Working Group Proposes Changes To The Finnish Trdemark Act

As part of a larger strategy addressed by the Finnish Government to enhance the effective use of intellectual property in Finland, the Finnish Trademark Act (7/1964) (the "Trademark Act") was issued to be revised. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy appointed a working group on 28 March 2011 to assess necessary changes to the Trademark Act in order to bring it up to date. The working group gave its memorandum on the modernization of the Trademark Act in October 2012.

The working group considered that the most urgent need for update was associated with the case law of the European Court of Justice following the implementation of the Trademark Directive. Due to the lack of a particular provision on the limitation of the effects of a trade mark in relation to certain third party trademark use in accordance with honest business practices, the Finnish Supreme Court has been forced to directly apply EU-law in relation to the limitations set out in Article 6 of the