News

As members of the legal sub-group of the European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy, ALTIUS lawyers and anti-counterfeiting specialists Olivier Vrins and Virginie Fossoul have recently contributed to two important studies of the Observatory on damages in IPR and on corrective measures in IPR.

On 24 June 2010, Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) named ALTIUS ‘Contentious IP team of the Year’ for Belgium at its 5th Global Awards ceremony in London.

ALTIUS is proud to annouce that the firm received the Silver Award in the category “Best Benelux Law Firm of the Year” at the International Legal Alliance Summit & Awards 2010 that took place in Paris 3 June.

Suzy Miller, a business lawyer specialising in real estate, environment and urban development, joined ALTIUS’ Real Estate team on 1 June 2010. Previously, she worked for nearly six years in the real estate practice of international law firm Loyens & Loeff. Following the arrival of Lieven Peeters earlier this year, Suzy’s arrival represents another step in the enlargement and development of ALTIUS’ Real Estate & Regulatory team.

On 21 April 2010, Carmen Verdonck was appopinted as lecturer ("Maître de conférences") by the Executive Committee of the Governing Board of the University of Liège. Carmen Verdonck, who is head of ALTIUS' Competition Law practice, will lecture on Belgian Competition Law in the Master programme (LL.M.) in European Competition and IP law.

At the occasion of the second edition of REALTY, ALTIUS and Tiberghien have published a second edition of the "Real Estate Gazette". This newspaper provides updates on the latest real estate and regulatory trends in Belgium.

William Timmermans and Tim Bruyninckx contributed to the Public Procurement Yearbook 2009-2010. This yearbook contains a number of articles written by leading Belgian procurement law experts. In their contribution, William and Tim propose a number of changes to the general terms and conditions for the performance of procurement contracts entered into with public authorities, as established by Royal Decree of 26 September 1996.

Carmen Verdonck and Jenna Auwerx from ALTIUS' Commercial Law team have contributed to the 2010 edition of 'Vertical Agreements', a volume in the Getting the Deal Through Series that deals with the regulation of distribution practices in 42 jurisdictions worldwide.

The recently published "IAM Life Sciences 250 – The World’s Leading Life Sciences Patent Litigators 2010" has ranked Christophe Ronse, partner in the IP and Litigation departments and head of ALTIUS' Life Science team, as the leading patent litigator in Belgium. The magazine describes Christophe Ronse as “detailed and thorough”, “a standout performer” and “a technical thinker who constructs smartly planned arguments”.

IP Partner Olivier Vrins wrote an article in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, published by Oxford University Press, on the interpretation and consequences of the CJEU’s judgment in the Montex v Diesel case. His contribution aims to look into the post-Montex era, occupied by the national courts of the EU Member States, which, after all, are the watchdogs of Community law, as interpreted by the European Court. Their task, as will appears from his article, is far from easy.

The Belgian Supreme Court has ruled that circumstances which were not reasonably foreseeable at the time of the conclusion of an agreement and which increase the burden of the agreement disproportionately, can, in certain circumstances, be considered as “an impediment” in the sense of Article 79 of the United Nations Convention on Contracs for the International Sale of Goods, signed in Vienna on 11 April 1980 (the “CISG”).

On 18 March 2010, the Senate approved the new Corporate Governance Act, which had already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies. The new Act will be published in the Belgian State Gazette soon.

The new corporate governance rules apply to publicly-quoted companies and some state-owned companies such as the Belgian Post and the Belgian Railways. The Act should strengthen the corporate governance of these companies, especially in terms of remuneration controls. The Act also contains some new rules on individuals who are banned from acting as a company Director in the banking and finance sector (e.g. following bankruptcy or a criminal conviction).

At the recent Belgian Legal Awards, ALTIUS’ Managing Partner Carine Van Regenmortel was named Managing Partner of the Year.  During this fifth edition of the Awards, which has become a leading event for the legal community in Belgium, the jury lauded Carine for her effective leadership and dedication to her team. She is the first female Managing Partner to win the award.

ALTIUS' Litigation partner Christophe Ronse contributed to a report on Dispute Resolution in Belgium, published by CDR News.

Rapid advances in technology and the pressures of global competition make intellectual property a fundamental component of success for many businesses. Executives need to understand how to create, monitor, protect and enforce IP and ownership rights in today's world, especially when they are the company's most valuable assets. ALTIUS IP team contributed to the Guide with an article on patent litigation in Belgium.

ALTIUS is proud to announce that Lieven Peeters joined the firm as a Partner on 15 February 2010. Lieven joins ALTIUS from Linklaters where he started his career 13 years ago. He will considerably strengthen ALTIUS’ Real Estate & Regulatory department and the firm’s overall position on the Belgian market.

IP Lawyer and plant variety rights specialist Philippe de Jong contributed to the latest edition of FloraCulture International, the business magazine for floriculture worldwide. The issue deals with Intellectual Property protection for plant innovations and was co-published by CIOPORA, a global assocation of breeders.

On 1 September 2009, the long-anticipated Social Security Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of India (the “SSA”) entered into force. The SSA was signed in New Delhi on 3 November 2006 and is considered as a landmark agreement as it was the first treaty of its kind to be signed by the Indian authorities.  Therefore it is likely to serve as a benchmark for similar agreements between India and other countries.

Olivier Vrins, partner at ALTIUS, wrote the Counterfeiting Perspectives column in the World Trademark Review, entitled "Protecting Fortress Europe". In his column, Olivier deals with the issue of counterfeiters using current rules to cover their tracks and claims that without urgent attention to this matter, the tide of fake goods could overwhelm rights holders' defences.

Partner in the Intellectual Property, Life Science and Litigation departments of ALTIUS, Christophe Ronse spoke at the fifth European Judges’ Forum 2009 that was held in Venice on 30-31 October 2009. This event was organised by the European Patent Academy in co-operation with the Intellectual Property Judges Association (IPJA) and the European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW). Mr Ronse will also speak at EPLAW's upcoming congress in Brussels on 20 November 2009.