, multidisciplinary and international matters with an IP angle.

Unlike any other firm in the Netherlands, we have the strength and capability to deal with all aspects of complex IP litigation, and alongside our ground-breaking cases before the European Court of Justice, we have been involved in most of the landmark decisions heard by the Dutch Supreme Court in the past five years..

We offer our clients targeted legal and broad sector knowledge across the full scope of healthcare, life sciences, food and beverages, luxury goods, retail, telecommunication, ICT, energy, transportation, chemical, materials, banking and insurance sectors.

Recent Matters

16 January 2023

Rivean Capital to acquire CED Group from BlackFin Capital Partners

De Brauw is advising Rivean Capital on its planned acquisition of the CED Group. The CED Group is a Dutch headquartered company and offers its clients a full range of claims management services, ranging from risk taxation and inspection to emergency assistance, together with (injury) claim loss adjustment and handling, repair in kind and recourse. CED is active in the Property, Mobility and Vitality domains and has a strong cross-border claims organisation. Besides the Netherlands, the CED Group is active in France, Belgium and Spain and has offices in 8 other countries for cross-border claims activities.
3 January 2023

Scheybeeck sells a majority stake in BUKO Infrasupport and BUKO Waakt to Equistone

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20 December 2022

De Brauw advises Thomas H. Lee Partners on its acquisition of Bynder, a leading global digital asset management platform

De Brauw advised Thomas H. Lee Partners ("THL") on the acquisition of Bynder from multiple sellers including Insight Partners.THL, based in Boston, is a premier private equity firm investing in growth companies. Bynder is a global leader in Digital Asset Management (DAM), headquartered in Amsterdam and with major office hubs in the United States, Spain, UK, Australia, and UAE. Bynder's powerful, intuitive, and deeply integrated DAM platform unifies and transforms the creation, management, and distribution of marketing assets. The partnership will accelerate Bynder’s ability to help brands overcome the complexity of proliferating content, enabling delivery of exceptional content experiences and unlocking revenue growth.
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The patent litigation firm of choice

... for many multinationals wishing to coordinate their patent strategy throughout Europe. We are involved in complex, cutting-edge, multi-jurisdictional patent litigation and advise on issues of validity, infringement, ownership/inventorship and licensing.

We deal with ground-breaking cases at all levels, including Supreme Court litigation and opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office. In addition, we are gearing up for the start of the Unified Patent Court. Out of our team of more than 150 litigators, we are putting together teams with experience in patent law, technical fields and extensive litigation, so that we can offer the strongest dedicated litigation teams, where relevant with the inclusion of foreign lawyers.

We have experience across all technical areas in multi-jurisdictional patent disputes regarding portfolios of telecommunications standard essential patents, our telecoms clients benefit from our expertise in the competition (FRAND) aspects of the enforcement and licensing of standard essential patents. Patents also play a large role in the broad spectrum of our Life Sciences work for pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms and medical supply companies:

De Brauw’s patent ligation team is extremely dedicated and reactive. They are experienced litigators with a solid knowledge of the law and a quick understanding of the technical background. The team is very approachable and fun to work with.

Legal 500, 2021
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Trade Secrets - a valuable commodity

... but in the hands of a third party, they can have a huge adverse impact on a company’s competitive advantage. Our inhouse and technical expertise positions us to be able to advise clients on the value of their trade secret, whether a dispute pivots on the mobility of workers, business collaboration or cybercrime. Our Employment practice also advise clients in connection with allegation of misappropriation by former employees. Our unparalleled experience with the regulatory and criminal enforcement measures is critical when gathering evidence to establish misappropriation. This includes unrivalled advice from our Privacy, Data and Cyber Security experts should misappropriation of digitally stored trade secrets be alleged following a collaboration between companies.

The lawyers are very much on top of the law and they are thorough... excellent IP services and well thought-out, clear recommendations that are easy to understand and implement.

Legal 500, 2021
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What's in a name?

We regularly deal with matters relating to trade name rights, slavish imitation and advertising law, with a particular focus on trade marks, trade names, copyrights, database protection and design rights.

A good example of our deep sector knowledge is the sector task force led by our IP and data protection specialists: the consumer goods and retail online working group (CGROW) including legal counsel from Heineken, JDE, Royal Philips, Signify, AkzoNobel, Booking.com, Tesla, Takeaway.com, Danone, AholdDelhaize, Bol.com, Tommy Hilfiger/PVH, Catawiki, Pon, FrieslandCampina and Uber. This extraordinary group brings together experience and expertise at the highest level, and is unique in the market.

Excellent expertise, great availability at all levels; [a] creative team... Combining superb expertise with profound knowledge of our work field and its sensitivities... the team is knowledgeable, experienced, and quick to respond.

Legal 500, 2021

Insights

25 July 2022

Trademark holders are "producers" for product liability purposes, according to CJEU

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has answered questions about the Product Liability Directive and clarified what "producer" means in the directive. According to the CJEU, this is any person who has affixed, or authorised the affixing of, its name, trademark or other distinctive sign to a product. Specifically, the CJEU dismisses the argument that any further criteria are required except for the affixing of the name, trademark or other distinctive sign to a product. Consequently, a strict liability regime applies to trademark holders when it comes to product liability. Trademark holders should be mindful of the potential liability risks implied by this ruling in their day-to-day business.
16 June 2022

De Brauw receives two IP Awards at the MIP gala

De Brauw's IP team received two IP Awards in this year's Managing IP Awards. The first award is for our IP team who were awarded "Netherlands IP Transactions & Advisory Firm of the Year Award". The second award is for Tobias Cohen Jehoram, head of our IP department, who received the "Netherlands Practitioner of the Year Award".
23 March 2022

Dutch Supreme Court issues long-awaited rulings on Standard Essential Patents

In 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union provided initial guidance on the conditions under which holders of Standard Essential Patents (SEP) may seek injunctions against implementers unwilling to enter into a licence agreement on FRAND terms. Since then, the German Bundesgerichtshof and the UK Supreme Court have issued judgments, with the Dutch Supreme Court following suit in a recent set of rulings. We explain the background and implications of this case, including the Advocate General's opinion.