January 2012 – Martijn van Ansem has advised the dentists and dental specialists pension fund (SPT) on setting up a new governance structure. The articles of association of both the pension fund and the professional pension association for dentists and dental specialists (BPVT) were amended on 19 January 2012 after the general meeting of the BPVT in Utrecht, in which the amendments were approved.
BarentsKrans has assisted Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE:SSD) as Dutch counsel in connection with the purchase of all of the shares of S&P Clever Reinforcement Company AG and S&P Reinforcement International AG (Switzerland) and their subsidiaries (collectively “S&P Clever”) for approx. $61.4 million, subject to postclosing adjustments. S&P Clever manufactures and sells engineered materials for repair, strengthening, and restoration of concrete and masonry construction and has operations in Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Poland, The Netherlands and Austria.
The Hague, 3 January 2012 – BarentsKrans has appointed Jaap Bremer as a partner in the IP & Technology practice group, effective as of 1-1-2012. Jaap has been practicing as a lawyer at the The Hague firm since 2008. Jaap Bremer (1976) specialises in intellectual property law with a particular focus on patents and trademarks. He regularly assists clients in (multi-jurisdictional) patent litigation, particularly in the areas of pharmaceutical products and biotechnology. Jaap further has extensive experience in trademark law, advertising law and copyright law, in which fields he assists clients from various sectors, including the life sciences and the food and beverage sectors.
Jaap's appointment to partner further underscores the development and growth of BarentsKrans’ IP & Technology practice group in recent years.
September 2011- Rogier Duk, the country’s undisputed No. 1 employment lawyer, will join BarentsKrans as from January 1st 2012 as an employment and supreme court litigation lawyer. Rogier Duk has been a lawyer at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek since 1978. He will take leave of De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek for reaching retirement age. We see the arrival of Rogier Duk as yet another confirmation of our firm’s capability to attract the very best specialists and a recognition that our firm belongs to the top firms of The Netherlands.
August 2011 - BarentsKrans advised Gimw on the acquisition of a majority interest in Studiekring, the Dutch market leader in student tutoring in primary and secondary education. The rest of the shares remain the property of the founders. (Michiel Martin, Robert-Jan Zwaan en Anne-Rieke van der Linden)
June 2011 - Marleen van den Horst was a speaker at the international seminar on Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation on 15 June in Cascais, Portugal. Patent litigators from the US, UK, Germany and the Netherlands gave an overview of patent litigation in their respective jurisdictions and explained how clients can use the differences between the systems to their strategic advantage. The introduction was followed by a international pharmaceutical case study, which enabled the audience to apply the lessons learnt. This seminar preceded the Annual Conference of EGA (European Generic Medicines Association).
April 2011 - Marleen van den Horst acted as a panelist in a session on Supplementary Protection Certificates at the Fordham University Conference on IP and policy in New York on April 28-29 2011. The Fordham IP Conference is known around the world for provocative, cutting-edge discussion of the hottest IP topics.
March 2011 - BarentsKrans has assisted Kenniscentrum Zorg Nederland B.V. (KZN) with its conversion into Stichting Benchmark GGZ. The objective of this Trusted Third Party is to benchmark the mental health care sector in the field of effectiveness of treatment and customer satisfaction. The data obtained are used on the one hand for the purchase of mental health care by care insurers and on the other hand by health-care providers to gain insight into and optimize the level of their treatment. Michiel Martin and Julia Nicolaescu took responsibility for the contractual part of the transformation, including the financing agreement between Zorgverzekeraars Nederland, the national trade association of health-care providers, and Stichting Benchmark GGZ. Notarial assistance, including the conversion of the legal form, was rendered by Martijn van Ansem.
February 2011 - On 11 February the oral hearing took place before the Court of Appeal of The Hague in the patent dispute regarding escitalopram. All throughout Europe this anti depressant drug has been the subject of fierce legal battle. The Netherlands is one of the last jurisdictions in which a final decision on the validity of the patent and the Supplementary Protection Certificate is to be rendered. We were successful in first instance, when the District court invalidated the patent. The oral hearing in appeal attracted a lot of international attention. BarentsKrans (Marleen van den Horst, Jaap Bremer) represented two of the three generic manufacturers. The decision is expected in April.
February 2011 - On 8 February the Judicial division of the Council of State heared the appeal in the regulatory proceedings regarding the granting by the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board ("CBG") of marketing auhtorisations for generic versions of the blockbuster drug Lexapro. As the Netherlands is the Reference Member State in the decentralised, European granting proceedings for these marketing authorisations, it all boils down to the decision of the CBG. We were successful in the earlier proceedings, when the District court of Haarlem nullified CBG's decision to suspend the marketing authorisations. In its new decision, the CBG reinstated the marketing authorisations. Lundbeck appealed. The oral hearing in the further appeal attracted a lot of international attention. BarentsKrans (Marleen van den Horst, Annemieke Kooy) represented two of the three generic manufacturers.
