Dirk Visser wins ‘Gouden Peer’ in intellectual property law
On 8 December, Dirk Visser was awarded a ‘Gouden Peer’ in intellectual property law by legal platform 'Mr.'. He received the prize after being nominated by 25 fellow experts.
In 2007, the platform for legal professionals Mr. launched the series of ‘Gouden Peer’ awards. The name given to the award, a ‘Gouden Peer’ (literally a golden pear), is a clever play on words. The word peer has two meanings in Dutch: it refers to the fruit, but also to peers or colleagues. Ferdinand Grapperhaus, former minister of Justice and Security and current Chair of the Board of Governors of Leiden University, was the first recipient of the award. Since then, many prominent legal experts in the Netherlands have been honoured to receive the award.
Visser, Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Leiden University and a lawyer at Visser Schaap & Kreijger, now joins previous winners of the prize, including Stefan Sagel (Professor of Labour Law, also at Leiden University). In his interview with Mr., he describes intellectual property law as a ‘nice’ field of law: 'There’s no real pain or sadness in it, and it’s rarely something to feel sorry about, unless someone ends up caught in a difficult personal situation.'
'Pracademic'
Visser combines his academic role as a professor at the faculty with his own law firm: 'From the start, I did both jobs fifty-fifty which is rare. It was a privilege for me to do it this way. So, I’m a pracademic: a practitioner as well as an academic, and I bring a wealth of experience to the classroom.'
Visser emphasises how much he enjoys teaching: 'In September, the elective course Copyright won the faculty teaching prize for the most valued course. Such a sign of appreciation from students means a lot to me. And I’m touched if a student makes the effort to thank me in person at the end of a lecture.'
Visser is a great advocate of online discussions on his field of expertise, including on LinkedIn: 'All legal developments in the IP field are first shared on LinkedIn, so it’s an important medium. I also post practice questions for exams on it every now and then, as I do in the WhatsApp group I have with my students.' According to Visser, these ongoing discussions about topical issues are an important aspect of the learning process: 'As far as I'm concerned, that's part of educational innovation, which I'm all in favour of.'
Primus inter pares
Unlike many other prizes, the ‘Gouden Peer’ is not awarded by an independent jury, but instead by peers or fellow lawyers. Each ‘Gouden Peer’ is awarded to the most outstanding lawyer in a particular field of law, chosen by a group of around 20 to 25 lawyers who are active in the same area of expertise. According to Mr., the recipient of the award can therefore rightly call himself primus inter pares.