Intellectual property, ICT and GDPR, media law

The lawyers of this dedicated law team offer assistance to businesses and private individuals regarding all legal aspects of ICT, innovation and new technologies. Regardless of the type of ICT project, you can count on our advice and support. Of course, privacy regulations are now a fixed item in our legal system. Following the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR), everyone now has an obligation to respect other people's personal data. Nelissen Grade is also a recognised DPO or Data Protection Officer. We are happy to help your organisation comply with this legislation.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW
It is impossible to protect an idea, no matter how creative it may be. However, once the idea is expressed in a specific form, it can be protected. Protecting your intellectual capital has become paramount.

We offer advice to a wide range of clients (national and international companies, publishers, copyright associations and individuals) on all aspects of intellectual property.

Our assistance ranges from drafting agreements to structuring and organizing intellectual property protection to conducting complex litigation.

Copyright / piracy

Copyright protects original works, resulting from a creative activity and expressed in a specific form. The author has the exclusive right to exploit his work and to prohibit others from doing so.

Obviously, this is simplifying a complex matter, which is fully mastered by our dedicated team of lawyers. We advise our clients (ranging from well-known artists and producers to authors and publishers associations) on all copyright agreements. We represent our clients during legal or other proceedings.

Counterfeiting and piracy are a major threat to the efforts and investments of companies to strengthen competitiveness. Therefore companies should pay close attention to protect their rights.

IP due diligence

Companies (including SMEs) are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of intellectual property when it comes to realize growth, to raise capital and to make profit. Every business should make a list of its intellectual assets and should estimate all possible risks.

Our dedicated team works closely with our clients to develop the appropriate IP due diligence strategy in view of future IP transactions.

Know-how and trade secrets

A new law came into force in Belgium recently, on the basis of which a business can now protect its know-how and trade secrets, whereas before, this was not possible. The conditions are strict more than anything else but we certainly recommend bringing your organisation in line with this, enabling you to protect your know-how against copycats and the competition.

Media & Entertainment

Media law is a legal field that encompasses regulations pertaining to freedom of communication and mass communication technology. This field of law is characterized by the tension between freedom of expression and information and the need for discipline and control of the media.

We provide advisory services to well-known artists and other clients active in television, radio, film, performing arts, digital media, etc.

Brands and patents

Trademark law provides protection against competitors who might want to take advantage of the goodwill of your brand. To obtain solid protection, a trademark registration requires a well-advised approach. It is essential to seek a prior opinion on your brand’s distinctive assets, its classification, etc. Our dedicated team works closely with our clients to establish an appropriate registration strategy. It is equally important to take legal action against trademark infringements. Our assistance covers the legal and commercial aspects of these proceedings.

A patent grants you a temporary exclusive exploitation right for an invention. This gives the patent holder an exclusive right to sell or license his products or technologies. Therefore, patents have a significant value. The number of transactions involving patents has notably increased. We advise our clients on how to protect and enforce their rights and we assist them in the event of patent infringement cases.

Social media

Social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others have become commonplace nowadays. Companies, which are currently not yet present on social media platforms, are at risk of falling behind compared to competitors who have embraced social media for their marketing strategy.

The use of social media sure has positive effects, but also involves substantial risks for companies. Can an employer be held liable for his employee’s tweets, for example? Can operators of social media be held responsible for the content published on their platform?

Our dedicated team has an extensive experience in all legal aspects of social media.

Experts in Intellectual property, ICT and GDPR, media law

Alexis Hallemans Partner Contact

Melis Bulut

Nik Vanheer

Emma Van den Eynde

Thibault Grégoire

Pascal Nelissen Grade

Liability, insurance and traffic law Travel law Sports law Criminal law & fraud Persons and family law

Pascal Nelissen Grade has 25 years of experience and learned all about law from childhood on. With the same earnest and attention for detail, Pascal switches his lawyer robe for a race overall and helmet and goes out racing on circuits both in Belgium and abroad.

Pascal is also:

Permanent member of the mixed commission for legal assistance and the commission for attorney’s fees.
Member of the council of the Bar Association of Leuven.
Chairman of the commission on fee litigations, estimations, arbitration and mediation (Bar Association of Leuven).
Member of the commission on lawyer ethics (Bar Association of Leuven).

In 2014, he was featured in the Who's who Legal Sports & Entertainment.

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Jan Stijns

Construction law Administrative law Estates

Jan Stijns graduated in 1987 as master of law at KU Leuven. In 2009 he also graduated as bachelor in philosophy at KU Leuven.

