Practice areas
Frederic Debusseré is specialised in the legal aspects of IT, software and e-business. He drafts various types of IT contracts, such as regarding the development, implementation and licensing of software, apps and technology, web and cloud services, etc. He also advises on compliance with e-business legal requirements. He further has a lot of expertise in litigation about failed complex IT and software projects.
He is also specialised in intellectual property law (IP), trade secrets and unfair competition. He advises companies on copyright, trademarks, patents, design rights, database rights, domain names and trade secrets. In this respect, he has extensive expertise in court litigation against or by (alleged) infringers, competitors and former employees. He has been accredited as an arbitrator for .be domain name disputes by the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation (CEPANI).
Frederic is also an expert in privacy and data protection law. He assists companies, organisations and governmental bodies in becoming compliant with EU and Belgian data protection law (GDPR) and information security law. He also provides GDPR services, such as GDPR awareness trainings, acting as Data Protection Officer, assisting with data breach notifications, assisting with investigations by data protection authorities, etc. He is also very experienced in conducting court proceedings regarding privacy and data protection law.
He also advises companies and organisations on compliance with EU and Belgian media and e-communications law.
Frederic also drafts and negotiates various commercial contracts, such as distribution, commercial agency, franchising, commercial partnerships, general sales and purchase conditions, confidentiality agreements, etc.
Academic activities and memberships
Frederic is a guest lecturer on IT & IP law at VIVES University of Applied Sciences in Kortrijk (Belgium). He has been a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT (ICRI) (currently the Centre for IT & IP Law) of the Law Faculty of the University of Leuven (Belgium).
He is member of the Editorial Board of het Tijdschrift Privacy & Persoonsgegevens (Privacy & Personal Data Journal), a Belgian legal journal on privacy and data protection law published by Politeia.
He is also a member of the following professional organisations:
- International Technology Law Association (iTechLaw)
- International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
- International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)
- International Literary and Artistic Association (ALAI)
- Benelux Association for Trademark and Design Law (BMM)
- Belgian Association of Copyright Law (BVA-ABA)
- Beltug
At Stanford University, he was a member of the Stanford Law & Technology Association, an editor of the Stanford Technology Law Review, an editor of the cyberlaw newsletter of the Stanford Centre for Internet and Society, and a legal researcher for NetDialogue.org, a website about international Net governance which was a joint research project of Stanford Law School and Harvard Law School.
Professional admissions
Frederic has been a member of the Dutch-Speaking Bar Association at the Brussels Bar since 2001.
Prior professional experience
Prior to joining Timelex in 2012, he worked 9 years as an IT, IP and privacy lawyer at the international law firm Stibbe in Brussels. In 2004, he was a lawyer in the Licensing Practice Group of the law firm Fenwick & West LLP in Silicon Valley (California, United States), which focuses on technology and life sciences companies.
Education
- Master in Intellectual Property Law, University of Leuven and University of Brussels (2009)
- Master of Laws (LL.M.), Stanford University (California, United States) (2004), with specialization in IT, intellectual property and data protection law
- Law degree, University of Leuven and Northwestern University (Chicago, United States) (2001)
