Our team

Since 1981, KOB has ensured an adequate protection of intellectual property against infringement in Belgium as well as abroad.

 

Our team consists of experienced engineers, legal experts and paralegals who continuously keep their knowhow up to date and who are officially recognised at a Belgian, Benelux and European level so that your invention, trademark or design is in safe hands.

PATENT TEAM

Frans Ostyn, ing

Manager | Belgian & European patent attorney

Frans has been with KOB since 1989. He is a Belgian and European patent attorney specialized in electricity, mechanics and technology of the textile sector.

 

Qualifications

  • Industrial Engineer, Hogeschool Gent, 1986
  • Belgian patent attorney, 1995
  • European patent attorney, 2000
  • Certified as a patent expert with the French ‘Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI)’, 2003
  • Bachelor in Law, Antwerp University, 2012

 

Key competences

  • Examination and assessment of the feasibility of patent protection for inventions and conducting exploratory patent search within a particular subject area (‘patent landscaping’)
  • Examination and assessment of the freedom to operate of technical developments vis-à-vis existing patent rights and giving advice on the possibilities to avoid patent infringement
  • Drafting and filing of national, European and international patent applications and defending the inventions during the granting procedure and in case the validity of the patent right is contested later on
  • Conducting opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO), including oral proceedings before the Opposition Division of the EPO in Munich and The Hague
  • Advising in case of infringement of a patent right and giving notice of default to infringers
  • Advising and drawing up reports as a patent expert in disputes and legal proceedings, where appropriate in close collaboration with specialized lawyers
  • Appointments as a legal expert before the Courts of Ghent and Antwerp

 

 Languages                                             

  • Dutch
  • English
  • French
  • German (basic)

 

  Other activities

  • Member of the Belgian Council for Intellectual Property, industrial property department, since 2015
  • Lectures on “patent rights and patent search” as a guest speaker before Industrial Engineering students at the ‘Hogeschool West-Vlaanderen – HOWEST’ in Kortrijk (2003-2005 and on a yearly basis since 2011)
Frans Ostyn, ing

Kristof Chielens, ing.

Belgian & European patent attorney

Kristof has been with KOB since 2002. He is a Belgian and European patent attorney specialized in chemical industry, food industry, mechanical engineering and technology of the textile sector

 

 Qualifications

  • Industrial Engineer, PIH Kortrijk, 1999
  • Belgian patent attorney, 2006
  • European patent attorney, 2012

 

Key competences

  • Examination and assessment of the feasibility of patent protection for new technical developments and conducting exploratory patent research within a particular subject area (‘patent landscaping’)
  • Examination and assessment of the freedom to operate of technical developments vis-à-vis existing patent rights and giving advice on the possibilities to avoid patent infringement
  • Drafting and filing of national, European and international patent applications and defending the inventions during the granting procedure and in case the validity of the patent right is contested later on
  • Conducting opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO), including oral defence before the Opposition Division of the EPO in Munich and The Hague
  • Advising in case of infringement of a patent right and giving notice of default to infringers
  • Advising and drawing up reports as a patent expert in disputes and legal proceedings, where appropriate in close collaboration with specialized lawyers

 

Languages                       

  • Dutch
  • English
  • French
Kristof Chielens, ing.

Veerle Hostens, ir.

Belgian & European patent attorney

After her studies, Veerle conducted a research project with ILVO (Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research). She has been with KOB since 2006. She is a Belgian and European patent attorney specialized in mechanics and electromechanical engineering.

