People

UPC Representative and European & Belgian Patent Attorney
Founder of Altius De Clercq

Koen Vanhalst (PhD) is a Partner at De Clercq & Partners, European and Belgian Patent Attorney and a registered UPC Representative with broad experience in patent prosecution, opposition and appeal proceedings, litigation-related matters and strategic IP advisory work in the life sciences sector. He advises innovative companies on the development, protection and enforcement of patent portfolios. 

Koen holds a PhD in Biotechnology from Ghent University and combines strong academic credentials with in-depth institutional experience. Early in his career, he worked as an examiner at the European Patent Office in The Hague, where he was involved in search and substantive examination of patent applications in biotechnology and medical diagnostics. This role provided him with detailed insight into EPO practice and decision-making processes. He joined De Clercq & Partners in 2007 and qualified as a European Patent Attorney in 2009 and as a Belgian Patent Attorney in 2011. Koen became a partner in 2017.  

Koen’s technical expertise spans a wide range of life sciences and related technologies, including biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, chemistry, genome editing, pharmaceuticals, medical technologies, bioinformatics, agricultural and food technologies, and clean-tech. He is regularly involved in freedom-to-operate analyses, IP due diligence, portfolio structuring and long-term IP strategy for research-driven companies, investors and institutions. 

In addition to his client work, Koen is actively involved in academia and the broader IP community. He holds several professional mandates including as member of the AIPPI Standing Committee biotechnology, Belgian Full Member of the epi Biotech Committee and as an Advisory Council Member of VARIO, the Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation and enterprise. He is a guest lecturer at the university of Ghent on intellectual property law. His work is consistently recognised by leading international legal directories.