BUSINESS BRIEF: FINLAND
Finnish brand owners and industry groups have established a very good working relationship with customs. Using customs and filing for a standing application is highly recommended. The local industry anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy groups also provide effective services and a good first point of contact for trademark owners.
What are the most common mistakes trademark owners make?
Trademark owners are still not active enough in monitoring the markets and intervening in the infringements.
Non-use of a mark and the subsequent risk of cancellation also cause problems. Trademark owners should make sure that their marks are used for all the goods and services they have been registered for. If an owner does not plan to use the mark himself, licensing the mark to a third party should be seriously considered.
Counterfeiting and online piracy Online piracy is the single biggest problem for the music and film industries in Finland. And with the new digital readers, book publishers are starting to feel the effects of online piracy of books and other print products.
Illegal P2P services remain the main concern for the entertainment industries, while for the brand owners, auction sites and illegal websites are the main channels for illegal products.
The Finnish Anti-Piracy Centre, representing the key entertainment industry associations, runs an effective campaign against online infringement. It is recommended that rights holders keep close contact and co-ordinate their efforts with the centre.
General Te Copyright Committee, appointed by the Ministry of Culture, issued its report in January
www.worldipreview.com
2012, recommending changes to the Finnish Copyright Act. Te main recommendations would extend the existing Extended Collective Licensing (ECL) provision to cover on-line uses of certain materials in broadcasters’ and newspaper publishers’ archives, and improve copyright right holders’ possibilities to obtain injunctions against on-line intermediaries, in line with article 8(3) of the EU copyright directive (29/2001).
Te ministry of Trade and Employment is currently preparing a wholesale review of the Finnish Trademark Act, to bring it uptodate and i.a. in line with the latest CJEU case law.
Te earlier initiative to move all civil IPR matters from the civil courts and the NBPR to the Market Court is still pending but has been delayed, allegedly by the of funding. Te earlier objective to have the move implemented by 2012 was not met and no new time frame has been announced. Te Market Court began operating on March 1, 2002. Te court currently has jurisdiction to hear antitrust cases and cases brought under the Unfair Business Practices Act.
Lauri Rechardt is a partner at Procopé & Hornborg. He may be reached at:
lauri.rechardt@
procope.fi
World Intellectual Property Review Annual 2012 121
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