IT, IP & Privacy
At home in the dynamic digital world
The rapid emergence of new technologies leads time and again to complex questions and dilemmas. However, the answers are increasingly seldom found in our outmoded legislation. As a result, IT, IP and privacy law has now developed into a crucial, yet complex legal field. De Clercq will gladly show you the way.
Social media, interactive television, apps, big data, 3D-printing, electronic patient files, public transport chip cards and cloud computing. Each of these are interesting technologies that are embraced almost as soon as they are introduced. Even if that is not without consequences.
We are seeing a fundamental change in the legal relationships between parties who deploy digital technology and parties who use or are confronted by it. This casts a new light on traditional legal questions and requires a different response. For example, are your contracts with suppliers still watertight? How do you safeguard the continuity of your business in case of cloud computing? Which legal rules apply to electronic transactions? How do you deal with client or patient privacy? And what does the new General Data Protection Regulation mean for your organisation?
In the information society, digital law is thus an essential building block for you as an entrepreneur or director.
Our lawyers focus on aspects such as:
- drafting, assessing, negotiating, amending and terminating ICT contracts, such as development agreements, licensing agreements and maintenance/service level agreements (SLAs);
- advising on and providing legal guidance in outsourcing processes;
- implementing Dutch and European privacy laws and regulations;
- the complex legal regulations on eHealth and mHealth.
We can also provide excellent advice on:
- ICT tender procedures;
- the legal aspects of 3D-printing (rapid prototyping);
- intellectual property rights and the structuring or restructuring of IP portfolios;
- the contractual and privacy challenges of cloud computing;
- escrow schemes for depositing software source codes.
Lastly, we can offer you solid expertise in relation to:
- drafting Agile contracts;
- the statutory rules on e-commerce;
- media and advertising law, from unlawful publication to deception;
- the legal implications of the Internet of Things.
Our approach
As we have specialised within the IT, IP and Privacy practice group in the numerous facets of information and communication technology, we feel at home in the dynamic digital world. We not only closely monitor developments, we look ahead. This enables us to more quickly grasp the impact of digital innovations on society and so identify the legal consequences of their application and use in good time.
By exclusively focusing on the digital domain, we have unparalleled expertise and valuable experience. We moreover understand what you are doing. We know your business and what both the market and law require of you. And we can painstakingly guide you – as an entrepreneur, producer, developer, licensee or public institution – through the labyrinth of applicable laws and rules.
Not surprisingly, therefore, De Clercq has been the permanent sparring partner of various leading businesses and institutions for years. We are also regularly part of our clients’ project teams, for example to provide legal support for an IT tender or outsourcing process.
We can prevent most legal disputes by giving you proactive advice and support in drafting solid contracts and general terms and conditions. If a dispute nevertheless arises, the courts can often be avoided through mediation or arbitration. However, if legal proceedings are unavoidable, you will of course be able to rely on our broad litigation experience in the area of IT, IP and privacy.
