Denis Fosselard
Denis is a partner and head of the Antitrust, Regulation and Foreign Investment department in Brussels. Denis is a dual qualified lawyer (Rome and Brussels Bar) and speaks fluent Italian, French and English. His practice focuses on all aspects on EU antitrust law and he has 20 years' experience in advising leading European corporates in relation to behavioural and merger control cases. He also has significant experience in assisting companies in State aid investigations.
Denis regularly represents clients before both the European Commission and national competition authorities in Italy, Belgium, and so on, as well as the EU General Court and Court of Justice in antitrust and other Community law proceedings.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualifications
- LL.M. in European Law - (1992)
- J.D. cum laude - (1991)
Education
- University of Bruges, "College of Europe" (1992)
- University of Brussels, "University Louvain-la-Neuve" (1991)
2 Contributions by Denis Fosselard
CHECKLISTS
EU R&D Block Exemption Regulation 2023 (Reg 2023/1066): Drafting Checklist for R&D Agreements—scope, conditions, market share thresholds, hardcore/excluded restrictions, duration, withdrawal, and transition period
R&D agreements—drafting for the EU R&D BER 2023—checklist
This Checklist outlines the key issues to address when preparing new Research and Development (R&D) agreements, or revising current R&D arrangements, to determine whether they fall within the EU R&D BER 2023 (Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1066 on the application of Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to specific categories of research and development agreements). It is not a detailed manual on the EU R&D BER 2023; rather, it is a practical tool for commercial lawyers aiming to confirm that an R&D agreement sits within the EU R&D BER 2023 and the accompanying Horizontal Guidelines.
Introduction to the EU R&D BER 2023
Any arrangement that impacts trade or restricts competition in the EU may fall under the ban on anti‑competitive agreements in Article 101(1) TFEU. That said, an agreement will not be prohibited if it:
meets the conditions for exemption under Article 101(3) TFEU, or
benefits from a relevant block exemption
R&D agreements are arrangements whereby two or more parties agree to conduct research jointly and/or collectively exploit the results of that research...
EU Law
CHECKLISTS
R&D agreements: IP and competition law drafting checklist covering scope of licence, ownership and exploitation of results, infringement management, warranties, indemnities, confidentiality and compliance with R&D block exemptions
Using this Checklist
This Checklist concentrates on the IP elements of R&D agreements and pinpoints the principal provisions commonly found in such contracts. It serves as a list of points to address when drafting, reviewing or negotiating these agreements. It also touches on central competition law issues. Nevertheless, a case-by-case analysis is required to confirm that an agreement’s IP clauses align with competition rules, notably the bans on anti-competitive agreements in Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 (CA 1998).
On 1 June 2023, the European Commission adopted the EU Research & Developments Block Exemption, Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1066 (EU R&D BER), together with the related Horizontal Guidelines. The EU R&D BER took effect on 1 July 2023 and will lapse on 30 June 2035. On 5 December 2022, the UK government placed before Parliament the Competition Act 1998 (Research and Development Agreements Block Exemption) Order 2022 (UK R&D BEO), SI 2022/1271. The UK R&D BEO superseded the UK Retained R&D BER on 1 January 2023 and will end on 31 December 2035. It is a tool for drafting agreements...
IP
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