European Patent Attorney Sini-Maaria Mikkilä has been appointed as the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Boco IP. Sini-Maaria has a long and esteemed career in the field of intellectual property, along with strong expertise in process development and quality management. She has successfully worked on numerous high-profile patent cases and provided guidance to a wide clientele in national and international patent matters. Her diverse skills and dedicated commitment to client success have established her as a trusted and respected expert in the field.
In addition to her role as a European Patent Attorney, Sini-Maaria will continue to serve as an integral part of both the business development team and the board of directors at Boco IP. Her previous experience at Nokia as a quality engineer and project manager provides valuable insights for developing Boco IP’s operations and identifying customer needs.
Sini-Maaria’s role as Chief Strategy Officer involves shaping and executing Boco IP’s strategic planning. Boco IP prides itself on delivering top-notch services with a positive atmosphere, and achieving excellence requires the best experts along with efficient and functional processes. As technology advances, it’s essential to recognize opportunities brought by artificial intelligence and other developments while staying true to the core of expertise-based operations. Together with the business development team, Sini-Maaria will identify new business opportunities and strengthen Boco IP’s leading position.
Boco IP is a premier company specializing in intellectual property, offering comprehensive services to clients nationally and internationally. The company’s mission is to assist clients in strategically and effectively protecting and leveraging their intellectual property. Sini-Maaria’s appointment as Chief Strategy Officer underscores Boco IP’s dedication to client success and advances the company’s vision of providing the best customer experience.
This achievement highlights our professionals’ exceptional dedication and expertise in the field of trademark and patent law. We are honored to be acknowledged by the publication and are proud to provide our clients with outstanding trademark and patent services.
This recognition serves as a testament to our commitment to excellence, innovative strategies, and client satisfaction. Our team of experienced trademark and patent professionals has consistently demonstrated their knowledge and skill in navigating complex trademark matters and protecting our clients’ valuable intellectual property assets.
We extend our gratitude to WIPR for this prestigious honor and to our clients for their trust and support. We remain steadfast in our mission to provide top-tier trademark and patent services and look forward to continuing to deliver exceptional results.
What is WIPR Leaders directory list?
“WIPR Leaders is a one-stop guide to the leading IP practitioners in the world. The handbook lists over 2,500 lawyers across patent, trademark, and copyright practices. Following an extensive nomination period, our research team vetted the nominated lawyers for suitability by exploring their work. This meant looking at practice history, industry expertise and notable cases, as well as any additional activities, such as writing and teaching responsibilities, which have allowed the lawyers to shape and influence other and future IP practitioners.”
We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded the prestigious “Patent Prosecution Firm of the Year” EMEA award in London. This recognition is a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, and client satisfaction in IP.
Boco IP one of the winners.
Karri Leskinen and Jonna Sahlin who were present in the award ceremony commented that “We are incredibly proud of our dedicated team of 35 highly skilled professionals who have consistently gone above and beyond to deliver exceptional results for our clients. Their expertise, diligence, and strategic approach have played a pivotal role in securing this esteemed honor.”
This achievement reaffirms our position as a leader in patent prosecution and highlights our ability to navigate complex IP landscapes, provide comprehensive solutions, and protect our clients’ intellectual property rights with the utmost diligence and effectiveness.
Karri and Jonna stated also that “we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our esteemed clients for their trust and unwavering support. It is their partnership and collaboration that has enabled us to achieve this milestone and reinforce our standing as a trusted advisor in the field of intellectual property.
We also extend our gratitude to the esteemed panel of judges and the Managing IP for recognizing our commitment to excellence and bestowing this prestigious honor upon us. This recognition serves as a motivation for us to continue raising the bar and delivering unparalleled service to our clients.”
Boco IP’s Chairman of the Board Mrs Jonna Sahlin and Boco IP’s Managing Director Mr Karri Leskinen were present at the gala.
We are thrilled to announce Boco IP’s Chairman of the Board, European Patent Attorney Jonna Sahlin has been named on the “Top 250 Women in IP” 2023 list by Managing Intellectual Property (MIP). This publication recognizes senior female IP practitioners in private practice who have performed exceptionally for their clients and firms in the past year and Jonna is one of only three practitioners to be recognized in Finland this year.
