FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Rainer Hilli, Mikael Segercrantz, Johanna Lilja and Johanna Flythström, Roschier
1.10 Post-Grant Proceedings Available to Owners of Intellectual Property Rights The granted patent claims can be restricted pro- vided that the amended claims have support in the patent application as filed, and provided that the scope of protection is not expanded. A request for restriction of claims can be filed with the PRO. However, if an invalidation action is pending, the restriction of claims shall be filed with the court handling the invalidation action.
It is also possible to initiate non-infringement actions, even if a non-infringement action is pending. A third party also has the possibility to claim prior use or a compulsory licence. 2.3 Courts With Jurisdiction The first-instance court for IP matters is the Market Court located in Helsinki. Judgments from the Market Court can be appealed to the Supreme Court, subject to the Supreme Court granting permission to appeal. This permission is granted in situations where the matter is of legal precedence value. In practice, this means that permission to leave is rarely granted. The Unified Patent Court (UPC) commenced operations from June 2023 and has a Local Divi- sion in Helsinki, which has already heard its first case. The court languages are English, Finnish or Swedish. In addition to applying in Finland, the Agreement of the Unified Patent Court is in force in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithu- ania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Por- tugal, Slovenia and Sweden. The decisions of the Local Division can be appealed to the UPC Court of Appeal located in Luxembourg. 2.4 Specialised Bodies/Organisations for the Resolution of Disputes The Market Court is a specialised IP court. The UPC is a pan-European court specialised in pat- ent disputes. 2.5 Prerequisites to Filing a Lawsuit There are no formal requirements for a patent- holder filing an infringement or declaratory law- suit in Finland. It is recommendable for members of the Finnish Bar not to initiate lawsuits with - out sending a warning letter first, unless there is great urgency. A licensee should inform the patent-holder prior to initiating a lawsuit. When
2. Initiating a Lawsuit 2.1 Actions Available Against Infringement
The technical IP rights-holder may initiate vari- ous types of action against an alleged infringer. The rights-holder can apply for an interim injunc- tion or seek interim relief, such as seizure of evi- dence, as preliminary actions. Such actions are followed by main infringement actions claiming injunctions and damages. It is also possible to file declaratory actions – eg, requesting the court to declare that a patent or a utility model is infringed. 2.2 Third-Party Remedies to Remove the Effects of Intellectual Property Third parties who wish to remove the effects of the technical IP right may, as a defence, com- mence opposition action against the validity of the patent, provided that the term for opposi- tions has not expired. As a defence in patent or utility model infringe- ment actions, the defendant may initiate a revo- cation action to invalidate the patent or utility model.
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