PMC is one of FICPI’s most vibrant and influential committees, dedicated to advancing the management and development of IP firms around the world.
We look forward to the next phase as Sini-Maaria joins forces with President Anne Lévy and Vice President Vikrant Rana in leading initiatives that strengthen IP attorney firms in private practice — making them stronger, more future-proof, and more efficient.
Congratulations, Sini-Maaria, on this remarkable achievement and recognition of your leadership in the international IP community!
The Lexology Index: IP 2025 (formerly known as Who’s Who Legal) results are out, and we’re thrilled to see Boco IP’s experts once again recognised among the top professionals in Finland. A big thank you to our clients and peers for the recognition — and congratulations to our team for the outstanding work you do every day! 💙
⭐ Lexology Index Thought Leaders: Jonna Sahlin (IP – Patent Agents & Attorneys)
We’re proud to see our commitment to innovation, collaboration, and excellence in IP law reflected in these rankings.
Boco IP, one of Finland’s oldest and most respected IP firms, has been providing tailored intellectual property solutions since 1928. Jonna’s and Karri’s achievements reflect Boco IP’s ongoing commitment to excellence and expertise in IP management.
What is Lexology Index?
The Lexology Index: IP (formerly Who’s Who Legal: IP) is an in-depth guide to the global intellectual property legal market. Each year, it recognises the world’s leading patent, trademark, and copyright lawyers who stand out for their excellence in both contentious and transactional matters — covering a wide range of industries and specialisms.
The Index also highlights top patent and trademark agents and attorneys for their strong expertise in preparing, filing, and prosecuting applications.
The Lexology Index bases its results on a comprehensive and balanced research methodology. The process combines qualitative insights — including first-hand feedback and professional experience of working with nominees — with quantitative analysis drawn from extensive datasets built over 25 years of market experience.
Recommendations and feedback are gathered from corporate counsel, clients, and leading private practitioners. This information is then verified through data-driven analysis to ensure an objective and reliable outcome, identifying the practitioners who truly excel in their fields.
This robust research framework helps companies and referring law firms around the world find the right external counsel or expert for their intellectual property matters.
The Rising Stars list highlights some of the best up-and-coming intellectual property practitioners who have already demonstrated outstanding expertise, commitment, and impact in the IP field. This recognition is not only a personal achievement for Suvi, Tomi, and Jerry, but also reflects the strong capabilities of the entire Boco IP team.
We warmly congratulate Suvi, Tomi, and Jerry on this well-deserved acknowledgement and thank our clients for their continued trust and collaboration.
Boco IP is proud to celebrate the achievement of our colleague Anastasiia Kravtcova, who has successfully passed the European Qualifying Examination (EQE) on her very first attempt. This remarkable accomplishment means that Anastasiia is now officially recognized as a European Patent Attorney.
Passing the EQE is a milestone that requires dedication, discipline, and extensive expertise in European patent law and practice. Anastasiia’s success reflects not only her exceptional skills and perseverance but also her commitment to providing high-quality service to our clients.
During her preparation, Anastasiia received valuable guidance from her colleague Thomas Carlsson, whose training and support highlight the strong in-house expertise and mentoring culture we have at Boco IP.
We at Boco IP are proud to have Anastasiia as part of our team and look forward to her continued success in her career as a European Patent Attorney. She is ready to serve our clients especially in the fields of medical devices; microsystems, sensing and actuation technology; electronics; as well as diverse consumer products.
The prestigious Financial Times ranking Europe’s Leading Patent Law Firms was published on June 12. We are proud to announce that Boco IP has been listed for the first time ever, marking a significant milestone in our journey and a testament to the trust our clients place in us.
This recognition highlights the expertise and dedication of our team in providing high-quality patent law services across Europe. We are honored to be included among the leading firms in the field.
Now that my heart rate has finally slowed down a bit from all the networking and the jetlag from the long travel is slowly fading away, it’s a good time to wrap up the key takeaways from the INTA (International Trademark Association) 2025 annual conference, hosted this year in San Diego.
The roots of the annual trademark professionals’ meeting date back all the way to the 19th century so it’s safe to say it has cemented its status as the yearly place to be for anybody working in the trademark sector. Naturally, the infamous covid-years took a toll on this event, as well, but at least now the glory days are back since this year, the conference gathered around 10 000 participants from all around the world. Just from this number, it should be clear that we are not talking about any small closed-circle happening, either, but rather about a unique once-in-a-year chance to meet colleagues from all around the world in one place. As trademarking practices are generally growing more and more international each year, such a chance shouldn’t be taken for granted.
“Well, what are the benefits for travelling to the other side of the world and is it worth it?”- you might ask. To answer this, I’ve listed a few main takeaways from my perspective:
Firstly, it has to be said that not all participants are alike, and agendas differ for different companies depending on where their focus of business lies. For some, the majority of work comes from bigger national clients who operate quite locally, so the agenda for a meeting like this might be to meet with direct representatives of the clients whereas for more internationally focused companies the agenda often revolves more around meeting foreign representatives from different IPR-agencies, making new connections or strengthening the existing ones.