 

Qualifications

  • Electromechanical  Engineer, option control engineering and automation, UGent, 2003
  • Belgian patent attorney, 2010
  • European patent attorney, 2011
  • ‘Introduction to law for legal experts’, UGent, 2016
  • Certified as a patent expert with the French ‘Institut National de la Propriété  Industrielle (INPI)’, 2017
  • CEIPI course on Patent Litigation in Europe (D.U. Contentieux de Brevets en Europe), Université de Strasbourg, 2017  

 

 

Key competences

  • Examination and assessment of the feasibility of patent protection for inventions and conducting exploratory patent search within a particular subject area (‘patent landscaping’)
  • Examination and assessment of the freedom to operate of technical developments vis-à-vis existing patent rights and giving advice on the possibilities to avoid patent infringement
  • Drafting and filing of national, European and international patent applications and defending the inventions during the granting procedure and in case the validity of the patent right is contested later on
  • Conducting opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO)
  • Giving advice in case of infringement of a patent right and giving notice of default to infringers
  • Giving advice and drawing up reports as a patent expert in disputes and legal proceedings, where appropriate in close collaboration with specialized lawyers
  • Appointment as a legal expert before the Court of Ghent

 

Language                    

  • Dutch
  • English
  • French
  • German (basic)
  • Spanish (notions)

 

 Other activities

  • Member of EPI (European Patent Institute)
  • Internship, from 10 through 28 September 2012, at the technical court of appeal 3.2.0.4. with the European Patent Office in Munich

 

Veerle Hostens, ir.

TRADEMARK & DESIGN TEAM

Trui Castelein

Manager | European Trademark & Design Attorney | Master in Law

Trui holds a law degree from the Catholic University of Leuven. She was an intern at the Bruges and the Kortrijk bar and she joined KOB in 1987, where she is responsible for the trademark and design department. Trui manages the trademark and design portfolios of small, medium-sized and large-scale enterprises.

 

Qualifications

  • Master in Law, Leuven University, 1985
  • BMM Certified Trademark Attorney ( Benelux)
  • Certified European Trademark and Design Attorney

 

Key competences

  • Giving advice on the registration of trademarks and designs, as well as working out strategies for the best possible protection of our client’s intellectual property.
  • Drawing up lists of goods and services, filing of trademarks/designs.
  • Conducting and analysing searches prior to the trademark registration
  • Design searches
  • Providing legal advice relating to intellectual property
  • Conducting opposition proceedings before the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) and the Office for Harmonization of the European Market
  • Giving advice in case of infringements of trademarks / designs / copyright / domain names and giving notice of default to infringers

 

Language                    

  • Dutch
  • English
  • French

 

Other activities

  • Member of BMM (Benelux Association for Trademark and Designs) and ECTA (European Communities Trade Mark Association)
  • Participating in various international congresses relating to trademark and design rights

 

Trui Castelein

Anne-Sophie Maes

Benelux Trademark & Design Attorney | Master in Law

Anne-Sophie has been with KOB since 2018. She studied law and specializes in trademarks, copyright and design rights.

 

Qualifications

  • Master in law, Leuven University, 2014 

Key competences

  • Giving advice on the registration of trademarks and designs, as well as working out strategies for the best possible protection of our client’s intellectual property.
  • Drawing up lists of goods and services, filing of trademarks/designs.
  • Conducting and analysing feasibility studies prior to the trademark registration
  • Design searches
  • Providing legal advice relating to intellectual property
  • Conducting opposition proceedings before the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) 
  • Giving advice in case of infringements of trademarks/designs/copyright/domain names and giving notice of default to infringers

 

Language                      

  • Dutch
  • English
  • French 

 

Anne-Sophie Maes

Marie-Paule Ryckoort

Paralegal

Marie-Paule has been with KOB since May 1985, where she started out as a member of the administrative staff, both in the trademarks & design department as the patent department. Her mother tongue is Dutch and she also speaks and writes French and English fluently.

Since 1995, she has been active in the trademarks & design department. She provides administrative support in the treatment of our trademark and design files, from the filing until the registration. She has regular contacts with national and international authorities as well as trademark attorneys from all over the world.

In addition, Marie-Paule especially handles all administration and the monitoring relating to the maintenance of the trademark and design registrations, as well as the renewal of our clients’ trademark surveillances.

Marie-Paule Ryckoort