Ashwin van Rooijen

Ashwin focuses on contentious antitrust matters – abuse of dominance and restrictive agreements – as well as regulation in the technology sector. He has represented clients such as Nokia, GE, Samsung, Epic Games, and Oracle.

Ashwin frequently acts for clients accused of abuse of dominance, having secured either wins (on six occasions, two of which after issuance of preliminary findings) or commitments (in two cases). He is equally active on the complainant side, having recently represented OLX on its successful abuse of dominance complaint against Meta, which resulted in the first ever European Commission antitrust fine for Meta. Ashwin also advises (prospective) gatekeepers as well as third parties on implications of the Digital Markets Act.

Ashwin’s practice covers key issues in technology markets, including: (i) standard essential patents, (ii) standard-setting agreements, (iii) refusal to supply and refusal to license, (iv) interoperability, (v) aftermarkets, (vi) tying, (vii) data, and (viii) vertical restraints in licensing and distribution agreements.

Ashwin previously worked as a software engineer in California and the Netherlands, and relies on his tech background to advise his clients and understand their business.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (LLM) 2005

University of California Berkeley (LLM in IP and Antitrust) 2007

University of Amsterdam (PhD in Software Interoperability, Copyright and Competition Law) 2009

Joined Clifford Chance 2009

Counsel since 2017

Partner since 2021