According to MIP’s IP stars: “the practitioners recognised in the “Top 250 Women in IP” publication are selected from MIP’s IP Stars list for the year. When deciding who to select for the Top 250 Women in IP publication, their research analysts took account of all the available research information, especially data from firm questionnaire and surveys, obtained for the IP STARS rankings and Managing IP Awards programme. ”
Boco IP is one of the oldest firms in Finland to specialize in the management of intellectual property. Since 1928, Boco IP has been assisting clients with intellectual property rights. With a team of experienced professionals and a global network of partners, Boco IP provides comprehensive IP solutions tailored to the clients’ unique needs.
We are thrilled to announce that Boco IP has been shortlisted for the prestigious “Top Intellectual Property Firm of the Year” award by Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) in their annual awards program. Boco IP was shortlisted in the patent prosecution and trademark prosecution categories (Finland).
MIP recognizes excellence in the IP industry and celebrates the achievements of outstanding firms and professionals. Being shortlisted for this esteemed award is a testament to Boco IP’s exceptional expertise, innovative approach, and commitment to delivering high-quality services to our clients.
This recognition reflects the dedication and hard work of our talented team of IP professionals who consistently strive for excellence in protecting and maximizing the value of our clients’ intellectual property assets. Our innovative strategies, client-centric approach, and successful track record in handling complex IP matters have contributed to our strong reputation in the industry.
The winners will be announced at the MIP Awards ceremony, which will take place on June 21st, London, UK. This event brings together industry leaders, legal professionals, and IP experts from around the world to celebrate the achievements of the most outstanding firms and individuals in the IP field.
We would like to extend our gratitude to our valued clients for their trust and support, as well as to our dedicated team whose expertise and hard work have made this recognition possible.
We look forward to the awards ceremony and the opportunity to connect with fellow professionals in the IP community. Our commitment to delivering exceptional IP services remains unwavering as we continue to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of intellectual property.
This achievement is a testament to our dedication, expertise, and commitment to providing exceptional services to our clients. There are only two firms in this Tier 1 2023 Trademark Prosecution category in Finland.
Our team of experienced patent and trademark attorneys has worked tirelessly to ensure that our customers receive the highest quality of legal representation in all aspects of intellectual property law. We take great pride in our ability to provide tailored solutions that meet the unique needs of each of our clients.
Managing Director Karri Leskinen commented that “Being recognized as a Tier 1 firm in this IP Star survey is a significant honor for us, and we are deeply grateful to our clients for their trust and support. We will continue to strive for excellence in everything we do and remain committed to delivering outstanding results for our clients. We want to thank our clients and devoted personnel for their continued support”.
World Trademark Review (WTR 1000) rankings for 2023 have just been published and there is a lot to celebrate as Boco IP is again ranked as one of the leading trademark firms in Finland.
Boco IP’s trademark practice and IP Lawyers are recognized in the 2023 ranking with the following words: “Tapping into its international network, Boco IP can solve all intellectual property issues, no matter where in the world the problem lies. The team are super organised, efficient and professional – they are simply irreplaceable.”
“Partners Peter Åkerlund, Elina Heikkilä and Laura Roselius offer A–Z IP assistance to their loyal clients. The team have filed impressive numbers of applications this year while also negotiating favourable agreements to protect IP rights. Heikkilä is “a great communicator and efficient in reacting to possible infringements of our marks; she provides detailed legal advice on how to react, so we can make the best decisions”. While Roselius earns enthusiastic praise for being “supportive at every stage of the process. She is a pleasure to work with, as she is responsive, pragmatic and clear cut in her legal advice.”
The results once again confirm Boco IP’s position as a high-quality expert in the trademark field.
World Trademark Review WTR is an independent publication in the Intellectual Property field that researches and ranks leading trademark professionals in over 80 jurisdictions.
Boco IP’s IP trademark professionals can be reached at the following addresses:
Elina Heikkilä IP Lawyer, Partner elina.heikkila@bocoip.com +358 9 6866 8415 LinkedIn
Jerry Härkönen IP Advisor, IP Lawyer jerry.harkonen@bocoip.com +358 9 6866 8433 LinkedIn
Mari Nieminen IP Legal Trainee mari.nieminen@bocoip.com +358 9 6866 8431 LinkedIn
Laura Roselius IP Lawyer, Partner laura.roselius@bocoip.com +358 9 6866 8456 LinkedIn
Peter Åkerlund IP Lawyer, Partner peter.akerlund@bocoip.com +358 9 6866 8413 LinkedIn
Both events attracted a large number of participants, including for example, entrepreneurs, investors, professionals from the technology sector, as well as a plethora of service providers from other fields. More specifically, both events attracted over 12 000 participants from different fields. While the actual “main Slush” concentrated generally on start-up entrepreneurship and its challenges, Web3’s main focus was to bring together the world’s most ambitious entrepreneurs and aficionados working on decentralized technologies. The event featured several discussion sessions, networking events as well as workshops concentrating on the latest developments and trends in the field.
