When pharma and biotech companies are in need of cross-jurisdictional intellectual property/patent and regulatory advice, they trust Jurgen Figys for his understanding of the life sciences business — being trained as a biomedical scientist and seconded at pharma companies — as well as his profound knowledge of the legal IP and regulatory challenges in this field. As one of the few lawyers in Belgium also trained as a scientist, Jurgen is able to combine his scientific reasoning with his legal knowledge, a considerable asset in the technology-driven IP field.
Jurgen predominantly works with clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, with a particular focus on complex patent litigation and regulatory advice. He has particular experience in patent litigation with regard to invalidity, third-party opposition proceedings against counterfeit seizure, and preliminary injunction proceedings. His pre-contentious experience includes freedom-to-operate patent analyses and drafting protective letters. Jurgen is also involved in a number of trademark cases, such as parallel import litigation.
Within life sciences, Jurgen provides strategic regulatory advice to pharmaceutical and biotech companies as well as national and European industry associations. His experience covers a broad range of regulatory issues such as data exclusivity, EU marketing authorizations, pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products, advertising, medical devices, clinical trials, and data. Digital transformation in the health sector is also one of Jurgen’s main focus areas.
Thanks to his scientific background, Jurgen is also able to advise clients on EU regulatory issues with a technical angle. For example, he has an impressive substantive knowledge of REACH through his work for a wide range of U.S.- and EU-based clients. He also regularly advises on CLP issues. In addition to providing legal and strategic advice on REACH/CLP compliance, Jurgen is particularly able to assist clients with their more science-driven submissions to the European Chemicals Agency (preliminary risk assessments of potential chemicals of concern, etc.).
Prior to joining Crowell & Moring in 2013, Jurgen worked for 10 years at the Free University of Brussels as a Ph.D. student and a director of successive scientific studies for the Belgian Ministry of Defense, performing research on cell metabolism, apoptosis, and cancer physiology. The design of a nonnatural linear constrained peptide library was one of the main achievements of his project.
Jurgen is a frequent speaker at professional conferences, both on IP and regulatory topics, and teaches a course on patent enforcement to biomedical students at the University of Antwerp. He is also an active member of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property.
Speeches & Presentations
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"Product Safety – Managing the Risks," Crowell & Moring, Webinar.
(November 25, 2021).
Speakers: Eric Montens and Jurgen Figys.
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"Digital Health Roundtable," Brussels, Belgium
(April 24, 2019).
Moderator: Maarten Stassen. Speakers: Jodi Daniel, Frederik Van Remoortel, Jurgen Figys, Evelina Roegiers, Evi Mattioli, and Judith Bussé.
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"REACH," IJE/IBJ Deep Dive - Product Liability & Security in the EU and Belgium: Handling the Risks Associated with Defective or Non-Compliant Products, Brussels
(December 6, 2018).
Presenter: Jurgen Figys.
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"Medical Devices," IJE/IBJ Deep Dive - Product Liability & Security in the EU and Belgium: Handling the Risks Associated with Defective or Non-Compliant Products, Brussels
(December 6, 2018).
Presenter: Jurgen Figys.
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"The Importance of a Good IP Strategy – What Needs to be Done and Why," IBJ-IJE Seminar, Brussels, Belgium
(October 5, 2017).
Presenters: Kristof Roox, Jan-Diederik Lindemans, Jurgen Figys and Judith Bussé.
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"Importing into the EU under REACH," International Compliance Professionals Association’s (ICPA) Annual European Conference, Dublin, Ireland
(June 11-13, 2017).
Speaker: Jurgen Figys.
Publications
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"Avoiding Pesticide Data Compensation Disputes in the EU," Agrow
(July 23, 2019).
Authors: Peter Gray and Jurgen Figys.
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"Counterfeit Seizures Proceedings in Belgium – An Update," Cahiers Antwerp Brussels Ghent
(August 29, 2017).
Authors: Christian Dekoninck, Jurgen Figys and Judith Bussé.
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"Jouer avec les limites de l'usage off-label?" Le Journal du Médecin 2394, 39
(February 13, 2015).
Author: Jurgen Figys
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"De Minimis in Belgian Patent Law," I.R.D.I.
(January 1, 2015).
Authors: Kristof Roox and Jurgen Figys.
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"De exclusieve bevoegdheid van de rechtbank van koophandel en het hof van beroep te Brussel in het nieuwe Wetboek intellectuele eigendom (Boek XI van het WER)" RABG
(December 2014).
Author: Jurgen Figys.
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"Grenzen aan off-label gebruik?" [Limits to off-label use?], Artsenkrant 2392, 27
(January 30, 2014).
Author: Jurgen Figys.
Client Alerts & Newsletters
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"European Court of Justice Issues Landmark Judgments Regarding Trademark Enforcement in Parallel Imports of Generic Pharmaceuticals: No Repackaging/Rebranding as the Originator Reference Product,"
Intellectual Property Bullet Analyses
(November 29, 2022).
Contacts: Kristof Roox, Jurgen Figys, Matteo Mariano
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"Unveiling the Complexity of the Belgian MedTech Legal Landscape,"
Life Sciences Alert
(November 17, 2022).
Contacts: Kristof Roox, Jurgen Figys, Wietse Vanpoucke
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"Proposed European Health Data Space Regulation,"
Health Care Alert
(June 13, 2022).
Contacts: Sari Depreeuw, Jurgen Figys, Jodi G. Daniel, Patricia L. Wu
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"Unified Patent Court: Counterclaims for Revocation,"
Unified Patent Court Alerts
(December 1, 2015).
Contacts: Jan-Diederik Lindemans, Jurgen Figys
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"Landmark EU Court Judgment on the Notification Requirements for Substances of Very High Concern,"
Advertising & State AG Alert
(September 2015).
Contact: Jurgen Figys
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"The ECHA Expects Up to 70,000 Registrations of Little Known Chemicals by 2018,"
Advertising & State AG Alert
(May 2015).
Contact: Jurgen Figys
Press Coverage
Firm News & Announcements
| June 30, 2022 |
IAM Ranks Crowell & Moring in Patent 1000 2022 |
| April 13, 2022 |
Legal 500 EMEA Ranks Crowell & Moring in 11 Practice Areas and Recognizes Seven Lawyers |
| January 3, 2022 |
Crowell & Moring Elects 13 New Partners, Promotes Seven to Senior Counsel, and 19 to Counsel |
| July 8, 2021 |
IAM Ranks Crowell & Moring's Brussels Intellectual Property Group in Patent 1000 Gold Band |
| April 16, 2021 |
Legal 500 EMEA Ranks Crowell & Moring in 11 Practice Areas and Recognizes Seven Lawyers |
| June 15, 2020 |
IAM Ranks Crowell & Moring's Brussels Intellectual Property Group in Patent 1000 Gold Band |
| April 27, 2020 |
Legal 500 EMEA Recommends Crowell & Moring in 11 Practice Areas and Recognizes 13 Lawyers |
| April 16, 2019 |
Legal 500 EMEA Recommends Crowell & Moring in 11 Practice Areas and Recognizes 14 Lawyers |
| January 3, 2019 |
Crowell & Moring Elects Eight New Partners and Promotes 21 Associates to Counsel |
| April 25, 2018 |
Legal 500 Europe, Middle East & Africa Recommends Crowell & Moring in 11 Practice Areas and Recognizes Three Individuals |
| May 11, 2017 |
Legal 500 Europe, Middle East & Africa Recommends Crowell & Moring in 12 Practice Areas and Names Three Lawyers to Leading Individuals List |