I am head of our Intellectual Property practice in the Netherlands, based in The Hague where I am one of our founding partners. I am also a member of our Tech & Comms, Life Sciences and Energy & Utilities groups.
Before I studied law, I studied architecture and building construction at Eindhoven University of Technology. I have always kept a keen interest in both technology and design, so when I became a lawyer in 1989 the choice for intellectual property was a very natural one.
In my practice I focus on patents and trade secrets, mainly in electronics and life sciences, but I also handle trademark, copyright and design cases.
I find that in order to properly work on innovation, you also need to handle the regulatory framework, especially in biotech and pharma. I'm advising clients on these aspects, but I also do litigation and if necessary complaints with the European Commission, together with our competition law specialists.
I try to contribute to the development of the law in my areas, so I have been involved in the legislative work around the Unified Patent Court and the Trade Secrets Directive and have published extensively on intellectual property. I'm a board member of the Dutch IP litigators' association VIEPA and active in various other associations.
Being Dutch, I love cycling, both on a road bike and a mountain bike (even though it's a challenge to find mountains here).
