Brinkhof

Brinkhof is an ambitious and high-quality law firm for innovative clients in the fields of technology, life sciences (healthcare), retail and telecommunications. In these international markets the firm litigates and advises on patents, trademarks and designs, regulatory issues, competition law, energy and information technology (including outsourcing). The combination of the firm’s in-depth knowledge of law and procedure with the breadth of its specialist experience makes Brinkhof a centre of legal excellence of high repute. The sectors serviced by the firm are innovative; so too is the firm’s office culture. Whenever appropriate or necessary, the firm will leave the beaten track to search and find new roads. Nothing is self-evident to Brinkhof, except the interests of its clients.

Firm history
The firm was founded in 2005 by leading specialists in their fields from large international general practice law firms. The concept is to create synergy by advising clients from these specialist angles. Thus, for example, Brinkhof advises pharmaceutical clients on patent litigation, regulatory affairs, competition law and trademark protection; and clients in the media and communications sectors on regulation, competition and content protection. It is Brinkhof’s aim to keep the specialist needs of clients in focus, not having to cater to the needs of a large general practice or an international network-based practice.

Practice areas

• Communications and media (Remy Chavannes, Egbert Dommering and Quinten Kroes).
• Competition (Pepijn van Ginneken and Patrick Burger).
• Energy (Martha Roggenkamp and Iman Brinkman).
• Information technology (Eliane de Vilder, Ruprecht Hermans and Quinten Kroes).
• Intellectual property, commercial contracts and litigation (Kurt Stöpetie and Remy Chavannes).
• Life sciences and healthcare (Arnold Versteeg and Pepijn van Ginneken).
• Patent litigation (Richard Ebbink and Jan Brinkhof).
• Pharmaceuticals and biotech (Peter Burgers and Mark van Gardingen).

Sectors
Broadcast, media and entertainment, communications, e-commerce, energy, food and beverage, healthcare, information technology, internet, life sciences, pharmaceuticals and bioscience, publishing, retail, technology, construction and manufacturing.

International work
Brinkhof generates most of its turnover in assisting national and international clients in patent, trademark, regulatory, telecommunications and communications disputes, and in coordinating parallel national and foreign lawsuits in these fields. For this often international work, the firm is unrivalled in the Netherlands.

Languages
Dutch, English, French, German and Italian.

Recommendations
Chambers Europe recommends Brinkhof as a leading firm for intellectual property (patent litigation and IP general): “This innovations and technology-focused boutique comes strongly recommended for patents work, especially in litigious mandates. It handles infringement cases for well-known international clients from the pharmaceuticals, biotech and electronics industries. It recently represented Samsung in nullity and infringement proceedings against Sharp, concerning liquid crystal display technology. The firm also offers quality service on other core IP matters such as trade marks, design, copyright and advertising.”

Jan Brinkhof, Richard Ebbink, Mark van Gardingen and Kurt Stöpetie are recommended as key individuals.

Legal500: “Brinkhof is the ‘go-to IP firm of choice’ for a number of leading names, providing a ‘consistently high service’, and is singled out for its patent litigation expertise. The team assists the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, Albert Heijn, on all its IP matters, and counts consumer electronics companies Canon, Nikon and Tamron as clients. The team is ‘client focused, strategic and pragmatic’, and includes Kurt Stöpetie (‘always brings a light touch to even the most complex and intractable of problems’); Mark van Gardingen (‘responsive and insightful’); Richard Ebbink (‘technical, with industry knowledge in abundance’); Peter Burgers; and Jan Brinkhof.”

Kurt Stöpetie and Remy Chavannes (media and entertainment) and Ruprecht Hermans (information technology) are also recommended as leading individuals.

Managing Intellectual Property recommends Brinkhof as a tier 1 firm for patents contentious and copyright: “Brinkhof has maintained its position in the top tier of the patent contentious table and has a strong reputation in the pharmaceutical field, where clients include Novartis and Ranbaxy. ‘Brinkhof is doing an excellent job,’ says one competitor. ‘They have established themselves as the leading generic firm in the Netherlands.’ Another agrees: ‘Brinkhof do a lot of cases, they focus on generics.’”

Brinkhof was a winner at Informa’s Worldleaders International IP Awards 2008: the subscribers of international magazines PatentWorld, TrademarkWorld and CopyrightWorld declared Brinkhof IP Law Firm of the Year 2008 for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Richard Ebbink was declared Patent Lawyer of the Year 2008 (EMEA).