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The Impact of COVID-19 on Contracts and Corporate Activities: Your Questions Answered

Client Alert | 2 min read | 05.05.20

In response to the many questions we have recently received from clients, we have prepared a Q&A regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various day-to-day business activities in Belgium. In particular, we address the following specific questions:

  • Can you suspend or terminate a contract without penalty as a result of COVID-19?
  • How can you hold a general meeting or a board meeting that respects social distancing?
  • What measures have been taken by the Belgian government to support businesses?
  • What is the best way to sign contracts electronically?

The questions and answers in this Q&A are of course of a general nature and should not be considered to be comprehensive legal advice on specific questions and/or cases. Do not hesitate to contact our team if you have any specific questions and/or would like any advice with regard to a concrete situation.

In addition, Crowell & Moring Brussels recently launched its “COVID-19 Virtual Assistant.” This virtual tool allows you to navigate the rapidly evolving regulations adopted by the Belgian federal and regional governments in the wake of the pandemic. Our Virtual Assistant can be consulted free of charge and can be accessed via our Coronavirus Resource Center on our website.

For the Dutch version of the Q&A, please click here. The French version can be found here.

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Client Alert | 2 min read | 11.14.25

Defining Claim Terms by Implication: Lexicography Lessons from Aortic Innovations LLC v. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

Claim construction is a key stage of most patent litigations, where the court must decide the meaning of any disputed terms in the patent claims.  Generally, claim terms are given their plain and ordinary meaning except under two circumstances: (1) when the patentee acts as its own lexicographer and sets out a definition for the term; and (2) when the patentee disavows the full scope of the term either in the specification or during prosecution.  Thorner v. Sony Comput. Ent. Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2012).  The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Aortic Innovations LLC v. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. highlights that patentees can act as their own lexicographers through consistent, interchangeable usage of terms across the specification, effectively defining terms by implication....

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