Meet Katia De Clercq

Katia is specialized in all branches of intellectual property law with a focus on soft IP, i.e. trademark law, design law and copyright. She handles key account clients as well as SME’s allowing her to search for balanced and cost-efficient solutions, taking into account the strategic and long term goals of her clients. She provides strategic advice on the protection of intellectual property, i.e. the necessity and scope of protection, the timing on the execution of long term projects, the relevance of search reports and additional legal advice before filing applications, the presentation of solutions in case of obstacles linked to such filings. She has gained extensive experience in these fields of law not only as a prosecutor, but also as a litigator, as she has been a member of the Brussels bar for some years. More specifically she defends her client’s rights in disputes, where she aims to find out of court solutions by negotiating and drafting settlement and other IP related agreements. She also offers strategical advice in relation to trade secrets and in this regard in one of the pioneers within Gevers to help clients develop a trade secret protection strategy. She is proficient in English, French and German and her mother tongue is Dutch.

• LL.M. Intellectual Property Law, Queen Mary University London-Technische Universität Dresden, (U.K.-Germany)
• Master in intellectual rights, Katholieke Universiteit Brussel-Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium)
• Master in Law, University of Ghent (Belgium)

• European Trademark & Design Attorney
• Benelux Trademark & Design Attorney
• Legal counsel
• Head of Dispute Resolution Service
• Trade Secret Expert

• Solid ruling on trademark descriptiveness K. De Clercq, Managing IP, september 2015
• Marks that use Swiss flags ruled invalid K. De Clercq, Managing IP, februari 2013
• Boost for colour marks K. De Clercq, Managing IP, maart 2012
• Trademarks, virtual products and Homer Simpson’s favorite beer O. Vrins and K. De Clercq, ILO Newsletter, 13 juni 2011