We are pleased to welcome Mathijs van Noort to De Clercq & Partners as a Patent Adviser / Trainee European Patent Attorney.
With his background in mathematics, engineering, computer science and AI, he will strengthen our Engineering, Software & AI team and contribute his expertise in areas including AI, software, IoT, medical devices, computer-implemented inventions, and various practical applications using software & AI.
We wish Mathijs a great start and look forward to working together!
DCPeloton returns from 29 March to 5 April 2027, bringing IP professionals from around the world together in Flanders for a unique week of cycling, professional connections and Belgian culture.
G1/25: Enlarged Board of Appeal Narrows Requirement to Adapt Patent Descriptions After Claim Amendments
The Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued its long-awaited decision G 1/25 on 3 September 2026, clarifying when patent applicants and proprietors must adapt the description and drawings of a patent after amending the claims. We refer to our earlier articles of 16 March 2026 and 5 August 2025 on this subject.
Koen Vanhalst has once again been recognised in the IAM Strategy 300
We are pleased to announce that our partner Koen Vanhalst has once again been recognised in the IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists 2026.
The IAM Strategy 300 identifies leading professionals who are recognised for their ability to develop and implement strategies that maximise the value of intellectual property.
The New EU Regulation on New Genomic Technique (NGT) Plants: What It Means for Patenting Plants in Europe
On June 17, 2026, the European Parliament adopted Regulation (EU) 2026/1388 on plants obtained by New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), which entered into force on July 16, 2026.
Negotiations for this new EU Regulation began after a CJEU decision in 2018, which ruled that plants obtained through targeted mutagenesis (such as the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique) were captured by the Regulation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and all the strict requirements that entails, despite the fact that such NGT plants (cisgenesis and targeted mutagenesis) scientifically differ from traditional GMOs (transgenesis) in that they do not necessarily contain “foreign DNA”.
