Alain Strowel

Alain Strowel is a Belgian Avocat since 1988 and works in the Brussels office.  His practice concentrates on intellectual property, media and information technology law.  He has litigated many IP-related cases before the Belgian courts (ISP liability, protection of slogans, trademarks issues, comparative advertising), and has as well appeared before the European Court of Justice and the European Patent Office.  

Mr. Strowel and Covington's IP Practice in Belgium are recommended by both Legal 500 EMEA and Chambers Europe.

He has particular expertise in issues relating to digital copyright and the Internet.  On top of the work that he is doing for clients in the IT sector, including the Business Software Alliance, he regularly advises pharmaceutical clients on patent infringement, IP enforcement, TRIPs and parallel trade issues.  Mr. Strowel is a panelist for the WIPO domain name resolution procedure.

Prior to joining Covington & Burling LLP in April 2001, Mr. Strowel worked in the Brussels IP section of a major Dutch firm.  He also serves as a professor in the Universities of Brussels and Liège, where he teaches copyright and design law.  He is an active member of various IP associations, including the Licensing Executive Society, ALAI, European Patent Lawyers Association, Computer Law Association.

Mr. Strowel is in the editorial board of many specialised law journals including: Propriétés intellectuelles (Paris), Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (Oxford), Computer Law Review International (Cologne), Auteurs et Media and L'Ingénieur-Conseil (Belgium), Les Cahiers de propriété intellectuelle (Montréal).

Representative Matters

• Representing a copyright holder before the European Court of Justice in a case involving the cable retransmission right.
• Advising a major pharmaceutical group on patent extension in various countries.
• Monitoring on behalf of a major trade association the implementation of the Copyright in the Information Society Directive.
• Advising a group of companies on freedom of goods and other issues relating to copyright levies.
• Preparing a detailed advice for the Board of an important broadcaster on an issue of freedom of establishment involving the Directive TV without Frontiers.

Honors and Rankings

• Chambers Europe, Intellectual Property - Belgium (2009-2013)
• Best Lawyers in Belgium, Intellectual Property (2013)
• Legal 500 EMEA, Intellectual Property - Belgium (2010-2011)
• PLC Which Lawyer? Intellectual Property, Belgium (2010-2012)
• Legal Experts EMEA (2010)

Publications and Speeches

• "Moral Rights in the Wittem Project," The European Copyright Code - The Wittem Project (9/16/2011)
• "Copyright," 6th Annual Conference of the EPIP Association (9/9/2011)
• "Quand Google défie le droit: Plaidoyer pour un Internet transparent et de qualité," Groupe de Boeck (April 2011), Author