Martine de Koning

Fashion & Retail / Brexit / Franchise, Distribution, Agency / Dutch and European Competition Law / Litigation & Arbitration / Commercial Contracts / International Trade Unions & Treaties / Abuse of dominance / Selective and Exclusive distribution / Consumer Law / Omnichannel & Geoblocking / Licensing and transfer of technology / Internet Sales (platform) restrictions / Loyalty Programs / Logistics, transportation & warehousing / Product compliance & labelling / Follow-on litigation / Import and export regulations / Mediation.

Martine combines in depth knowledge of EU and competition law with a deep understanding of commerce and trade. She is praised for her ‘sharp strategic insight, knowledge and creativity in providing solutions’. She handles litigation in a ‘smart, assertive and effective’ manner.

Martine leads cases on abuse of dominance, vertical restraints and transfer of technology. Martine advises and handles disputes on tying, pricing, rebates, trademark and patent licensing and know how. With her lifelong focus on the fashion and retail sector she acts for her clients on internet sales restrictions, third party platform restrictions, geoblocking, dynamic pricing, omnichannel (seamless marketplace), e-commerce, inventory sharing, dual distribution, horizontal and vertical data sharing, loyalty programs and big data.

She structures complex international cooperation such as joint ventures, outsourcing and vertical (channel) agreements. Martine is an ‘outstanding knowledgeable authority on strategic competition law relating to franchising. She represents domestic franchisers in their international expansions plans and also assists foreign clients with establishing a presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa’. Martine is a ‘shrewd contract drafter and negotiator’. She handles sales, manufacturing, procurement, logistics, transportation, warehousing, joint ventures, outsourcing and other domestic and international commercial contracts and related disputes. She also practices in customs and trade, and product safety and compliance. Martine’s interests include international trade unions and treaties (EU, WTO, ASEAN, APEC, NAFTA, Caricom) and exports regulations and sanctions.

The Legal 500 EMEA 2020 - Industry Focus: Retail - Tier 1

The Kennedy Van der Laan practice fields 'one of the leading teams in the Netherlands'. Martine de Koning heads up the group and, alongside her EU competition expertise, she is considered 'one of the best franchise lawyers'. Associate partner Bart-Adriaan de Ruijter handles a range of transactions, contentious matters and Brexit-related issues for retail clients, while senior associate Jelle Blom focuses on commercial and international trade matters. Acting for household-name clients, the team handles domestic and cross-border matters including joint ventures, distribution and licence agreements, competition and anti-trust work, and real estate mandates alongside the related litigation and arbitration proceedings.

Leading individuals

Martine de Koning

Testimonials

‘Martine de Koning is one of the best franchise lawyers worldwide. She combines civil and consumer law, competition law and trade mark law in a unique and excellent way.’

‘We have worked closely with Martine de Koning, Jelle Blom and Renske Sinke. Between them they share excellent knowledge of the legal issues that are relevant when working in retail and they know how to “translate” this knowledge to make it work on a practical level.’

Chambers Global 2020 - Franchising - Global Wide

"Martine de Koning is based in Amsterdam and is very active in the European franchise market. Clients say: "She is a very energetic and professional lawyer. She is very pragmatic and at the same time goes deep into legal issues." Other sources describe her as "very sharp, intelligent and very well informed.""

Chambers Europe 2020 - EU and Competition Law

Martine de Koning enters the rankings on the back of positive assessments from clients, who describe her as "very well connected" and "very strategic." She is particularly active for clients from the retail and fashion industries, advising on vertical restraints, as well as franchise and distribution agreements.

Who's Who Legal - Thought Leaders Global Elite 2020 - Franchise

WWL says:
'' Martine de Koning is a “very active” franchise lawyer with “exceptional legal knowledge”. She has extensive experience of structuring complex matters including joint ventures.''

Read the full recommendation at Who's Who Legal.

Who’s Who Legal – Thought Leaders Global Elite 2019 - Franchise

Legal Who’s Who previous stated: "The 'outstanding' Martine de Koning is an exceptionally knowledgeable authority on strategic competition law relating to franchising. She represents domestic franchisors in their international expansion plans and also assists foreign clients with establishing a presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa."

Who’s Who Legal – Thought Leaders Global Elite 2019 - Franchise

Martine stands out for her “quick, professional and straightforward advice”. She has an excellent reputation among peers and clients who praise her technical legal knowledge.