The case for Boco is closer to the latter one and our main focus, for example, has been on networking – ensuring that we truly know the people we work with and that we have the necessary network around the world to meet our clients’ diverse needs. Especially in modern day, it can be difficult to distinguish “fakes” from genuine professionals as especially with the help of modern AI-tools, anybody can quite easily craft believable websites and appear quite differently from reality. This also demonstrates well how strong brands are needed by everyone.
Secondly, conferences such as this are also great opportunities to spot new business opportunities. Even though quite many IPR-related companies offer somewhat similar services, there are those who are constantly innovating when it comes to for example packaging services and coming up with new innovative ways of helping clients. The yearly conference is thus also a great opportunity to keep track of useful tools and services that are available worldwide.
All in all, the INTA 2025 annual meeting was once again filled with meaningful encounters, new insights, and a renewed sense of global community within the trademark field. While the days were often long and filled with thousands of walked steps, the value of these in-person moments—whether scheduled meetings or spontaneous encounters —can’t be overstated. The conference served as a great reminder of how much the human side of this profession still matters, even in a world that keeps digitalizing faster and faster every day.
The IAM Patent 1000 annually evaluates firms and practitioners through in-depth client interviews, peer feedback, and independent research, then ranks recommendations in Gold, Silver, and Bronze classification.
IAM annually highlights standout professionals within each firm using Gold‑Silver‑Bronze classification: Gold for elite leaders, Silver for strong performers, and Bronze for notable contributors.
An impressive nine of our professionals are listed this year:
Karri Leskinen
Jonna Sahlin
Jaana Hämäläinen
Thomas Carlsson
Marja Liisa Autti
Christian Westerholm
Tomi Salter
Sini-Maaria Mikkilä
Nina Virolainen, in the next generation list
First row from left to right: Christian Westerholm, Tomi Salter, Sini-Maaria Mikkilä, Thomas Carlsson, Marja Liisa Autti
Second row from left to right: Jaana Hämäläinen, Jonna Sahlin, Nina Virolainen and Karri Leskinen
For details on the IAM Patent 1000 2025 Finland rankings, visit IAM’s country listing at:
Boco IP proudly announces our remarkable achievements in the IP STARS 2025 rankings. Our firm has secured one firm-level ranking and five individual rankings on a prestigious platform, across intellectual property, which affirms its status as one of the IPR leaders in the Finnish legal market.
“Being recognized in the IP Stars rankings is a testament to Boco IP’s unwavering commitment to excellence in intellectual property. This achievement reflects not only our deep expertise across a broad spectrum of IP specialisms—from patents and trademarks to strategic IP portfolio management—but also our dedication to delivering innovative, client-focused solutions. We are proud of our team’s exceptional work and grateful for the trust our clients have in us.” says Karri Leskinen, CEO of Boco IP
Alongside Boco IP’s recognition as a Top Tier firm, Peter Åkerlund, Karri Leskinen, Jonna Sahlin, Christian Westerholm, and Jaana Hämäläinen were individually ranked as IP Stars 2025.
What changed: The Guidelines now reflect the change introduced on 1 April 2024, which provides a 30% fee reduction for certain categories of applicants – specifically micro-entities, including: • Natural persons • Non-profit organisations • Universities • Public research organisations
This reduction applies to most fees in the patent granting process, including filing, search, examination, designation, grant, and renewal fees for the 3rd and 4th years. The Guidelines now explicitly cover the requirements for fee reductions, as well as the consequences of non-compliance with eligibility criteria. 🔗 Ref: GL A‑X, 9.4
💡 Why it matters: This change makes the European patent system more accessible to small-scale innovators and public research institutions, reducing cost barriers at critical early stages of innovation.
✅ What to watch out for or do differently: ✔ Make sure that the applicant has not filed more than five EP applications in the last five years. ✔ The fee reduction must be requested at the time of payment, and the applicant must be the sole applicant at that moment. ✔ Ineligible declarations may lead to loss of rights—double-check applicants status before claiming the reduction.
The EPO has clarified that parties and their representatives remain fully responsible for the content of patent applications and submissions—even if these were prepared with the help of AI tools. 🔗 Ref: GL Foreword, section 5
The updated Guidelines reaffirm that AI and machine learning (ML) inventions are not excluded from patentability simply because they involve computational models or algorithms. Specifically, if a claim related AI or ML is directed to a method involving the use of technical means or to a device, its subject-matter has technical character and is not excluded from patentability under Art. 52(2) or (3) EPC. In such cases, the computational models and algorithms contribute to the technical character of the invention if they contribute to a technical solution to a technical problem e.g. by being applied in a field of technology and/or by being adapted to a specific technical implementation. 🔗 Ref: GL GII, 3.3.1
💡 Why it matters: Applicants using AI tools must ensure full EPC compliance, regardless of how content is generated. For patenting AI/ML inventions, technical application and implementation is key to overcoming exclusion risks.
✅ What to watch out for or do differently: ✔ Ensure AI-generated content is fully reviewed and aligned with EPC standards. ✔ Don’t treat AI-related inventions as “automatically excluded” — they can be patentable if framed correctly.
