Joris Deene
One co-owner opposes the six surveillance cameras in his residence's shared courtyard and garage. However, a large majority of the co-owners vote to keep them. The...
May a company re-file the same trademark to circumvent the use requirement?
Anyone who registers a trademark is given five years to actually use that mark. Some trademark owners try to avoid that obligation of use by registering the same mark again just before the end of that period....
May a company record phone calls in a call center for quality control?
Recording and listening to customer conversations to assess service quality and coach employees is allowed in principle, but only under strict conditions. The Disputes Chamber of the...
Can a simple product shape be protected as a trademark?
A trademark consisting only of a simple basic geometric shape - a circle, a rectangle, a flat disk - cannot in principle be protected as a valid shape mark. That is what the strike judge of the...
Will stores be allowed to announce ‘sales’ all year long from now on?
With three rulings dated May 20, 2026, the Council of State annuls the administrative fines that the FPS Economy had imposed on three fashion chains of The Fashion Society group (ZEB, Point Carré and The Fashion Store)...
May a SaaS provider qualify itself as a processor in its terms and conditions?
May the provider of an online identification service position itself as a processor in its general terms and conditions when it has designed the entire layout of that service itself? No, rules the...
May a judge requalify a software renting agreement as a license?
A company enters into a renting agreement for a software package, becomes dissatisfied with its operation and wants to get out from under the contract by arguing that it is in reality a mere software license. May the...
When is a similar process not a patent infringement?
Anyone who markets a similar invention to a patented one does not automatically escape patent infringement. But neither is strong similarity sufficient to establish infringement - even through the...
Should a residential care centre pay royalties for TV signal in residents' rooms?
More and more nursing homes, assisted living facilities and nursing homes are capturing radio and television signals with their own satellite antennas and relaying that signal to their residents' rooms via an internal cable network....
Does deactivating an ex-employee's mailbox suffice?
No. A deactivated mailbox that continues to exist on the employer's servers is not sufficient to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG/GDPR) - the mailbox must be effectively deleted. The...
May online platforms be required to negotiate compensation with press publishers?
The answer is a nuanced yes: a member state may require online platforms to negotiate with press publishers, require them to provide information and give a regulator the power to impose a fair...
What GDPR obligations does a lawyer have to his clients?
The Data Protection Authority on May 8, 2026, in its decision No. 99/2026, sentenced a law firm to a total fine of €4,920 for two violations of the General Regulation...
May a social inspector confiscate and read your smartphone?
Smartphones are increasingly being scrutinized during an inspection by the NSSO, the NEO or the Social Laws Supervision. On those devices are wage data, schedules and communications with employees - but...
Should the market permit already be there at the time of the SPC export notification?
In late 2024, the Dutch-speaking enterprise court in Brussels already ruled that a biosimilar producer's prior notification under the ABC export exemption did not immediately identify the specific export countries...
Are you allowed to warn your clients about a company you do not want to work with?
A company that no longer wants to cooperate with a business partner can notify its customers - but how it does so makes all the legal difference. The Antwerp Court of Appeals ruled in a...
Can a bank double register a defaulter with the National Bank?
A defaulter can be registered in two different National Bank of Belgium databases, and this double registration is permissible. However, the bank must specifically inform the customer about each registration...
When does a modified product infringe a patent?
In a ruling on Dec. 8, 2025, the Brussels Court of Appeal ruled that the displays Thinkerbell sold for Corona and Jupiler did not infringe Pozo Negro Beheer's patent EP 3 205 240. A...
GDPR cooperation obligation: does missing mail from the DPA lead to a fine?
The duty to cooperate (Article 31 General Data Protection Regulation - AVG/GDPR) requires every data controller to actively cooperate with the Data Protection Authority. The Dispute Resolution Chamber ...
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