Pauline Kuipers

Netherlands

Bird & Bird · Pauline Kuipers is a partner in Bird & Bird's Netherlands office, based in The Hague, where she was one of its founding lawyers in 2001. Today, she co-leads the firm's International Competition Law Group and heads the Competition Group in the Netherlands, providing clients with wide-ranging expertise in EU & competition law, particularly in regulated sectors and on the interface between IP and competition law. She is also a member of the firm's ESG steering group. On the basis of her EU law expertise, Pauline advises many global companies on ESG regulatory developments, particularly CRSD and CSDDD, and helps them understand how these regulations affect their business and what it means in terms of compliance. In The Netherlands, she leads the team dealing with cartel procedures, abuse of dominance matters, and merger notifications to the Dutch competition authority and European Commission. The team also co-ordinates multi-jurisdictional merger filings and foreign investment screenings, and deals with private enforcement actions and regulation of network industries. Meanwhile, her expertise in IP law enables her to advise in matters at the convergence of competition law and intellectual property, such as licensing arrangements and other technology transfer agreements, standardisation discussions, 'refusal to licence' issues, FRAND licensing, and abuse of IP rights. In addition, Pauline's team advises on competition rules on undertakings granted special or exclusive rights by the state, including state aid and foreign subsidies.

Netherlands