Member of the Local Organising Committee, ECTA Legal Adviser, Member of the ECTA Geographical Indications Committee, Altius, BE

Olivier Vrins obtained a degree in law (1998) from the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. He graduated as a Master in European Law at the University of Ghent’s European Institute, Belgium (1999) and as a Master in Intellectual Property & Unfair Competition Law at the University of London’s Queen Mary & Westfield College, UK (2000). He joined the Brussels Bar in 2000. From then on, he has practised as a lawyer in the Brussels-based law firm Altius, where he is a partner in the Intellectual Property department. Olivier maily deals with trade mark, copyright, design and patent litigation, while specializing also in the field of designations of origin and geographical indications and the protection of the personality rights of public figures. He is the author of a monograph on Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 Concerning Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (International Encyclopedia of Laws, Kluwer, 2017) and the co-editor of the Oxford University Press book Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Through Border Measures. Law and Practice in the EU (now in its second edition, 2012), and has published numerous contributions in IP-related reviews and books. Olivier has acted as a member of the Sub-Group on Legal Framework set up within the former European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy, which reviewed the implementation status of the EU Enforcement Directive and made recommendations to the European Commission on how to improve IPR enforcement in the EU. He is also a regular speaker at seminars on IPR enforcement and other IPR-related subjects. In 2012, Olivier was invited to address the European Parliament on the issue of the compatibility of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) with the EU Acquis on IPR enforcement and civil liberties. He is a member of Belgian Council for Intellectual Property, an advisory body to the Belgian Federal Government.