Intellectual Property
The Intellectual Property (IP) Research Unit at CRIDS focuses on legal appropriation regimes, defined as the institutional frameworks that govern the control of resources within society, in relation to intangible assets. These legal structures affect the capacity of certain actors to appropriate immaterial resources through both practical and technical means.
The research agenda of the IP Unit primarily examines classical IP rights—copyright, patents, trademarks design and sui-generis right (such as the protection of databases)—which reinforce the holders’ factual position by granting them exclusive control over certain intangible assets. However, our exploration extends beyond these conventional IP rights to encompass additional legal frameworks. These frameworks either strengthen the position of rights holders by prohibiting certain forms of appropriation (such as unfair competition, trade secret protection, and personal data rights) or diminish it by imposing access rights in favour of third parties or society at large.
The rapid advance of technology—characterized by digitalization, datafication, enhanced computational capabilities, the rise of AI tools, or breakthroughs in genome editing—coupled with economic transformations such as the globalization of production and distribution, the platformization of the economy, and the emergence of digital goods, raises critical questions about the sustainability and responsiveness of our current legal system.
In this context, our primary research themes include: the regimes governing data appropriation and access; legal challenges posed by AI technologies (such as the use of protected content as input and the need for access/disclosure rights regarding AI models); contractual frameworks and their interplay with the legal appropriation regimes; the liabilities of online intermediaries; developments in the Domain Name System, questions related to the enforcement of appropriation regimes; web archiving; and competition issues stemming from standardization processes. Additionally, we investigate broader concerns, such as the impact of fundamental rights law on legal appropriation regimes, and the implications of internationalization efforts (including the establishment of the Unified Patent Court and Unified Patent within the EU).
The IP Research Unit engages in both fundamental and applied research within a multidisciplinary environment. We are part of the Namur Digital Institute (NaDI), which unites research centers at the University of Namur focused on digital innovation. We also collaborate with the "Vulnerabilities and Societies" (V&S) Research Center, which employs an interdisciplinary approach to explore the nexus between societal vulnerabilities and challenges.
Our team comprises academics, legal practitioners, and both junior and senior researchers who not only specialize in IP law but also possess practical experience and expertise in digital technologies. This enables the unit to be highly specialised on the interactions of these fields of IP law with these technologies.
Head of Unit
Members
- Chloé Antoine
- Alexandre Cruquenaire
- Jean-Benoît Hubin
- Manon Knockaert
- Elodie Lecroart
- Michèle Ledger
- Michael Lognoul
- Martin Rappe
- Zorana Rosic
Latest publications
W. VAN CAENEGEM, L. DESAUNETTES, Trade Secrets and Intellectual Property : Policy, Theory and Comparative Analysis, Alphen Aan Den Rijn, Kluwer Law international, 2025, 523 p.
B. MICHAUX, «Le nouveau droit des données non personnelles de l’Union européenne : de l’appropriation au partage.», I.C.I.P., 2024, pp. 573-596.
M. LEDGER, B. MICHAUX , « L’Union européenne et la circulation des données : vers un cadre normatif global ? », J.T., 2024, pp. 107-116.
B. MICHAUX , C. MICHAUX, « L’irréductible subjectivité de la réception des œuvres : perspectives croisées de droit, de philosophie de l’art et d’esthétique », R.I.E.J., 2023, n°90, pp. 81-107.
L.-A. DENIS, « Le droit d'auteur : un obstacle à l'archivage du web ?», R.D.T.I., 2022, n°87, pp. 5-28.
A. CRUQUENAIRE, « La cession des droits d'auteur, un plan sans accroc ?, note sous Cass. (1ste kamer), 18 juni 2020. D.H. en Dirk Heveraet Architect bvba t. Algemene Bouwonderneming Vlassak-Verhulst NV », A.M., 2022, pp. 52-62.
Key publications
A. CRUQUENAIRE, Le contentieux des nouveaux noms de domaine (new gTLDs), Waterloo, Kluwer, 2015, 168 p.
A. CRUQUENAIRE , A. DELFORGE, J.B. HUBIN, M. KNOCKAERT, B. MICHAUX, T. TOMBAL« Droit d'auteur et oeuvres générées par machine», L’intelligence artificielle et le droit, Collection du CRIDS, n° 41, Bruxelles, Larcier, 2017, pp. 189-240. (FREE PDF HERE)
B. MICHAUX, M. LOGNOUL, F. JACQUES, « Le droit d’auteur dans le marché numérique», Actualités en droit du numérique, Recyclage en droit, n° 2, Limal, Anthemis, 2019, pp. 7-52.
M. KNOCKAERT, « La réutilisation des informations du secteur public : l'open data et les organismes publics », J.T., 2018, pp. 613-621.
M. KNOCKAERT, T. TOMBAL, « Quels droits sur les données ? », Actualités en droit du numérique, Recyclage en droit, n° 2, Limal, Anthemis, 2019, pp. 53-97.
B. MICHAUX (co-author with M-C. JANSSENS, contributor), “Intellectual Property Rights, Copyright and Trademark Issues”, in Telecommunications, Broadcasting and the Internet-EU Competition Law and Regulation, Garzaniti and O’Reagan, London, Sweet & Maxwell, 4th ed., 2020, pp. 393-440
B. MICHAUX, « Implementation of directive 2001/29/EC in the member states of the European Union : Belgium», Copyright in the information society : a guide to national implementation of the European Directive, Cheltenham, Elgar, 2019, pp. 159-191
B. MICHAUX, « Diffusion du savoir : droit d’auteur et Internet », L'Europe des droits de l'homme à l'heure d'Internet, Bruxelles, Larcier, 2019, pp. 491-526.
