Digitalisation and internationalisation of IP right application procedures
Finland ranks high in patent statistics
Moreover, the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRO) received more than 1,700 applications for Finnish patents last year, roughly the same number as in recent years. The patent application process has been facilitated by the PRO’s new digital service.
UPC seen as a positive step
The effects of the unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) on patent filings in Finland remain to be seen. To anticipate the outcome, the Confederation of Finnish Industries conducted a study on that subject among those of its members that are actively filing patents. The final report of the findings was published in the spring.
According to the report, the unitary patent is seen mainly as a positive change to current patent alternatives, in particular among companies with strong presence in the international markets. Almost 60 percent of the participating companies believed that the unitary patent will, or is likely to, provide greater legal certainty and be more efficient than the current European patent. However, new threats related to the reform, the risk of increasing unintentional infringements and subsequent litigation were also acknowledged.
The UPC agreement needs to be ratified to become effective in Finland and that requires an act of parliament.
Full speed ahead on PPH
In the beginning of 2013, a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) agreement was signed with the Chinese registration office. The agreement enables Finnish patent applicants to ask for a fast-track patenting process in China provided the PRO has already found an equivalent application acceptable in Finland, and vice versa.
"Finnish border control is among the most effective in the EU. The new simplified procedure for destroying suspected infringing goods seized by Customs is likely to improve the process even further."
Fast-forward to spring 2014, when the PRO and 16 other national registration offices entered into a global PPH collaboration, which provides Finnish applicants with the possibility to apply for a faster patent process in the UK, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Portugal and at the Nordic Patent Institute. The PRO has already cooperated with the remaining registration offices located in the US, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Canada, Spain, Israel and Hungary. These individual PPH agreements will be replaced by the global PPH.
Finland one of six pilots for an online trademark application service
The PRO has been chosen as one of six pilots for an online application service, which is part of a larger collaboration project between the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) and national registration offices. According to the PRO’s 2013 annual report, 60 percent of all applications were filed online by the end of last year.
Positive results in the fight against counterfeiting
The recent agreement between China and the EU to intensify their customs cooperation is of utmost importance for the Finnish market. Counterfeiting and piracy is still a significant problem in Finland; last year, Finnish Customs confiscated more than 200,000 counterfeit products, of which the majority came from China.
It is nowadays typical in Finland that counterfeit products entering the country include, besides the ‘traditional’ counterfeit branded products, a variety of products that can pose a serious threat to health and safety. According to Finnish Customs, such goods include car parts, gas masks, electronics and plant protective agents. Counterfeit medicines also continue to be a problem. Most of the counterfeit goods entering Finland have been ordered online and arrive by post.
The good news is that Finnish border control is among the most effective in the EU. The new simplified procedure for destroying suspected infringing goods seized by Customs is likely to improve the process even further. The procedure was introduced in Finland by the EU regulation concerning customs enforcement of IP rights (608/2013) that came into force on January 1, 2014.
Hanna Nylund is an associate at Procopé & Hornborg. She can be contacted at: hanna.nylund@procope.fi
Davide Battistelli is an associate at Procopé & Hornborg. He can be contacted at: davide.battistelli@procope.fi
