Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis Counsel, Houthoff

Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis is a Counsel at Houtfoff (The Netherlands) and specializes in technology-related Intellectual Property matters, with focus on Patents and Plant Variety Rights. In her daily practice, Fleur represents a wide variety of domestic and international companies that are active in technology-intensive business sectors, such as agrifood and biotech. Fleur is an experienced patent litigator and is one of a handful of lawyers in the Netherlands with extensive experience in litigation relating to national and Community Plant Variety Rights. Over the past seventeen years, Fleur has litigated in various cases before the Dutch courts, the Dutch Board of Plant Varieties and the CPVO. Furthermore, Fleur has broad experience in advising on commercial contracts, including R&D agreements, license and technology transfer agreements.

Tjeerd Overdijk

Partner, Vondst Advocaten, the Netherlands

Tjeerd Overdijk studied Law at Leiden University and has been a lawyer since 1984. With over 25 years of experience, he is an all-rounder in the field of Intellectual Property with a special interest in Plant Variety Rights. He was involved in the world’s first court case on the concept of Essentially Derived Varieties (EDVs) and he has gained considerable experience on this subject. He also has experience with litigation before the Board of Appeal of the Community Plant Variety Office in Angers, France. Tjeerd is a member of various professional associations, including CIOPORA, the Netherlands Copyright Association, the AIPPI, INTA, MARQUES and the European Communities Trademarks Association (ECTA).

Ellen graduated from Ghent University and started her career at ILVO in 2000. Over the course of her academic career, she has been involved in different projects on molecular genetics in azalea, including the development and implementation of several molecular marker techniques. She obtained her PhD (Ghent University) in 2010 on the interaction of phenotype, genotype and gene expression for flower colour and other plant quality traits in azalea. During her PhD, she became an expert in RT-qPCR optimization and analysis for gene expression studies. As such, she is responsible for the set-up of all RT-qPCR projects at ILVO-Plant. She is currently a Senior Researcher at ILVO – Plant Sciences Unit – Applied Genetics and Breeding and is involved in projects on molecular genetics and genomics in several field crops and ornamental plants. Currently, Ellen is working on implementation of the CRISPR/Cas technology in the framework of the ILVO research program. Recently, she has also become one of the contact persons for the open innovation platform of Living Lab Plant.

Philippe de Jong
Partner at Altius, Belgium

Philippe is a Partner at Altius (Belgium) and specialises in Intellectual Property law, with a particular focus on Patents, Plant Variety Rights and parallel import issues. Philippe also has extensive experience in regulatory matters concerning the life sciences and agri-food industries. Other areas of practice include medical law, media law and fair trade practices in a variety of sectors.

Philippe regularly lectures at conferences and seminars and publishes articles in various leading legal journals relating to his area of expertise.

He has worked as a consultant for the EU Plant Variety Office and is also an active member of various lawyer and sector organisations, including: the European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW), Euroseeds, the Licensing Executives Society (LES), and the International Community of Breeders of Asexually Reproduced Horticultural Plants (CIOPORA).

Alanna Rennie

Associate, Baker McKenzie, Australia

Alanna Rennie is an Associate at law firm Baker McKenzie in Sydney (Australia), where she practices Mergers and Acquisitions and plant Intellectual Property. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws with honors from Bond University, Gold Coast, and a Masters in Chinese Law from Tsinghua University, Beijing. Alanna’s Master’s thesis was on Plant Breeder’s Rights in China, where she engaged closely with China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the State Forestry and Grasslands Administration, international plant breeders active in or looking to enter the Chinese market, and other stakeholders. Alanna worked with CIOPORA in 2018, where she assisted the association with its activities in China, and continues to assist CIOPORA on various projects in Australia and China in a pro bono capacity. In her capacity at Baker McKenzie and through her work with CIOPORA, Alanna has worked closely with breeding companies on their commercial and intellectual property strategies in China and Australia as well as on novel enforcement issues.