Annelies De Clercq, PhD

Annelies De Clercq holds a Master of Biochemistry and a PhD in Biotechnology under supervision of Prof. Dr. Dirk Inzé (University of Ghent, Belgium, Department of Plant Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, VIB).

Prior to joining De Clercq & Partners in 2010, Annelies worked for almost three years as a postdoctoral researcher in Molecular and Cellular Biology focusing on cancer immunotherapy under Prof. Dr. Aristides Eliopoulos (Medical School, University of Crete, Greece).

In July 2014, she qualified as a European Patent Attorney. In 2023, she successfully obtained the Diploma on Patent Litigation in Europe from the University of Strasbourg (France), qualified as a European Patent Litigator, and registered as a representative before the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

Areas of practice

• Drafting and prosecution of European and PCT patent applications
• Drafting and prosecution of national patent applications
• Oppositions and appeal proceedings before the EPO
• Opinions regarding patentability, freedom-to-operate, infringement and validity of intellectual property rights
• Acting as an expert in litigation before Belgian civil courts or parties in intellectual property matters
• Oral proceedings before the EPO in examination and opposition and before the Boards of Appeal
• Patent literature searching and analysis
• IP due diligence
• General and strategic advice in IP matters
• Portfolio management, advice and strategy
• Acting as a European Patent Litigator before the Unified Patent Court (UPC)

Languages

Annelies is a native Dutch speaker, is very fluent in English and has a working knowledge of French and Greek, and a basic knowledge of German.

Competences

Annelies has knowledge and expertise in various fields of technology including life sciences and chemistry and more specifically biochemistry, biotechnology, molecular biology, cell biology and chemical engineering including technical fields such as genetically modified plants and animals, stem cells, cell therapy, in vitro cell-based assays, biomarker-based diagnostic methods and tools, pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, personal care compositions, proteomics, small molecules, peptides, glycoproteins, vaccines, and polymer films.