Trademarks – civil or criminal cases
The PRH processes matters pertaining to the validity of a specific trademark registration. In other cases – for example, if you want to prohibit others from using your trademark or want to claim damages – a court will hear the case.
The PRH cannot give an opinion on trademark disputes, infringements, the import or advertising of products, or any other judicial questions.
In trademark cases, the jurisdiction is divided between the Finnish Market Court and Helsinki District Court. The Finnish Market Court, which handles appeals against the PRH’s decisions, is a special court hearing industrial property rights cases in Finland.
Helsinki District Court has jurisdiction if the case involves an industrial property offence. In Finland, Helsinki District Court handles criminal cases involving industrial property rights or copyright (intellectual property rights).
Finnish Market Court
The Finnish Market Court handles appeals against the PRH’s decisions, such as decisions on refusal, opposition cases or dismissal.
The Finnish Market Court also has jurisdiction to deal with cases such as the revocation or invalidation of trademarks, damages for unauthorised use of trademarks, or cases referred to in the Finnish Unfair Business Practices Act.
Read more about the procedure on the Finnish Market Court website. Open link in a new tab
District Court
Helsinki District Court handles criminal intellectual property rights cases and has jurisdiction in cases involving industrial property offences or trademark violations.
Trademark violations occur when someone intentionally infringes the exclusive right to a national trademark or to an EU trademark.
Industrial property offences involve acts that cause substantial economic loss to the owner of the infringed exclusive right and infringe the exclusive right to a national trademark or to an EU trademark.
The district court does not rule on cases involving the revocation or invalidation of trademarks.
Read more about the procedure on the Helsinki District Court website. Open link in a new tab
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes allow parties to avoid intellectual property rights (IPR) litigation in the courts and reach an agreement with the help of a neutral third-party entity, typically with lower costs.
The main types of ADR processes are mediation and arbitration. Other ADR techniques are conciliation, expert determination or early neutral evaluation.
Read more about different types of ADR services:
EUIPO Mediation CenterOpen link in a new tab
EUIPO Brochure: ADR for Intellectual Property disputes (pdf, 749.9 kt)
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation CenterOpen link in a new tab
The Arbitration Institute of the Finland Chamber of CommerceOpen link in a new tab