Jan entered the association in 1987. He is specialized in family property law and has specific attention for patrimonial law (real estate) and succession planning / taxability. He is also specialized in the fields of construction law and administrative law.

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Joris De Roo

Corporate law Commercial & economic law

Joris De Roo graduated in 1992 as master of law at KU Leuven.

Immediately after his studies, Joris entered the association and in 1998 he became partner. He specializes in commercial and economic law and corporate law. He is also specialized in estate planning.

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Kris Maes

Labour and social law Civil law

Kris Maes graduated as master of law at KU Leuven.

He is a member of the Bar Association of Leuven and Dendermonde.

Kris provides assistance and advice to individuals and companies on the subject of (individual and collective) labour law and social security. He is especially interested in providing thorough and permanent assistance on the subject of HR management. He is regularly invited as a guest speaker in seminars.

In the event of litigation, he prefers to come to a detailed and balanced solution after clear negotiations. But when legal proceedings are required, he is prepared to go to any length.

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Alexis Lefebvre

Commercial & economic law Tax law

Alexis Lefebvre started his studies at FUNDP in Namur and graduated as master of law at UCL in Louvain-la-Neuve. After his education, Alexis entered the association.

He is specialized in litigation and providing assistance and advice in the fields of tax law, on the one hand, and economic, commercial and contract law, on the other hand.

He is a member of the Bar Association of Brussels and Leuven.

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Frederiek Baudoncq

Civil law Arbitration and mediation Travel law Liability, insurance and traffic law

Frederiek Baudoncq is a member of the Bar Association of Leuven since 1998. From 1999 to 2005, he was part time assistant at the faculty of law of KU Leuven, department property and liability law.

He is (co) author of several books and contributions to books and articles and is a member of the editorial staff of three law journals. He completed the training to become a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Belgium, the Court of Cassation.

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Alexis Hallemans

Intellectual property, ICT and GDPR, media law Commercial & economic law

Alexis Hallemans studied law in Namur (FUNDP), Belgium, at the Univeristy of Leuven and in Saarbrücken (Germany). He is a lawyer since 2003. He also obtained a LL.M degree European law in Germany and an additional Masters in intellectual property and IT law at the University of Brussels. He specializes in these subjects in which he has pleaded before the Court of Justice of the EU and the Constitutional Court in Belgium. He is recommended for these subjects in Belgium (Legal 500, Tier 2).

For several years now he is a Board member of the German, Belgian and Luxemburg Chamber of Commerce AHK DEBELUX. Alexis fluently speaks Dutch, French, German and English. This allowed him to develop a strong experience and track record in legally assisting international companies in Belgium, particularly German companies.

Alexis worked in large international law firms in Belgium and Germany (CMS Hasche Sigle) before joining Nelissen Grade as a partner in the department IP, IT and commercial law.

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Joke Decabooter

Persons and family law Arbitration and mediation

Joke Decabooter obtained her master law degree at the Catholic University of Leuven in 2011. During her master years, Joke mainly focused on civil law, specialising in family law, family property law and liability law.

After her studies, Joke immediately joined the Bar Association of Leuven, as well as our firm. Based on her interest in private law, she mainly focuses on support, procedures and advice regarding all aspects of family law, as well as settlements and divisions. Nationality issues also fall within her expertise.

In 2015, Joke obtained her notarial profession master at the Free University of Brussels. Since 2019 she is recognized as mediator in family matters.

From the 2019-2020 academic year, Joke will be affiliated with the Catholic University of Leuven as a law assistant at the Institute for Family Law.

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Karen Niesten

Tax law Commercial & economic law Estate planning

Karen Niesten obtained her Master's degree in Law at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) in 2012 and then completed an additional Master's degree in Taxation at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

In 2013, she joined the Nelissen Grade office and the Leuven Bar.

Karen also completed a management programme at Solvay Business School of Economics and Management in Brussels and attended courses in Dutch taxation and inheritance law at the University of Maastricht.

Karen focuses on leading and developing the expert groups for tax law and estate planning.

On the one hand Karen focuses on financial and tax advice, including estate planning. On the other hand, she performs dispute resolution and litigation in various tax fields for the administrative authorities and tax courts in Belgium. In cooperation with Frederiek Baudoncq, she also conducts proceedings before the Court of Cassation.

From her tax background, she also supports the corporate law department.