Brinkhof

The firm: 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.

Pharmaceuticals and 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).

IP and 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.

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.

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’

EU and 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 Nuon.
• 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.

Media, entertainment and reputation management:

• Acted for Google in a significant number of proceedings about delisting of search results under the European ‘right to be forgotten’, removal of hosted content, and provision of user data.
• Advised several major tech companies regarding EU regulation of online platforms, including audiovisual media services, copyright, and hate speech.
• Represented Fox Sports Eredivisie in commercial image-rights litigation.
•  Represented public broadcaster Omroep MAX in civil defamation proceedings over a TV broadcast, and in administrative proceedings over rights to a broadcasting slot and over a fine imposed in relation to merchandising for the Dutch version of the Great British Bake Off.
• Represented the association of Dutch commercial radio broadcasters in music royalty rate-setting litigation.
• Advised a number of broadcasters and online media platforms in relation to cable distribution, collective rights, and jurisdiction under the AVMS directive.
• Represented financial newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad in a number of defamation proceedings.

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.

Managing partners: Richard Ebbink, Quinten Kroes
Number of partners: 14
Number of lawyers: 39
Languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian