Hannes Snellman's Intellectual Property practice is one of the leading practices in the Finnish market. Our business-oriented IP team has vast experience in all aspects of intellectual property covering copyright, patents and utility models, designs, trademarks and domain names, as well as trade secrets. We deliver efficient and pragmatic execution of assignments in matters ranging from trademark filings to the most demanding and complex IP-related agreements and disputes.

The importance of intellectual property is inevitably increasing. With our clients’ business in focus, we assist in transforming intellectual capital in the form of an idea into an intellectual property right in order to secure intellectual property assets. Having the privilege to co-operate with several leading firms in their fields, we have gained an extensive experience and understanding in several sectors, such as Life Sciences, food and beverage, fashion, retail, software, telecommunications, the automotive industry, industrial equipment and solutions, media, entertainment, and sports.

As intellectual property is often the most valuable asset, and in order to maximise the value and goodwill of intellectual property in the era of digitalisation, it is important to have a clear vision and strategy. Our IP Commercial team provides our clients with strategic IP advice on how to protect, manage, market, license, and commercialise their intellectual property, as well as how to monetise said key assets in transactions and at every stage of their life cycle. Our IP Litigation team frequently acts as an IP sounding board to assess the issue at hand and to create tactics and strategies on how to resolve the issue. Furthermore, in a digitalised world, our clients need global strategic assistance and advice. In order to provide our clients with international and seamless high-quality legal services, we have created excellent relationships with leading law firms throughout the globe to ensure that such services are available at once wherever needed.

Our clients' intellectual property is what matters to us. Our IP Litigation team understands the need to retain the freedom to operate and obtain the best possible outcome under the circumstances of each case. In order to achieve the business goals of our clients, our seasoned and business-oriented litigators suggest litigation and settlement strategies that may consist, for example, of obtaining a fast interim injunction or other relief, settlement negotiations to resolve the case out of court and before trial, or creative but thorough tactics for litigation or arbitration.

In each case, we form a dedicated team of experts to correspond to the type and extent of the case and work closely with our Technology, Dispute Resolution, and Competition & Regulatory as well as Public Procurement practices. We represent our clients in Finnish authorities and courts as well as in the European Union Intellectual Property Office, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). With regard to arbitration, we represent our clients in international arbitration institutes, such as the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, in addition to Finnish and Swedish arbitration institutes.

Our IP Litigation team frequently acts, for example in:

• Patent litigation before the UPC – our team represented the client in the first ever oral hearing before the Helsinki Local Division of the UPC
• Patent litigation in many different fields, such as different technologies and Life Sciences
• Trade secret litigation
• Trademark and domain name litigation also covering anti-counterfeiting and unfair business practices
• Copyright and database disputes often relating to software, digital rights, media, or entertainment
• Complex contractual issues relating to intellectual property

We understand the importance and value of intellectual property, which is inevitably increasing. More than ever, intellectual property is worth fighting for.

We advise our clients in all kinds of matters relating to life sciences, including groundbreaking and complex regulatory assignments that require an innovative approach and a broad knowledge of the Life Sciences sector. Our team regularly assists clients in contractual arrangements that are on the forefront of the current practice in the Nordic countries and that require close co-operation with the public procurement experts of our Public Procurement practice.

Both national and international clients routinely turn to us for advice in relation to intellectual property enforcement actions, compliance issues, as well as disputes regarding ethical codes of conduct, both within the pharmaceutical sector and in relation to medical devices and technologies.

Our team advises on several different types of contractual matters, such as R&D, licensing, clinical trials, and different kinds of co-operation models. Our IP Litigation team assists and represents our life sciences clients in disputes and our Marketing, Media, and Online Business team advises clients on marketing, regulatory, and product liability issues.

Our specialists have a hard time understanding why all lawyers are not into media and marketing law – it is so much fun! Advising on legal issues relating to marketing campaigns on- and offline, sales promotions and consumer competitions, as well as on various matters relating to social media, online and traditional media, and the related contractual and regulatory issues, is a part of our everyday business. We also handle consumer complaints and provide regulatory advice relating to marketing and consumer law. We assist our clients in proceedings with the local authorities and, if needed, participate in proceedings before the local courts.

We analyse the situation and, where necessary, take measures against unfair business practices by our clients' competitors and assist our clients in questions relating to packaging and labelling requirements, customer data, environmental and health claims, as well as product liability and recalls.

Parties

Sampo plc and Topdanmark A/S

Transaction

Sampo plc's recommended public exchange offer for the shares in Topdanmark A/S

Deal Value

DKK 33 billion

Role

Counsel to Sampo plc

Parties

Cargotec Corporation and Kalmar Corporation

Transaction

Cargotec’s partial demerger and separation of Kalmar

Deal Value

Approx. EUR 2.0 billion (illustrative carve-out sales)

Role

Counsel to Cargotec Corporation and Kalmar Corporation

Hannes Snellman successfully defended Continental Automotive GmbH (“Continental”) in an action brought by Nokia Technologies Oy (“Nokia”) concerning the right to claim priority for a patent. The Market Court held that the matter did not concern the registration or validity of a patent. The Market Court also held that Nokia lacked declaratory interest. Consequently, the Market Court found that it lacked jurisdiction and dismissed the action without considering the merits as requested by Continental.

The Market Court ordered Nokia to compensate EUR 500,000 with legal interest to Continental for the legal costs incurred.

The decision is not final.

Parties

Accel-KKR, Aico Group, Juuri Partners

Transaction

Accel-KKR’s majority equity investment in Aico Group

Deal Value

Value not public

Role

Counsel to Accel-KKR, a global technology-focused investment firm

Hannes Snellman, together with Hogan Lovells and Gleiss Lutz, successfully represented Supponor entities in the Helsinki Local Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in a case concerning a digital overlay technology. As requested by the defendants, the court dismissed the patent holder’s preliminary injunction application and main action due to lack of jurisdiction, as the asserted patent had initially been opted-out from the UPC’s jurisdiction, and its subsequent attempted opt-out withdrawal was deemed ineffective under Art. 83 of the UPC Agreement due to pending national proceedings. This was the first oral hearing and first decision by the Helsinki Local Division of the UPC since the launch of the UPC on 1 June 2023

Hannes Snellman represented Finnish Red Cross First Aid in various trademark disputes before the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. We represented Finnish Red Cross First Aid in several trademark invalidation and revocations proceedings. One of the cases were ruled in favour of our client and the invalidation actions were dismissed. Two other cases were settled out of court and the adverse parties agreed to stop using infringing and misleading marks in their marketing and one adverse party agreed to cancel their trademark registration

Counsel to Anora, a leading alcoholic beverage brand company operating in wine and spirits markets in the Nordic and Baltic countries, in a dispute before the Market Court against Valvira, the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, regarding Anora Group’s right to disclose information on its key assets, i.e., key brands.

Counsel a public company in a copyright dispute before the Market Court and the Supreme Court concerning copyright and limitations to the exclusive rights of the copyright holder set forth in the Copyright Act.

Counsel to a Nordic group in a patent infringement and invalidation proceedings before the Market Court. The infringement case concerned both the direct infringement and doctrine of equivalents 

Counsel to an international luxury brand in non-cancellation proceedings. The case was ruled in our client’s favour and the adverse party’s trademark was cancelled.

Counsel to a multinational technology company and its local distributor in patent infringement and invalidation proceedings before the Market Court. The cases were settled out of court.

Counsel to a movie producer of TV series and feature films regarding international distribution of an animated feature film. The film was initially released in the Nordics.

Counsel to Beneq, a leading developer and manufacturer of atomic layer disposition (ALD) technology and provider of R&D services in restructuring the group’s intellectual property holding to correspond to the requirements of the group’s business.

Parties:

Sega Europe Limited and SEGA Corporation (Buyers) Rovio Entertainment Corporation (Target)

Transaction:

Counsel to Sega Europe Limited and SEGA Corporation in the recommended public cash tender offer for all shares and options in Rovio Entertainment Corporation.

Deal value: 

Approximately EUR 706 million

Role:

Counsel to Sega Europe Limited and SEGA Corporation

Counsel to a major professional sports league in its trademark matters in Finland.

Counsel to a Finnish company in television programme cooperation related agreements.

Counsel to Red Cross First Aid in relation to several trademark cases as well as agreement update project.

Counsel to an energy industry company in all their data privacy matters.

Counsel in a comprehensive data protection audit.

Assessed the whistleblowing scheme of a multinational client.

Counsel to international client in copyright and music licensing matters.

Counsel to a distributor of a multinational medical device manufacturer in damages proceedings based on the Finnish Unfair Business Practices Act before the Market Court. The claimant right to claim damages was challenged, and the Market Court exceptionally rendered an interim decision allowing the defendant to apply for a leave to appeal from the Supreme Court. The case was settled out of court prior to the Supreme Court rendered its decision.

Parties:

Sitowise (buyer), Bitcomp Oy (target)

Transaction:

Counsel to Sitowise in its acquisition of Bitcomp Oy

Deal Value:

Value not public

Role:

Counsel to Sitowise

Parties

MEKO (buyer), Koivunen (target)

Transaction

Counsel to MEKO in its acquisition of Koivunen, the provider of automotive spare parts and related services.

Deal Value

EUR 122 Million

Role

Counsel to MEKO

Parties:

Ahlström Capital BV and Nidoco AB (buyers), Ahlstrom-Munksjö (seller), Decor Solutions business area (target)

Transaction:

The buying consortium comprising Ahlström Capital BV and Nidoco AB, in the investment in the majority share of Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s Decor Solutions business area.

Deal Value:

Value not public

Role:

Counsel to the buying consortium (Ahlström Capital BV and Nidoco AB)

Parties

Paulig Group (seller), Valio (buyer), Gold&Green brand, intellectual property and R&D function (target)

Transaction

The divestment of Paulig’s Gold&Green brand, intellectual property and R&D function to Valio

Deal Value

Value not public

Role

Counsel to Paulig Group

Counsel to a Nordic technology company in their consumer law and contractual matters.

Counsel to a Finnish food subscription company with its project for updating the general terms and marketing policy.

Parties 

Enersense International Oyj, Megatuuli Oy

Transaction 

Enersense International Oyj, a provider of zero-emission energy solutions, has signed an agreement on acquiring shares of the onshore wind farm developer Megatuuli Oy.

Deal Value 

Role

Counsel to Enersense International

Counsel to Sanasto in disputes relating to the compensation paid for Finnish public literary lending. The Helsinki District Court ruled the cases in favour of our client and dismissed the cases.  The Helsinki Court of Appeals did not change the ruling of the Helsinki District Court.

Parties 

Virala Acquisition Company Plc, Purmo Group Ltd

Transaction 

Virala Acquisition Company Plc's merger with Purmo Group Ltd.

Deal Value 

EUR 685 million

Role

Counsel to Virala Acquisition Company Plc

Parties

PPG Industries, Inc. (Bidder), Tikkurila Oyj (Target)

Transaction

Recommended public cash tender offer for all of the shares in Tikkurila by PPG Industries, Inc.

Deal Value

EUR 1.5 billion

Role

Counsel to Tikkurila Oyj

Counsel to Finnish Bar Association in a dispute concerning the name of the association of other legal professionals before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found the name to be misleading and infringing and cancelled the registration of the name.

Counsel to a distributor of a multinational medical device manufacturer in a dispute regarding alleged misuse of trade secrets based on the Finnish Unfair Business Practices Act before the Market Court

Counsel to a multinational pharmaceutical company in preliminary injunction proceedings concerning biosimilars before the Market Court.

Counsel to Oy Santa Claus Ltd in their international agency arrangement.

Counsel to Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac in a dispute concerning unauthorised use of geographical indication before the Helsinki District Court. The dispute was settled on terms favourable to our client.

Counsel to an entertainment company in licensing TV Series internationally to several distributors.

Parties

Oriola Oyj and Kesko Oyj

Transaction

A 50/50 percent joint venture to establish a chain of health, beauty and wellbeing stores across Finland, with the plan to expand the business to include pharmaceuticals if the legislation is amended

Deal Value

Value not public

Role

Counsel to Oriola

Counsel to a Finnish public company in arbitration regarding a complex contractual software application licensing dispute. The arbitral award was rendered on terms favorable to our client. 

Counsel to a Finnish public company in a domain name dispute before the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. The case was settled on terms favorable to our client and the disputed domain name was transferred to our client.

Counsel to a Finnish public company in an unfair business practices dispute before the Market Court. The adverse party’s claim regarding interim injunction was rejected and the case was settled on terms favorable to our client.

Counsel to multiple companies in the consumer electronics and telecommunications sectors on regulatory and product compliance matters.

• Ranked Tier 1

“Hannes Snellman's lawyers have very valuable specific knowledge.”

• "Hannes Snellman's lawyers have very valuable specific knowledge."
• "Panu Siitonen is an excellent patent litigator."

• "They are extremely nice people who are easy to work with. They have strong English language skills, and a great ability to handle the applicable law in a practical way."

• Recommended individuals: Sarita Schröder, Vilhelm Schröder and Panu Siitonen

• Ranked Tier 1 in Finland

• "Service minded and personable."

• "The Hannes Snellman IP (& Tech) team can handle a wide range of matters from traditional problems to very current and new aspects of the law."

• "In particular, I like their expertise in retail and e-commerce/digitalisation matters."

• "As a client or colleague you can rest assured that you get the right associate resourcing and that the matter will be handled by the right person. It also seems that the associates are very well supervised and led by their partners."

• "Hannes Snellman has a very impressive all-round team that assists an impressive portfolio of Media clients with complex issues including IP and commercial."

• "The lawyers of Hannes Snellman have speedy response times, and the comprehensive content of their responses is second to none."
• "They have very good industry knowledge and excellent problem-solving capabilities."
• "The team of Hannes Snellman is very proactive, available and responsive to our needs.
• "Hannes Snellman responds quickly to our questions, and they have provided solutions to our very demanding questions."

• "The lawyers are very experienced and business-minded, which shows in the quality of their advice."
• "The lawyers are quick and communication with the client is great."
• "The lawyers have shown real interest to understand our business, our goals and the logics of our business areas."

• "Wide and deep experience with a proven concept – what more can you say?"
  "I have had the pleasure of working with Sarita Schröder, who is very talented and has a keen awareness for the business realities underpinning the legal considerations. It results in relevant, on-time and actionable advice, whether the issue is a regulatory or a contentious one. When push comes to shove, you will want Sarita in your corner."

• 'Panu Siitonen is experienced handling a range of intellectual property mandates, including patent and trade mark infringements, regulatory issues and marketing law matters. A client praises him as "very collaborative and very responsive."'

• ‘Panu Siitonen is knowledgeable and practical in his advice. He is a great support in all IP matters ranging from patent strategies to business integrity matters.’
• ‘They are very professional and knowledgeable and customer-oriented. Very good response times and ability to give brief and to-the-point advice. Particularly strong in patent and trade secret issues.’
• ‘Panu Siitonen, partner and IPR team leader. Very good presentation and communication skills – helps me as a non-IPR expert to understand and grasp complex IPR issues. Keeps me as a client up to speed and responds within minutes.’

• 'According to clients, Panu Siitonen "handles cases skilfully." He has experience in a variety of intellectual property mandates, including patent and trade mark infringements, regulatory issues and marketing law matters.'

• “If you are ever in a pinch, Hannes Snellman has you covered. The cooperation is smooth, effective and transparent, with each party working together to achieve a mutual goal. The end result is always a stellar deal at the end of a tricky negotiation period.” A premier transactions outfit in the Nordics, the ensemble also puts up a tough fight in litigation. At the helm of the IP division is Panu Siitonen, who leads the charge in precedent-setting cases. “A tremendous lawyer with the mindset of a businessman, his advice is extremely practical and always accurate. Panu is always on the ball and his proactive style puts clients at ease in the most testing of times.”

• 'Patent litigation is second to none.'

• 'An "efficient and business-minded team."'

• 'Clients recommend the firm for multi-jurisdictional matters and describe the service as "high quality."'

• 'Already an excellent choice on the Finnish market for IP-intensive transactional matters, “fabulous M&A house” Hannes Snellman makes the leap onto the litigation table this year based on its performance in high-profile battles for a market-leading telecoms names. “In possession of a sharp and flexible mind”, Panu Siitonen is a seasoned negotiator who also channels his commercial aptitude toward ironing out the rough patches in intricate licensing deals. Devotees hail him as “an accessible attorney, who always picks up the phone when we call. He is capable of presenting a case to the court in a convincing and pedagogic manner; he refrains from exaggeration, ensuring that his elegant arguments are based on a sound understanding of underlying legal concepts”'.

• 'The team is ‘excellent, responsive and very accommodating’'.

• 'Clients note that the lawyers “have a good understanding of the area,” adding that its “cross-border capabilities are well organised.”
• ‘Interviewees also say the team is “very good and skilful” and that there is “fast and open co-operation” within the department.'

• 'An interviewee says: "I love working with them because they always have very practical advice. I was impressed with the team at both senior and junior levels."'
• 'One source enthuses that the team "always has very practical advice and has a tendency to come up with very good approaches."'

• '"I was very satisfied with the whole service; the advice given and its quality, and the agreed schedules were met. I also appreciated the level of industry knowledge.", "The way the lawyers communicate is business-minded, with no legal jargon - they are very easy to work with."'

• 'Hannes Snellman is praised for its in-depth industry knowledge and quality of advice.'

• 'The team is known for particular strength on technology matters, advising financial institutions on outsourcing. "The lawyers have a business mindset and a deep knowledge of this area." "The team is practical, pragmatic and willing to learn."'

• ‘Hannes Snellman is praised for its ability to ‘achieve miracles in tight schedules.’

• ‘IP litigation head Panu Siitonen covers trade mark, copyright and patent disputes, with particular expertise in advising sports clients. Clients agree he is a 'very, very talented lawyer. He is hard-working and energetic.’’