Brinkhof is a leading firm with a strong focus on innovation, technology and intangible assets, like brands, goodwill and information. We work for some of the world’s largest companies in sectors like electronics, IT, media, internet, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare. In these markets, we advise and litigate in relation to patents, copyrights, trademarks and designs, product and market regulation, competition, IT/outsourcing and data privacy. In each of the domains we are super-specialists. Our ambition is always to participate at the highest level. Consequently, we field one of the largest teams working in these niche areas. Although we do not have any offices in other countries, we regularly work for foreign clients and with foreign law firms. All this adds up to a combination of focus, size and quality that makes us unique in the Dutch market. We are proud to say that the quality of our firm and of our lawyers has not gone unnoticed, but is acknowledged in top tier rankings in the leading international guides to the legal profession. Brinkhof is a specialised firm with a strong focus on patent law, intellectual property, technology, TMT, competition law and affiliated areas of law. In each of these fields we are super-specialists. Here you will find an overview of the practices we are specialised in. Everyone understands the importance of strong, effective competition law for functioning markets, and therefore economic growth. So it’s important that your commercial advisors can help you not just to ensure that your own behaviour complies with competition regulations, but to monitor your competitors’ behaviour. Since our national legislation is based on European legislation this means that an extensive knowledge of European and international competition rules is vital. Brinkhof’s specialist competition lawyers help clients with the full range of European and Dutch competition law and sector-specific market regulation. They focus on competition inquiries, cartel damages, merger control and staid aid. The also have extensive experience of assisting companies in litigation before the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, the European Commission, the national courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union. In addition Brinkhof is a market leader in the field of telecoms regulation and has extensive expertise in other regulated markets, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, media end energy. Copyright applies to many of the things we use and consume on a daily basis. Not just music, books, and art, but all kinds of texts, images, sounds, designs, formats, and software. For many organisations, copyrights comprise a significant part of their value – take them away and you take away their business. For others, such as broadcasters, being able to use copyright-protected works for a reasonable fee is vital to their survival. In between the owners and users of protected works are the intermediaries who make internet communication possible, and who are coming under increasing pressure both to “do more” to prevent infringement and to “do less” to influence their users’ information consumption. Copyright owners and users need to know when something is protected, what acts are prohibited, and whether a reasonable license deal can or should be struck. Intermediaries need to know what their role and responsibilities are, and when they might be held responsible for their users’ actions. They all need expert representation when a dispute needs to be litigated or resolved. With the rise of digital distribution technologies, copyright law has become more complex, the amounts at stake have grown, and getting the right advice has become more important than ever. At Brinkhof, we are acknowledged as one of the market leaders in the copyright field. We work for some of the world’s best-known companies and have wide-ranging expertise both in safeguarding the exclusive rights of authors of original works and in helping users and intermediaries navigate their way through the minefield of copyright. Great design is behind some of the century’s most iconic products. And it can still make the difference between success or failure. So it’s important to protect your rights in designs, just as much as your trademark or copyrights. However you cannot assume that, just because you’ve created a new design, it will automatically be protected. In fact protecting designs and drawings typically required actively registering them in a very similar way to protecting a new trademark – something that can be very complicated and is almost exclusively the domain of specialists. Moreover a complex web of national, European and international rules can apply to determine who owns the rights in a design. And adding a further layer of complexity, in some circumstances industrial designs may be protected by more than design law alone. Copyright law and unfair competition rules can apply, as, in exceptional situations, can trademark law. Brinkhof’s lawyers can help you navigate this maze and give your designs the best possible protection. Not only do we have huge experience in the protection of design rights for some of the world’s best know companies, we also understand the entire field of intellectual property protection, enabling us to advise yo on the best way to safeguard you assets. In an information economy that sets a premium on innovation the value of many business is determined by the value of their patents. Indeed, so important is intellectual property that many traditional businesses have realised that their patent portfolio has become their most valuable asset. So the importance of protecting your inventions has never been greater. This means that it is vital to get the right advice. Patent law is highly complex, which can make it a risky tool. But it can also offer opportunities to add considerable value, for example by extending the length of time that you can exploit the results of you innovation. Conversely, a deep understanding of the law can help a disruptive challenger to overturn a patent and enter a new market with its own products. Litigation is hard to predict, often international and its outcome can seriously affect an organisation’s prospects. Brinkhof is recognised as one of the leading patent law firms in the Dutch market. We have an impressive track record of success in international patent litigation and our patent lawyers are among the best and most experienced in the country. Our experts are particularly skilled in fitting seamlessly into any international litigation team and can efficiently coordinate the European aspects of the most complex cases. Increased computing power is making it ever cheaper and easier to collect and store data. Furthermore, the larger the databases the better the information usually is. In sector after sector ‘big data’ is being promoted as the key to future growth. However increasingly restrictive privacy regulations must be observed in the collection, storage and use of personal data. Complex rules have been created at both a national and international level, which are enforced with increasing rigour by a variety of regulators. How you are allowed to store and use data can differ greatly between sectors and countries. Moreover, governments across the world have been seeking, and obtaining, new powers to request data in order to safeguard national security. All these developments continuously raise new legal challenges. At Brinkhof our lawyers closely follow the rules relating to the protection of privacy and data. Our team of privacy lawyers operates at the cutting edge of the field and has acted in many complex and novel cases before the Dutch Data Protection Authority. So if your organisation wants to ensure it complies with all the national and international data and privacy rules, make sure that Brinkhof’s address is in your database. Trademarks do more than just distinguish one company from another. They are also a guarantee of quality, a key element of your advertising strategy, and a bearer of goodwill. Through all these functions, trademarks have enormous economic value. Indeed, for many enterprises, a trademark can even be their most valuable possession. At Brinkhof we understand that the building and management of a trademark portfolio is a complex job demanding outstanding accuracy. Our dedicated lawyers live and breathe trademark law and appreciate, for example, how the way in which trademarks are registered can influence the degree of protection they’re afforded, as can geographical differences. The question of whether a trademark infringes the rights of others is also one for specialists. Brinkhof has many such experts, and we have built and impressive record of success in trademark litigation at all levels. Additionally, with trademark and design agents forming part of our team, we can advice on the entire lifecycle of a trademark. So with Brinkhof your trademarks are in the right hands. Every responsible businessperson wants to do business in a fair manner. Nevertheless, many companies will be confronted at some point by competitors that, consciously or unconsciously, exceed the bounds. It may be that the design of a new product looks too much like an existing product. Or it could be that advertising or marketing materials make misleading claims or include unfair or inaccurate comparisons. Brinkhof’s lawyers have broad experience of all forms of advertising law and in fighting unfair competition. Our expertise covers all aspects of advertising and marketing, both for general consumer products and for specialist products like medicines, where special rules and procedures apply. We can help you ensure that your own advertising and marketing campaigns remain within the law. And if a competitor has overstepped the mark we can assist you with navigating the web of rules that regulate the field and advise you on the best response.