The actual main Slush is nowadays such a well-known event, especially in the start-up field, that it does not really need further introduction. Last year’s exceptional circumstances have, however, hit especially the event sector so hard that it was extremely interesting to get to see how the circumstances have affected an event of such magnitude as Slush.
Just by walking in through the main doors of the venue, all uncertainties vanished at once. While walking down the main stairs leading to the actual event area, it became immediately clear that the event was still what it used to be, and attendees were rolling in in numbers even bigger than in previous years. Masses of different color hoodies were flowing on the floors of the exhibition centre like masses of water, and the highly appraised Slush volunteers were eagerly greeting participants and answering their practical questions. All that seemed to be remaining from the pandemic and resulting endless event cancellation notices were the hygiene reminder posters and rows of hand sanitizing stations.
Slush met the expectations also this year
As an event, this year’s Slush was largely following in the footsteps of previous iterations. Speakers chosen to get on the various different stages were extremely inspiring, presentations carefully structured and well executed, and participants from all around the world represented a very wide range of expertise. The venue itself was slightly more compact than last time, but yet, the event felt in no way like a “diluted” version of the previous years. As a service provider, and thus having the main task of contacting possible new sales leads, I found to my dismay, that the number of stands directed mainly at smaller startups was somewhat smaller, and the focus had clearly been shifted more onto the matchmaking side. However, as the whole event is tailor-made for mainly start-up entrepreneurs and investors, this is quite understandable, and I did not let it affect my own networking. The new focus mainly just meant that I had to alter my strategy for conversation openings by shifting them from the vicinity of the stands next to coffee machines, events-in-event such as pitching competitions and to the joint stands/show areas of bigger companies and start up ecosystems. Despite the above, striking up conversations was as easy as previously, and entrepreneurs were glad to shed light on their inventions and activities. To my pleasant surprise, I quickly noticed that the acronym “IPR” seemed to ring a bell in more conversations than last time. It could be that this is due to just better luck with selecting people to talk with, but I strongly believe that the more plausible explanation is the IPR-marketing, informing, and other educational activities that have been done in the field, at least in Finland within the past years. Unprotected brands were still discovered to some extent, but at least in the big picture, brand protection seemed to be on a very good level and even some fresher start-ups had handled at least the basic level of protection in time and properly. Even though the focus of the majority of the start-ups seemed to fall onto the field of software, where protection of innovations through, for example patents is generally not that popular, many entrepreneurs were proudly showcasing their patent portfolios, too.
Slush, generated art and artificial intelligence art – what does it mean?
The most important part of the event from an IPR perspective was generated art and AI art, which was the hot topic especially in the Web3-spinoff event. Generated art and AI art are forms of art that are created using artificial intelligence and algorithms. These forms of art are relatively new and have only recently begun to gain popularity, but they are quickly becoming an important and exciting area of the art world.
Generated art is a type of art that is created entirely by an algorithm or an AI system. This can include various art forms, from visual art and music to literature and performance art. Generated art is often created using complex algorithms that are designed to mimic the creative process of a human artist, and the resulting art is often highly unique and unpredictable.
AI art, on the other hand, is a type of art created with the help of artificial intelligence but still involves some level of human input. This can include art that is created by AI systems that are trained on large datasets of human-generated art or art that are created by humans using AI tools and algorithms to assist in the creative process. Both generated art and AI art are fascinating because they challenge our traditional understanding of what it means to be an artist. With these forms of art, the line between human creativity and machine intelligence is blurred, and the resulting art often has unique characteristics.
As AI and algorithms continue to advance, it is likely that generated art and AI art will become even more prevalent in the art world. For anyone interested in the intersection of art and technology, these forms of art are definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Overall, Slush WEB3 is an exciting and unique event that brings together some of the most innovative and ambitious minds in the world of decentralized technology.
Even though you wouldn’t be attending Slush for the main reason of searching, for example for investors to back up your start-up or for a partner to handle your prototyping needs, you’ll definitely walk away at least richer in inspiration. Being in the middle of so many innovators and ideas, it is extremely hard not to be inspired – no matter what your own field of expertise is.