The Legal 500 EMEA 2019 - EU and Competition

Kennedy Van der Laan 's team 'works efficiently and is focused on the bigger picture'. It has notable strength handling competition matters in the banking and finance, retail and healthcare sectors. Martine de Koning, who is 'very dynamic', and senior associate Martijn van Bemmel are names to note.

The Legal 500 EMEA 2019 - Industry focus: Retail

The Kennedy Van der Laan practice 'provides creative solutions, combining expertise in different areas such as IP, distribution, data protection and licensing and also stands out at managing complex projects' and it specifically benefits clients with 'significant expertise in the retail industry'. Martijn van Bemmel and Jelle Blom are 'outstanding' while Martine de Koning is viewed as 'a top lawyer who perfectly knows the retail industry'. Nike, Converse, VodafoneZiggo and Elecosoft UK are among its client list. Of late the team has handled matters including a complex distribution dispute, franchising, and online retailing issues. It also advised Panda Sporthallen Exploitatie in a Court of Appeal case in which it claimed compensation for the early termination of a fitness club franchise format. Counsel Bart-Adriaan de Ruijter and senior associate Isabel van Tuyll van Serooskerken are other team members of note.

Who's Who Legal 2018

“Martine de Koning stands out for her "quick, professional and straightforward advice". She has an excellent reputation among peers and clients who praise her technical legal knowledge.”

The Legal 500 EMEA 2018 - Retail

"Best known for franchising, distribution and commercial contracts, Kennedy Van der Laan’s practice has cross-border capabilities, and is ‘particularly knowledgeable about e-commerce’. Group head Martine de Koning ‘combines great commercial, legal and competition law knowledge’. Ahold Delhaize is a client."

The Legal 500 EMEA 2018 - EU and Competition - Ranked

"Martine de Koning is a name to note."

The Legal 500 EMEA 2017 - Retail - Ranked

"Commercial and competition specialist Martine de Koning leads Kennedy Van der Laan’s practice; she is particularly strong in cross-border franchising, distribution, procurement and commercial contracts. Recent work includes representing Albert Heijn in proceedings against Pollemans regarding the latter’s desired implementation of an age-verification system. The department advised Nike Europe on various contentious and non-contentious matters."

Who's Who Legal 2017 - Franchise

"Kennedy Van der Laan is home to the "outstanding" Martine de Koning, an exceptionally knowledgeable authority on strategic competition law relating to franchising. She represents domestic franchisers in their international expansion plans and also assists foreign clients in establishing a presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa."

Who's Who Legal 2015 - Franchise

"At Kennedy Van der Laan, Martine de Koning ranks highly in the Netherlands. She is described as "a very professional hands-on lawyer with shrewd understanding of franchise agreements", according to peers."

Monique van Diessen, Nike Europe

"We highly recommend Martine de Koning, first and foremost because of her knowledge and creativity in providing solutions and strategic thinking."

Bill Berner, General Counsel Nike EMEA

"Martine de Koning has been Nike’s Account Manager at Kennedy van der Laan since 2000. Over the years, Martine handled strategically important litigation for us such as international commercial disputes and competition law cases before the relevant authorities. She has a clear vision and takes the lead in a smart and assertive manner with an eye to effective communication with all stakeholders involved. Martine offers high service levels and quickly understands the business interests at stake. Martine handled in a pragmatic way many franchise, distribution, agency and procurement cases over the years. She became involved early on in the legal support of the Nike stores project, including localisation and implementation of contracts in the EMEA region. Martine was a key player in the creation of the Alliance for Nike, an innovative concept which allows Nike to work with selected firms in a number of European countries, under the leadership and coordination by Kennedy van der Laan, creating savings and efficiencies and driving convergence."

• Managing the global alliance of independent firm across jurisdictions for a global sports brand.
• Represented the European branch of a global sports brand in vital Dutch parallel proceedings against a German retailer, concerning EU competition law and to which extent retailers can be included/excluded as business partners.
• Designed a tailored litigation strategy for a global sports brand to establish the best forum to litigate on the validity under EU competition law of restrictions imposed in its selective distribution policy.
• Representing a global sports brand with the complex process of exclusive distribution contract terminations.
• Supported a European social enterprise with a dispute regarding the termination of an exclusive distribution agreement. Subsequently drafted contracts for and assisted in the roll-out of a new selective distribution system that includes resellers of promotional gifts, and concept stores which helps in monitoring and limiting the exposure of the enterprise.