Corporate news
17.07.2024
17 July 2024 marks exactly ten years since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was brought down over Ukraine.

NautaDutilh partner John Allen and his family were on board the flight and were killed in the tragedy. This year, the commemoration of the disaster coincides with NautaDutilh's 300th anniversary. In memory of John, NautaDutilh marks this sad anniversary by establishing the John J. Allen Thesis Award. Talented Dutch master students, with an interest in intellectual property law and writing a master thesis that relates to a classic intellectual property law topic can apply for the John J. Allen Thesis Award.

About John Allen
John Allen was born in Great Britain and moved to the Netherlands at a young age. After studying law in Rotterdam, he began his career as a lawyer at NautaDutilh in 1996. He specialised in intellectual property Law, particularly patent law. In 2007, John Allen became a partner. Besides his love for (the further development of) intellectual property law, John Allen loved playing the guitar and was a passionate football player. John was a passionate, ambitious and creative colleague, who to this day is missed by many in the office.

John had a profound love for Intellectual Property law. Through his dedication and passion he made significant contributions to our practice.
Jeroen Boelens, head of our Dutch IP team

About the Thesis Award
Inspired by John Allen's many talents, the John J. Allen Thesis Award honours students who have been able to reflect the versatility, complexity and innovativeness of intellectual property law in their master thesis. In addition to an in-depth analysis of a topic within intellectual property law, we are looking for topics that are approached with creativity and original insights and are also practically applicable.

The winner of the John J. Allen Thesis Award will receive EUR 2.500, a certificate and a lunch with our IP team at our Amsterdam office.

John was a wonderful colleague and a great lawyer. This Thesis Award honours his legacy. In the year in which we also celebrate our firm’s 300-year anniversary, we aim to inspire the next generation to pursue excellence in Intellectual Property law, just like John did.
Lieke van der Velden, managing partner of our firm

Conditions and deadlines
Students writing a master thesis in the field of intellectual property law is eligible for the John J. Allen Thesis Award, provided they meet the following conditions:

  • The student is enrolled at a Dutch university in the 2023-2024 academic year.
  • The student writes a master thesis in the 2023-2024 academic year, which relates to a classic Intellectual Property law topic.
  • The student completes the master thesis, including final assessment by the university, within the 2023-2024 academic year, i.e. no later than 31 August 2024.
  • The student expresses interest in the John J. Allen Thesis Award before 15 October 2024 by sending the assessed master thesis to NautaDutilh, which you can submit here.

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