Joris Deene
The correctional court in Leuven on April 22, 2025 found two Spanish journalists guilty of violating the privacy of Catalan politicians Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín. The court ruled...
Can a rental company require a photo of my ID card?
More and more companies are asking for a photo or scan of your ID card as part of a contract or registration. The question, however, is whether this is allowed. The answer in most cases is no. A decision...
Can an employee demand access to confidential company documents?
An employee who makes an invention may be entitled to compensation, but how does one prove its value and terms if the employer withholds all the information? Yes, a court can award an employer...
Can an employer screen my online profiles and past when applying for a job?
In today's competitive job market, employers want to make sure they are hiring the right candidate. This often leads to a desire to screen an applicant thoroughly, such as by using social media to...
My trade secrets have been stolen by a foreign company: can I start proceedings in Belgium?
During acquisition talks, you share crucial company information under a strict confidentiality agreement. The deal jumps off, and suddenly you find that the foreign counterparty is using your concepts and data in a...
Is a publishing contract invalid if the circulation or duration is missing?
A publishing contract that lacks essential, legally required disclosures, such as duration, geographical scope or minimum circulation, is not automatically void. According to a judgment of the Brussels Court of Appeal of...
What if a judge does not get enough information from the parties?
In complex commercial disputes, where the truth is often hidden in a tangle of contracts and data, the judge's information position is crucial. An order from the president of the...
May a politician use my e-mail address for election advertising?
A political party or candidate may not use your e-mail address for election advertising without your express prior consent. This applies even if your e-mail address is publicly available on a...
Can you copy a shoe design by Louboutin?
Is a creative design, such as a luxury shoe, automatically protected by copyright? This question was at the center of a recent case in which iconic shoe brand Christian Louboutin took on...
A hefty damage claim for a photo on your website: are you the victim of legal abuse?
Did you use a photo for your company website and suddenly receive a demand letter with a sky-high claim for damages? A ruling by the Ghent Court of Appeals dated Jan. 20, 2025 confirms that claiming...
Is your former employer permitted to access your professional email account after your departure?
The termination of an employment or management relationship often raises practical questions, especially in a digital age. One of the most common and thorny issues is the management of the professional mailbox of the...
Do sex dolls with AI fall under the AI Act?
The rise of advanced sex dolls equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) raises fundamental legal questions. Although the new European AI Act is designed to manage the risks of AI...
May a judgment be signed electronically as well as by hand?
The digitization of justice brings new questions about the validity of proceedings. One crucial question is how to properly sign a judgment in an era where digital and paper...
Personalized medicine: what exactly is patentable in Europe?
Personalized medicine, in which treatments are tailored to an individual's unique genetic and molecular characteristics, is transforming health care. But can a company create an invention that so closely...
May an insurer use a private investigator to film me?
You are the victim of medical malpractice and suffer significant damages. However, your insurer questions the extent of your injuries and engages a private investigator to film you. Yes, an insurer may under...
How is the Unified Patent Court (UPC) shaping the future of European patent law?
Since its establishment on June 1, 2023, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has grown at lightning speed to become the central body for patent litigation in Europe. We find that more and more cases that were previously before...
Who is responsible for incorrect publication of personal data in the Belgian Official Gazette?
A publication in the Belgian Official Gazette seems set in stone. But what if that publication, through human error, contains sensitive personal data that should never have been included, such as your bank account number...
Can a Benelux trademark owner take action against counterfeits sold online from abroad?
The rise of e-commerce has dramatically changed the way we do business and store. With a few clicks of the mouse, consumers in Belgium can order products from a webshop located anywhere in the European...
Dutch 
English