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Consumer Products

As a player in the consumer products sector, you face a myriad of challenges such as globalisation and digitalisation, environmental and health concerns, supply chain management, consumer and media pressure, growing retailer buyer power, the rise of online selling and counterfeiting. All place new demands on your management and business strategy but also drive the need for legal advice. Our pan-European team is structured around the key sectors of consumer products including cosmetics, clothing, electronics, health & beauty, food & drink, retail, household equipment and manufacturing. Whether you are a supplier, investor, regulator or other stakeholder, we have consumer products experts to help, whatever your situation.

In order to give you the targeted legal advice your business needs, our teams have experts from every legal area affecting your sector. This means we can guide you on all legal and regulatory aspects - from the financing and acquisition of companies, through to antitrust and unfair competition law, media management, nutritional and health claims, advertising and marketing, strategies for the protection of intellectual property rights, data protection, outsourcing, distribution agreements, real estate transactions, product recalls and much more. Our experts will keep you abreast of the latest sector insight and developments, giving you a commercial, as well as a legal, edge.

"Deep sectorial knowledge, very solution-oriented, and a very responsive team."

Feedback from a client about the department - Legal 500, 2023

"Collaborative and reactive team."

Feedback from a client about the department - Legal 500, 2022

"The team has a very good knowledge of the business of their customers. They are very responsive and deliver excellent legal work."

Feedback from a client about the department - Legal 500, 2022

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01/05/2024
Flushed and failed: General Court shuts the lid on invalidity attack against...
In­tro­duc­tion­Earli­er this year, we reported on a Belgian court ruling relating to the validity and infringement of designs for cat litter trays (read about it here). This time, in a decision which will...
29/04/2024
Design decision on ‘Sole technical function’ packs a punch – The CJEU breaks...
SummaryIn a case which has been recognised as among the most impactful European design cases of the past year, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) has clarified the principles of ‘sole...
25/04/2024
Cheers! New EU rules to strengthen GI protection for wine, spirit drinks...
On 23 April 2024, a new EU regulation aimed at enhancing the protection of geographical indications (GIs) for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, and other quality schemes for agricultural...
09/04/2024
Designs practice update: EU Court of Justice upholds Advocate General’s...
BackgroundIn our previous article (here), we discussed the opinion of Advocate General Capeta in EUIPO v The KaiKai Company Jaeger Wichmann. That opinion was provided following an appeal against the General...
09/04/2024
The sum of parts: Registered design for segments of towers found valid...
BackgroundTA Towers ApS (“TA Towers”), a company based in Denmark, is the holder of the below registered Community design relating to goods for building materials, specifically, ‘building materials...
27/03/2024
Cannabis law and legislation in Belgium
Medical use In principle, the cultivation, import, sale and possession of (medicinal or recreational) cannabis is not allowed under Belgian law. An exception is made for the cultivation of hemp with a...
26/03/2024
EU Court ruling upholds invalidity action against PUMA shoe design
The EU General Court ruled on the invalidation of a community design by the EUIPO and an appeal against that decision (judgement of the General Court in Case T-647/22, Puma v EUIPO - Han­dels­maatschap­pij...
14/03/2024
“Pre-branded” spare parts: CJEU has its say in Audi trade mark case
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has given its ruling following a referral from the Regional Court of Warsaw, in a trade mark infringement claim brought by Audi (Audi AG v GQ, Case C-334/22)...
07/03/2024
Belgian Competition Authority publishes study on consumer goods price trends...
Since 2013, the Belgian Competition Authority (the "BCA") has been mandated with additional jurisdiction over competition and price trends.Book V of the Code of Economic Law provides for a system in which:the...
05/02/2024
A messy affair – IP law meets a cat litter tray in Belgian design court...
Introduction In recent weeks, the CMS Design team has been delving into pan-EU enforcement of Community design rights, as well as the scope of copyright “ori­gin­al­ity” under EU law. In a timely development...
19/01/2024
Greenwashing: Stricter EU rules on environmental marketing ban misleading...
On 17 January 2024, the European Parliament voted to adopt the Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (the ECGT Directive), which seeks to protect consumers from various misleading...
19/01/2024
CBAM: Just over a week to comply
As the deadline for the first Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) report approaches on January 31st, it is crucial for undertakings engaged in importing relevant goods into the European Union to...