Patrice Vanderbeeken is a member of the Brussels Bar Association since 1999 and a Founding Partner, co-head of the Intellectual Property & IT law department, at Pierstone Brussels.
He is fluent in Dutch, English, French and German.
Expertise
Patrice enjoys a reputation as a prominent technology lawyer recognised by Chambers (since 2009) and the Legal 500 for TMT, association work and data protection. He has extensive experience in IT and IP law, with a focus on the following areas:
- Data Protection
- (IT) Contracts
- Distribution
- Standardization
- Copyright
- Licensing
Patrice has a vast experience in data protection advising international clients in the aviation, hospitality, life sciences, finance and TMT sector on various questions including extra territorial applicability, international transfers, website policies, agreements (DPA, joint processing,…) and internal regulations. He and his team are regularly performing privacy audit and compliance schemes at international levels.
Patrice is also well rounded in copyright and data licensing questions.
Patrice is well recognized for his work in distribution contracts and related (pre-)litigation. He has written various articles on the subject and has litigated some high profile cases regarding newly set principles of law on assignment of contracts, territorial scope, etc..
Patrice is also strongly recognized for his data protection and general corporate assistance to international associations, for which he has been praised in the Legal 500. His 20 years of experience in IP and TMT allow him to better understand the associations’ needs in term of articles of association and contracts (data protection, website, R&D, consultancy, licensing, IPR policy, etc.), standardization (IEEE, ITU-T, Cenelec, …) and subsidies (Horizon 2020, Life, etc.).
Professional Experience
Since 2013: Founding Partner at Pierstone Brussels
Since 2012: Board Member at Licensing Executives Society
Since 2015: Board Member at Fonds Joseph Maisin pour la Recherche contre le Cancer
1999-2013: Attorney at Law at Nautadutilh, including secondments at the tech transfer of the University of Louvain and at GSK Vaccines
1998: Legal Assistant to the German Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union S. Alber
1997-1998: Intern at Janssen Inc. (Johnson & Johnson)
1996: Intern at BNP Paribas Fortis
Patrice is also an Active Member of the Europe India Chamber of Commerce and the Belgo-Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Patrice has developed a particular interest in India and its culture and is therefore heading the Pierstone Indian desk since his participation to Prince Philip’s mission to India in 2010 during which he organized a seminar with the Indian Merchants’ Chamber in Mumbai on the Benelux as the gateway to Europe.
Education
As a former external advisor to the technology transfer office of a leading university and GSK Vaccines’ US general counsel, Patrice has gained an excellent understanding of both the industry’s and the academics’ perspective with regard to technology and life sciences contracting (privacy, R&D and licensing). He has also developed extensive knowledge in EU and regional Research Framework Programmes.
He has been trained at the Universities of Leuven (1997 – Masters in Law), Namur (1995), Passau (1998) and at the Vlerick Leuven Ghent management School (1999 – MBA) which are strongly recognised in the QS and Times Higher Education rankings. Patrice also has followed the masterclass of the Institute for Pharmaceutical Business Administration
