Patent disputes are a key area of instruction for Fieldfisher‘s Belgian IP team, which has been kept busy representing prominent Belgian telecoms entities in patent litigation. In addition, the group is well-versed in advising on high-profile copyright and trade mark disputes, trade secrets issues and unfair competition matters. Transactional work is another core area of strength for the team. Stijn Debaene, who heads up the practice, focuses on IP issues in the telecoms and media sectors, and Hakim Haouideg is a highly regarded IP litigator. Other key practitioners to note include Thierry van Innis.
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Profile
Work Department
Intellectual Property
Position
Stijn is a partner in the intellectual property department of Fieldfisher's Brussels office.
Career
For more than 15 years, Stijn has been litigating cases in all areas of intellectual property law (copyrights, trademarks and patents) in a variety of sectors but with a particular focus on the media and telecom industries.
Stijn's team's IP litigation clients range from small designers like La Fille d'O, over major entertainment production companies like Studio 100 to BEL 20 companies like Telenet or multinationals like Vitra.
For these and other clients Stijn and his team have been involved in several landmark cases like the Telenet / United Video Properties patent litigation case which went up to the Court of Justice of the European Union "ECJ"). (C-57/15).
Besides the IP litigation practice, Stijn and his team have also built a nice sports law practice, which has led them to represent professional football players and cyclists before a wide variety of national and international arbitration panels. They are also active on the transactional front and have, for example, negotiated Marouane Fellaini's transfer to his current Chinese club or TV rights deals with the Premier League.
Languages
Dutch, French, English, Spanish, Italian
Education
He has attended four universities in four different languages. He accomplished his Bachelor at the Université de Namur, his Master at the Catholic University of Leuven (including one Erasmus year at the Università degl Studi di Siena in Italy) and an LL.M at Columbia University School of Law?
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Excellent advice, tailor-made and useful in an everyday business environment.'
‘The team is very professional and provides useful and practical assistance in resolving difficult or complicated IP issues.'
‘Hakim has been very responsive and helpful, and insightful in his advice and suggestions.'
‘I regard Thierry van Innis as the best IP lawyer in the EU with many years of experience.'
‘Thierry van Innis is, in my view, the leading EU authority on IP law. No one is as good as he is. We have over 20 years of experience working together. He understands the "western" mindset and is able to translate the idiosyncrasies of EU law so it can be well understood.'
Key clients
- Proximus Telenet Louboutin Longchamp Yahoo Holding Fujirebio Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. Crocs Inc. & Jibbitz LLC AGC EuropeZ Ansys Billtrust Infrabel Epic Games Inc. Atos Worldline Alpargatas Sazerac Brands Magic Access Ltd Play Media NV Forbes LLC
Work highlights
Representing Puratos in patent infringement proceedings before the Mannheim Local Division of the Unified Patent Court.