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Lisbeth Depypere
Counsel

Lisbeth Depypere

Languages
  • Dutch
  • French
  • English
  • German
Social media

Lisbeth joined CMS in 2012. She specialises in Intellectual Property Law, more specifically in trademark, design, copyright, patent and domain name law. Lisbeth also focuses on the protection of trade secrets, on (unfair) commercial practices and on all legal aspects of advertising and marketing.

In those fields, Lisbeth advises clients and assists them in litigation, negotiations and in alternative dispute resolution. In 2019 she was appointed as a certified mediator. She is also an accredited third-party decider regarding .be domain name cases with CEPANI (the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation).  

Lisbeth also performs specific trademark work, such as assisting clients in prosecution, opposition and cancellation proceedings, infringement proceedings and so on. In addition, she also has a wealth of experience with regard to domain name disputes. She represents clients before the Belgian Courts and ADR institutions, the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), the Benelux Court of Justice, the EUIPO, the General Court and the CJEU. Lisbeth is a member of BMM, ECTA and INTA. She is also an editor of IE-forum.be and was a teaching assistant at the KULeuven Centre for IP Law from 2015 to 2016. She publishes and lectures frequently on IP-related topics.

Lisbeth has been recognized in the LEGAL 500 shortlist as a Rising Star in the category “Intellectual property”. She is also recommended in the WTR 1000 rankings (Silver) and praised by her clients as a bright and strategic highly skilled lawyer.

Awards & Recognitions
01
  • Quote
    “Tom Heremans and Lisbeth Depypere leverage their extensive litigation expertise to make all the right strategic decisions and execute litigation strategies with calm precision, consistently achieving client-defined victories.”
    WTR 1000, 2025, Silver
  • Quote
    "Lisbeth Depypere is praised for her ‘creative and nuanced presentation at trial’”
    Legal 500, 2024
  • Quote
    “Lisbeth is incredibly reliable, proactive and has a meticulous eye for detail“
    WTR 1000, 2024, Silver
  • Quote
    “Working closely with him on this matter is the “efficient and bright” senior associate Lisbeth Depypere, who earns warm praise from her customers: 'I sincerely appreciate Lisbeth’s hands-on attitude. She possesses in-depth and up-to-date knowledge and is highly skilled in strategic, out-of-the-box thinking. She is a compassionate yet tenacious partner.'"
    WTR, 2023
  • Quote
    "Tom Heremans, Renaud Dupont and Lisbeth Depypere are all very good."
    Feedback from a client, Legal 500, 2024
  • Quote
    "Tom Heremans and Lisbeth Depypere are outstanding IP lawyers who provide great guidance and solutions in complex situations. They are very responsive and create an excellent collaborative environment."
    Feedback from a client, Legal 500, 2024
  • Quote
    "Total willingness to evaluate legal matters in consideration of the client’s interests. High degree of availability for the development of strategies, both procedural and non-procedural. Professional guidance in court proceedings. Tom Heremans and Lisbeth Depypere stand out."
    Feedback from a client - Legal 500, 2023
  • Quote
    "Tom Heremans and Lisbeth Depypere are highly competent IP lawyers with a clear view of complex litigation matters."
    Feedback from a client - Legal 500, 2023

Relevant experience

  • Proceedings before the Court of Justice as well as the General Court of the EU in matters relating to trademarks and commercial practices
  • Proceedings before the Benelux Court of Justice in trademark cases
  • Conducting domain name disputes as an accredited third-party decider or assisting plaintiffs or defendants
  • Representing clients in IP disputes (e.g. injunctive relief proceedings, counterfeit seizures, custom seizures, claims for damages, negotiations, settlement…)
  • Assisting an international food stuffs manufacturer in a dispute regarding design protection of a food product
  • Conducting patent litigation for an international transport company in relation to an invention of a particular tram system

