Brigitte Spiegeler LL.M.
Founding partner of Heffels Spiegeler Attorneys-at-Law / artist graduated in fine art at the Royal Academy of Arts in the Hague
Brigitte is an attorney-at-law in The Netherlands and France. She gained extensive experience in legal services to companies, non-profit organizations and (foreign) governments. From 2002 to 2008 she worked with the Ministry of Economic Affairs as a senior policy advisor on Intellectual Property. In this work she was leading research projects on intellectual property and she did negotiations in a national, European and international context at organizations such as the European Council, the European Commission, the World Intellectual Property Organization and several diplomatic conferences. She was also responsible for legislation in the field of Intellectual Property. In 2008 she graduated successfully in fine arts at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague. With her art she has participated in many international exhibitions among which the Venice Biennial in 2017.
Brigitte is co-author of the Kluwer Lexplicatie volume ‘European and international trade mark law’ and ‘Enforcement of intellectual property rights for small and medium enterprises’, published by the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Brigitte is a member of the Dutch association for copyright and board member of the l’Association Henri Capitant. Additionally, she is a member of the Amicus Committee at the International Trademark Association and she is member of the Netherlands Board of Union-IP. She is a mediator at the Shanghai mediation center of the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC). In January 2020 she was appointed to the original Arbitration pool of CAfA, the Court for Arbitration of Art.
Brigitte is a member of the supervisory board of CultuurSchakel.
Brigitte’s eductional background includes:University of Amsterdam Dutch law and European Studies (1995); In 1992, she studied at the Université Pierre Mendès France Grenoble II, French law (1992); scholarship of the Deutsche Akademische Austausch Dienst (DAAD) to participate in Germany in an exchange at the University of Tübingen and at the High Court in Düsseldorf.
She speaks Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish.
Michiel Heffels LL.M.
attorney-at-law – partner
Michiel Heffels graduated in 1998 from the University of Amsterdam with the thesis ‘The Agreement between Galleries and Artists’ where the contract of assignment, agency, mediation agreement were central. After graduation he became an attorney-at-law specialising in intellectual property law at an internationally renowned law firm in Amsterdam until the end of 2002. Michiel worked for 12 years as a Senior Legal Counsel in the Corporate Legal & Regulatory department of telecommunications company Royal KPN where he was involved with matters concerning consumer law, administrative law, competition law, contract law, intellectual property rights, media law, ICT law, distribution and agency law. At KPN’s headquarters, he was responsible for the legal supervision of dozens of lawsuits in the area of among others misleading advertising, copyright and trademark related cases. He continued advising KPN as a Senior Legal Counsel when KPN launched its television-services in 2004 and continued to advise in this specific area of copyright- and medialaw until 2009. Until the end of 2014 he was responsible for advising the External Distribution departments of KPN Retail Corporate and KPN Retail Consumer and KPN Wholesale Mobile (E-Plus The Netherlands) on new agreements and developments in the field of resale, distribution and agency law.
Michiel Heffels is also active in the field of art and culture. He has been a member of the Supervisory Board of Droog Design and is still active as a board member of the Foundation for Modern Music Nijmegen and Gallery Marzee.
Michiel Heffels speaks Dutch, English and German.
e-mail Michiel Heffels
Ernst van Knobelsdorff LL.M.
attorney-at-law
Ernst van Knobelsdorff graduated in 2012 from the Leiden University with the thesis ‘The Parody in Trademark Law’, in which the Dutch trademark law has been compared with the Dutch copyright law and the German trademark law. During his study, Ernst did an internship at a law firm specialised in Intellectual Property Law. He has also completed the minor Business Administration.
After his graduation, Ernst started his career at a trademark office. Thereafter, he worked as a Legal Counsel at Dümmen Orange, an international leading breeding company in the floriculture industry. Ernst was responsible for all activities in the field of trademark law, plant breeders’ rights and patents. He was also involved with matters concerning commercial contracting. Furthermore, he successfully completed the Professional Education of Company Lawyers.
Ernst speaks Dutch, English and German.
Arianna Comin LL.M.
lawyer
Arianna is a French-Italian trainee lawyer at the Paris Bar School. She holds a double Bachelor’s degree in both Law and History of Art. She specialised in Cultural Heritage Law, Intellectual Property and New Technologies during the two years of her Master’s degree at the Sorbonne University. Prior to joining us, Arianna completed several internships in the intellectual property departments of international law firms, a luxury group and a publishing company.
Arianna speaks French, Italian and English.
Tanja Hupert LL.M.
lawyer
Tanja Hupert graduated from the University of Constance in 2019 with a degree in law, specialising in competition and intellectual property law. She is currently a legal trainee at the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe in Germany and is completing her final internship with us. During her legal traineeship, Tanja worked as a research assistant at the law firm SNP Schlawien in the area of intellectual property and IT law. Before Tanja joined us, she gained her first international experience during an internship abroad at a law firm in Mallorca. Tanja speaks German, English, French and Spanish.
Lynn van Lier
intern
Lynn is an international and European law student at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. During her study she has double specialised in European and commercial law, this year she has defended her thesis ‘Data as a Form of Market Power’ in which the coverage of European competition law concerning data-access and interoperability has been analysed, and she is currently completing her internship with us as the last phase of her study.
Lynn speaks Dutch and English, and she understands German and French.
Nicole Zeldenrust de Beaufort
Marketing manager and assistant trademark-attorney
Nicole Zeldenrust de Beaufort is French/ Dutch. She grew up in de Provence, South of France. Her parents were both artists. She has a BEd degree in French and Textile & Fashion and worked as Costumière for theatre and television for 5 years. Nicole furthermore worked as a French teacher during 14 years on a classical high school and at companies that wanted to do business in French speaking countries. She is specialised in Commercial French and “Cross Cultural training”. Within her own company, she gave for 5 years “Cooking lessons in French” to Diplomats for speaking skills practice. She lived and worked in Sweden for 7 years, the company that she had with her husband was specialised in building Ecological residential villa’s for Swedish families.
After returning to Holland in 2013 she worked in cooperation with the French Ministry of Agriculture for representing on Fairs and Festivals the best of French regional food, delicacies and wine/ beer producers outside France and all medallist at the “Concours Général Agricole”. She is specialised in French craft beers.
Nicole’s broad experience is a valuable background for her new challenge as an assistent trademark-attorney and marketing manager for Heffels Spiegeler Advocaten.
Nicole speaks French and Dutch (Native speaker), English and she understands Swedish and Spanish.
contact
HEFFELS SPIEGELER Attorneys-at-Law
Tournooiveld 4
2511 CX The Hague
The Netherlands
T +31 70 2170200
F +31 84 8823600
send us an email
www.spiegeler.com
Office Paris:
137 Rue de l’Université, 75007 Paris
T +33 (0)7 885 02086
Office Amsterdam:
Adm. De Ruyterweg 345 hs
1055 MA Amsterdam
T +31 (0)20 2170005
F +31 (0)84 8823600