US law firm Howrey has added a trio of senior lawyers from NautaDutilh to its Brussels IP practice.

Benoît Strowel, a life sciences IP lawyer, Maarten Meulenbelt, who specializes in regulatory issues and litigation in the pharmaceutical industry as well as EU procurement law, and Fabienne Brison, a professor at VUB and KUB universities and a media and entertainment lawyer, have all joined the US firm.

Strowel and Meulenbelt join as full equity partners at the firm while Brison joins as counsel.

Carl De Meyer, head of Howrey's Brussels IP practice, said: "If you look at it from a business perspective, it's a perfect match. The practice has now added strength in areas we did not cover before. Benoît is a pre-eminent lawyer in Brussels for life sciences, which we now have. He has also been representing a sizeable number of clients that are already represented by our firm. We did not offer in-house pharmaceutical law until Maarten joined and we have now expanded into media and entertainment law with Fabienne."

In Brussels, Howrey's IP practice now has eight lawyers, but De Meyer said the firm had plans to add several associates and additional support staff in the near future.

NautaDutilh chairman Marc Blom told MIP that on a personal level, it was a pity the lawyers were leaving, but he wished them well for the future.

No decision has yet been taken as to who will replace Benoît Strowel as head of IP in Brussels. NautaDutilh is in talks with clients of Strowel, Meulenbelt and Brison to determine whether they will stay with the Dutch firm or follow the three to Howrey.

The US firm's Brussels hiring spree comes less than 18 months after De Meyer joined Howrey's from Linklaters and the firm launched an IP practice in Paris. "It's no secret that we want to expand in Europe," said De Meyer, who told MIP that the European arm has ambitions to match – or surpass – those of its US offices. On June 30, however, London IP partner Isabel Davies left the firm after just over three years with Howrey.