Brinkhof

Managing Partners: Koen Bijvank, Quinten Kroes

Number of partners: 15

Number of lawyers: 47

Languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian 

Firm Overview: 

Brinkhof was established as an independent Dutch law firm in 2005. Its lawyers are dedicated, experienced litigators, advisors, drafters, and negotiators. They cater to clients from innovative industries, including high-tech, pharma, medical devices, media, telecoms, retail, food, fashion, and financial. The breadth of knowledge and depth of specialist experience makes Brinkhof a centre of legal expertise for modern markets. Brinkhof’s IP practice is one of the broadest in the Netherlands. Its platforms regulation & litigation team advises several of the world’s online giants. The competition team is the premier team for the full range of competition and regulatory law advice. The IT team is known for its expertise in the area of sourcing and IT contracting. Brinkhof has dedicated and experienced privacy law specialists providing clients with practical business advice. Seasoned non-contentious IP specialists also deal with licensing, R&D arrangements and similar transactions on a daily basis.

Main Areas of Practice:  

Patent Litigation General: 

■ Represented Dow Chemical Company in trade secret misappropriation proceedings regarding opaque and non-opaque polymers (for use in paints) against Organik Kimya (up to the Supreme Court)

■ Represented Boston Scientific in several proceedings regarding cardiovascular technology (vascular stents, stent coatings, heart catheters) against various competitors

■ Represented Xiaomi and OPPO in several proceedings against Sisvel on injunctions in case of standard essential patents (SEPs) and FRAND-conditions

■ Represented Heineken in several proceedings against Anheuser-Busch InBev before the Hague specialised patent courts and coordinated the worldwide patent dispute

■ Represented The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in matters related to their European CRISPR patent portfolio and other related patents

Contact: Richard Ebbink

Tel: + 31 20 3053221

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Mark van Gardingen

Tel: +31 20 30 53 212

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Daan de Lange

Tel: +31 20 30 53 247

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Koen Bijvank

Tel: +31 20 30 53 257

Email: [email protected]

Pharmaceuticals & Biotech:  

■ Represented Sandoz in various pending nullity and infringement proceedings concerning generic medicaments, e.g. against AstraZeneca (esomeprazole and quetiapine), GlaxoSmithKline (salmeterol + fluticasone), Leo Pharma (calcipotriol), Merck (dorzolamide + timolol), and Sanofi-Aventis (docetaxel)

■ Represented Synthon in nullity and infringement proceedings against various competitors, including Astellas (tamsulosine) and Teva (glatiramer acetate)

■ Represented Celtrion in nullity proceedings against Biogen, Roche and Genentech (rituximab)

■ Represented Novozymes in multi-jurisdictional nullity and infringement proceedings against DSM (lactose for milk)

■ Represented Accord Healthcare in nullity and infringement proceedings against competitors, including against AstraZeneca (quetiapine) and Medac (methotrexate)

Contact: Mark van Gardingen

Tel: +31 20 30 53 212

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Daan de Lange

Tel: +31 20 30 53 247

Email: [email protected]

IP & Unfair Competition:  

■ Legal support to Google for IP matters, including trademark, domain name and Adwords related disputes and licensing and privacy issues

■ Represented WILD in international trademark litigation aimed at protecting the shape of the CAPRI-SUN branded fruit juice pouches

■ Advised and represented Adidas in all of its IP issues in the Netherlands, amongst which litigation in the textbook case about the well-known 3 Stripes trademark of Adidas

■ Represented Nestle in European proceedings against Cadbury (Mondelez) regarding its EU trademarks for the shapes of its KitKat products

■ Represented T-Mobile in advertising proceedings against Vodafone, Ziggo and KPN

■ Advised LeasePlan on its IP portfolio, including coordination of enforcement and strategy of its IP rights throughout the Benelux and Europe, providing LeasePlan with guidance on its product introductions, and product commercials

■ Represented Infineon in a trademark dispute against NXP regarding public transport technology

Contact: Gregor Vos

Tel: +31 20 30 53 248

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Remy Chavannes

Tel: +31 20 30 53 232

Email: [email protected]

IT:  

■ Supported a leading Dutch company in the financial and leasing industry in a multi-jurisdictional WAN project, as well as on agile and DevOps issues

■ Supported Euronext-listed Dutch multinational Nedap in drafting all of its template agreements and representing it in complex negotiations with business partners and customers

■ Assisted USG People in replacing several business critical IT systems supporting front and back office processes

■ Advised ERIKS on various multi-jurisdictional sourcing matters in connection with its global operations

Contact: Eliane de Vilder

Tel: +31 20 30 53 224

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Wieke van Angeren

Tel: +31 20 30 23 243

Email: [email protected]

Data Protection: 

■ Represented WhatsApp in the Dutch Data Protection Authority’s inquiry into its use of telephone numbers

■ Advised Randstad in the Dutch Data Protection Authority’s inquiry into its processing of employee data

■ Represented Dutch Railways in litigation on personal data and public transport cards

■ Legal support to Google on privacy and data protection law, represented Google in the investigations conducted by the Dutch Data Protection Authority over a new privacy policy and in a number of proceedings over ‘the right to be forgotten’

Contact: Quinten Kroes

Tel: +31 20 30 53 226

Email: [email protected]

EU & Competition:  

■ Represented merging parties in national and international merger control cases, such as former telecoms incumbent KPN

■ Represented clients in national and international litigation on abuse of dominance, such as the international airport Schiphol

■ Represented parties in cartel and regulatory litigation, such as energy incumbent Vattenfall

■ Represented defendants in civil cartel damage cases domestically, such as in the Pressed Steel and Paraffin Wax cartels

■ Acting for online platforms in several investigations by the national competition authority ACM, such as Google

Contact: Pepijn van Ginneken

Tel: +31 20 30 53 235

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Quinten Kroes

Tel: +31 20 3053226

Email: [email protected]

Media & Platforms:  

■ Advising a range of online platforms, from very large to very small, with respect to applicability of, and compliance with, the Digital Services Act and related EU platform regulations

■ Representing Google in a broad range of litigation in relation to intermediary liability, content moderation, delisting of search results and production of user data

■ Representing the association of Dutch commercial radio broadcasters in music royalty rate-setting litigation

■ Representing Meta Platforms in intermediary liability and copyright & trademark infringement proceedings brought by PVH in relation to advertisements on Facebook and Instagram for counterfeit Tommy Hilfiger apparel

■ Advising a number of European and US broadcasters, streaming service providers and video-sharing service providers in relation to jurisdiction, audiovisual media regulations, and individual and collective copyright

■ Representing RTL Belgium in Belgian and CJEU proceedings in relation to the settlement of jurisdiction disputes under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive

■ Representing an association of business information providers in litigation against the Dutch chamber of commerce with respect to database rights and reuse of public-sector information

■ Defending financial newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad in defamation proceedings

■ Representing a number of tech companies in threatened or pending class actions

Contacts: Remy Chavannes, Dorien Verhulst, Anke Strijbos

Tel: +31 20 3053232

Email:[email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]

Telecoms: 

■ Represented KPN in appeal procedures regarding Vodafone-Ziggo and Liberty-Ziggo before the EU Court of Justice

■ Represented Sky Radio in litigation against the Dutch State relating to the license fees imposed for the extension of radio licenses

■ Represented Tele2 in civil damages litigation relating to the introduction of shared broadband access

■ Represented Eurofiber in various telecoms regulatory matters, including its successful appeal against near-net regulation

■ Represented CAIW in an EU state aid notification for next generation access networks

Contact: Pepijn van Ginneken

Tel: +31 20 30 53 235

Email: [email protected]