Publications

  • L. DEPYPERE & S. BOUVY, “Auteursrechten, niet-ingeschreven Gemeenschapsmodellen en marktpraktijken in de modebranche”, Jaarboek Marktpraktijken 2020/1, 1232-1243.
  • L. DEPYPERE, “Merken en modellen in tijden van Corona”, Bull. BMM 2021/2, 111-119.
  • L. DEPYPERE, “Gömböc: een convex met evenwichtspunten voor de merkbescherming van vormen?”, IRDI 2020/4, 321-326.
  • L. DEPYPERE & Y. MUSSCHEBROECK,  “De bescherming van bedrijfsgeheimen en vertrouwelijke informatie in het kader van overheidsopdrachten”, in Jubileumuitgave van het Tijdschrift voor Aannemingsrecht, Y. Musschebroeck & E. Mees (eds.), Antemis, to be published in 2021.
  • L. DEPYPERE, “Merken, openbare orde en goede zeden in tijden van Corona”, IEFbe, 10 April 2020, www.ie-forum.be
  • L. DEPYPERE « Quel est l’impact du Brexit sur les droit intellectuels ? » Trends-Tendances 5 March 2020.
  • L. DEPYPERE “De "tangwerking" en de "spiegelbeeldigheid" in het modellenrecht anno 2019”, IRDI 2019/3-4, 254-268.
  • L. DEPYPERE, “Should Using Your Design Mean Losing Your Design?”, in Rethinking IT and IP Law. Celebrating 30 Years CiTiP, KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law (ed.), Mortsel, Intersentia, 2019, 195-201.
  • L. DEPYPERE,  “Louboutin’s red sole trade mark: simply red” (with T. Heremans), Practical Law UK articles, w-015-3966 (2018), uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com.
  • L. DEPYPERE, “Hof van Justitie verduidelijkt de techniekrestrictie in het modellenrecht”, www.ie-forum.be, IEFbe 2492.
  • L. DEPYPERE & T. HEREMANS, “De timing en de uitoefening van het recht op informatie over de inbreuk op een intellectueel eigendomsrecht”, Auteurs & Media 01/2017, 41. 
  • L. DEPYPERE, “De uitwerking van de vervallen- of nietigverklaring van een Beneluxmerk”, IRDI 01/2017, 33-36.
  • L. DEPYPERE, “Yoshida knife TM case chopped at EU”, Asia Business Law Journal, 10/2017, www.vantageasia.com.
  • M-C. JANSSENS & L. DEPYPERE, "Overzicht van de Europese- en Beneluxrechtspraak inzake Gemeenschaps- en Beneluxmerken (2013-2015)”, ICIP 2016, 241-319.
  • L. DEPYPERE, Vormmerken: een overzicht van recente rechtspraakIRDI 2015/3
  • T. HEREMANS & L. DEPYPERE, “Marketing, intellectuele rechten en sociale media”, in E. Lievens, E. Wauters & P. Valcke (ed.), Sociale Media anno 2015 - Actuele juridische aspecten, Antwerpen, Intersentia, 2015, 1-38
  • T. HEREMANS & L. DEPYPERE, The Design Dossier – BelgiumITMA Review July August 2013, www.itma.org.uk

Memberships & Roles

  • Active member of BMM, ECTA and INTA
  • Editor of the Belgian IP blog IEForum.be
  • Former part-time teaching assistant, KULeuven Centre for IT & IP Law (2015-2016)

Awards & Rankings

  • Lisbeth has been recognized in the LEGAL 500 shortlist as a Rising Star in the category “Intellectual property”

Lectures list

  • 30/9/2022: Speaker at the Autumn Meeting of the Benelux Trademarks and Designs Association (BMM) : “Intellectuele rechten en aansprakelijkheid van tussenpersonen” (Utrecht)
  • 01/02/2022: Speaker for Intersentia, « Intellectuele rechten en de platformeconomie » (online session)
  • 05/10/2021: Training for Novagraaf on recent IP case law (Brussels)
  • 03/07/2020: Training for Colruyt on trademarks and intellectual property (online session)
  • 21/06/2019: Internal training for CMS on mediation (Brussels)
  • 11/04/2019: Speaker at the Spring Meeting of the Benelux Trademarks and Designs Association (BMM) : “Protecting trade secrets in the Benelux”
  • 30/01/2018: client seminar, “Geoblocking in the digital single market: current status and perspectives” (Brussels)
  • 12/10/2017: Speaker at the IP lunch organised by IE-Forum.be on design law, “Modellenrecht 2016-2017”
  • 30/05/2017: Intellectual Property Workshop for Barru Callebaut
  • 21/11/2016: Training for VO on recent Belgian IP case law (Den Haag)
  • 08/09/2016: Training for Novagraaf on recent Belgian IP case law
  • 03/12/2015: Training for Knijff on recent Belgian IP case law

Education

  • 2012 - Bar admission (Brussels, Belgium)
  • 2012 - King's College London - United Kingdom (LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law)
  • 2011 - University of Leuven, KU Leuven - Belgium (Master of Laws)