Writers of the blog are Jerry Härkönen and Mari Nieminen. Jerry works as IP Advisor and IP Lawyer and Mari as IP Legal Trainee at Boco IP.
IAM Global Leaders list ranks the world’s top private patent practice experts. As per the IAM Global Leaders announcement “To be considered to be included in the guide, individuals must be ranked in the gold tier of the IAM Patent 1000 – the market-leading annual directory that identifies the top law and attorney firms and individuals in the world’s most significant patent jurisdictions.”
Chairman of the board and Partner Jonna Sahlin consults clients in the field of chemistry in prosecution, in oppositions as well as different kinds of IPR strategy matters. Her ability to provide solid, well-founded advice in combination with her collaboration skills are often complimented by her clients.
As a former Chairman of the Association of Finnish Patent Attorneys (2010-2013) Jonna has actively contributed to the patent field in Finland. She is a qualified European Patent Attorney and since 2017 council member of epi as well as member of epi’s Professional Conduct Committee. In 2020 Jonna was appointed as an External Expert member in the Finnish Market Court.
Jonna Sahlin
Karri Leskinen
Managing Director and Partner Karri Leskinen runs the company, but he also devotes great deal of his time to client work, especially opposition work and patent litigation cases as well as statements on patent rights in general. His deep knowledge in patent matters is highly appreciated, and clients turn to him for his perception of difficult patent law interpretation questions. Karri has a wide-ranging experience in working as a patent attorney and clients seek for his advises on IPR strategy issues, technology transfers and M&A cases, where IP issues are relevant. Karri is a qualified European Patent Attorney, and he also acts as an expert member of the Finnish Market Court (specialized IP Court).
The criteria for the list are that this small group of merited patent professional has expertise and experience related to creating, protecting, managing, transacting and enforcing critical patent rights and they are able to innovate, inspire and go above and beyond delivering value to clients.
European Patent Attorney and Partner Tomi Salter deals extensively with the protection of various technical solutions, in particular he works with patent prosecution of various machines and equipment, as well as inventions related to control thereof. In addition, he provides reports related to patentability of inventions and freedom to operate, as well as infringement and invalidity.
Jerry Härkönen, Trademark Rising Star 2022
IP Lawyer Jerry Härkönen is an EU Trademark and Design Attorney. He supports both Boco IP’s Sales and Marketing and IP Legal teams. He has experience from several IPR companies and I specializes in brand protection in a variety of ways. In addition, he is an active IPR-trainer and lecturer.
Tomi Salter and Jerry Härkönen Rising Stars in MIP IP Stars 2022.
Earlier we informed that four of our professionals were chosen for the IP Stars individual ranking list as follows:
Jonna Sahlin, Patent Star 2022, Top 250 Women in IP 2022
Chair of the Board, Partner, European Patent Attorney Jonna Sahlin assists in various matters related to intellectual property rights and strategy, especially in the fields of chemistry, process technology, medicine, and diagnostics. In addition to prosecution of applications, Jonna, drafts oppositions, freedom-to-operate analyses, and statements on the interpretation of patents. Since 2017, Jonna has represented Finland as a council member of the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (epi) and as a Finnish member of the epi’s Professional Conduct Committee (PCC).
Christian Westerholm, Patent star 2022
Partner, European Patent Attorney Christian Westerholm drafts patent applications and takes care of the prosecution of patent applications. He also handles opposition proceedings before the Finnish Patent Office and the European Patent Office and he has an extensive experience of oral proceedings at the European Patent Office. Christian handles utility model applications as well as design rights applications and prepares statements for various kind of IPR’s. He also has experience in IPR licensing negotiations and acquisitions.
Karri Leskinen, Patent Star 2022
Managing Director, Partner, European Patent Attorney Kari Leskinen works as both CEO and patent attorney. Karri is active in the design and implementation of clients’ IPR strategies. With regard to assignments, he has focused especially on the handling of opposition cases in Finland and at the European Patent Office. He acts as an expert in patent litigations, draft opinions and advises on patent law matters.
Peter Åkerlund, Trademark Star 2022
Partner, IP Lawyer Peter Åkerlund helps clients to create strategies for the protection of brands, designs and other intangible assets. Peter conducts risk analysis’ related to the use and registration of trademarks and handles trademark registration and design protection worldwide. He also advises on contractual matters related to Intellectual Property and acts as clients’ representative in negotiations, and deals with trademark and design infringements, prosecutes trademark oppositions and trademark and design cancellation procedures, and handles disputes related to domains.
More information about the results can be found here:
