IP Agreements(en) Archives - Castrén & Snellman

Valio – Global Brand Portfolio Management and IP Enforcement

We assist clients seeking growth through licensing, franchising and other distribution means.

Clients looking to grow through licensing, franchising and other distribution means come to us for our in-depth experience in drafting and negotiating manufacturing, licensing, franchising, merchandising, distribution, IP transfer, agency, R&D and other co-operation agreements.

Our experts are able to identify the most relevant issues in each agreement and have extensive experience from a range of IP-intensive industries enabling us to complete contract negotiations efficiently.

We also have extensive experience in IP issues related to corporate and financial transactions.

Latest references

ONSE sport drink – Dispute concerning alleged trademark infringement

We successfully represented Onses Finland Oy before the Finnish Market Court in an exceptionally extensive dispute concerning alleged trademark infringement and unfair business practice. Our client, Onses Finland Oy, is a Finnish sports drink company and the owner of the sports drink brand ONSE. In the spring of 2023, the Polish beverage company OSHEE Polska Sp. z o.o. filed legal action against our client, alleging that the ONSE trademarks and product packaging infringed the OSHEE trademarks. The plaintiff’s secondary claims concerned alleged slavish imitation of the OSHEE sports drink packaging and exploitation of the reputation of the plaintiff. The plaintiff based its suit on registered trademarks as well as allegedly established and reputed figurative and three-dimensional trademarks. The Market Court rejected all of the plaintiff’s claims. The Market Court held that the marks invoked in the suit were neither established nor marks with a reputation in Finland. As regards the registered trademarks, the Market Court found that there was no likelihood of confusion between the OSHEE and ONSE trademarks. As to the secondary claims, the Market Court held that the sports drink packaging used by the plaintiff was a normal beverage bottle, the design of which was partly determined by functional factors. The Market Court also found that there were several blue sports drinks available on the market and that the plaintiff’s product was not the first blue sports drink on the market. The plaintiff failed to show that its product packaging was original or well-known to the average consumer at the time of the launch of our client’s ONSE sports drink product, and the Market Court thus rejected the claims on slavish imitation and exploitation of reputation. The Market Court ordered the plaintiff to pay all of our client’s legal costs with statutory interest. The judgment (MAO:280/2024) is not final.

Solina group – Acquisition of premium culinary brands OSCAR and Puljonki

We acted as Solina group’s Finnish legal counsel in its acquisition of Nestlé Professional Food A/S and Puljonki Oy, which own the premium culinary brands OSCAR and Puljonki, from the Nestlé group. The transaction is expected to be finalised prior to Q2 of 2024. Solina is a leading company within the food ingredient solutions industry and is active in 19 countries across Europe and North America.

Oddlygood and Valio – Acquisition of Planti

We advised Valio and Oddlygood in their acquisition of the Nordic brand and business Planti. Through the acquisition, Oddlygood becomes the owner of the Planti products and brand, as well as related intellectual property rights. Oddlygood becomes the market leader in plant-based dairy alternative spoonable snacks in Sweden and dairy alternative cooking products in Finland. Simultaneously, Oddlygood’s majority owner Valio acquires Planti’s production in Turku, including the employees at the site. Until the acquisition, the Planti brand was part of the Norwegian Kavli Group.

Triton-backed Geia Food – Acquisition of Topfoods companies

We acted as the Finnish legal advisor for Geia Food, a portfolio company of Triton Smaller Mid-Cap Fund II, in its acquisition of Topfoods Finland Oy and TFR Topfoods Retailing Oy. With this acquisition , Geia Food is expanding its footprint in the Nordics and expands on the Finnish foodservice and industrial product market. Geia Food is the leading supplier of food concepts in Scandinavia with approximately 120 employees and has offices in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Since its establishment in 1997, Triton has sponsored ten funds, focusing on businesses in the industrial tech, services, consumer , and healthcare sectors. The companies currently in Triton’s portfolio have combined sales of around EUR 18 billion and employ around 105,000 employees. Triton Smaller Mid-Cap Fund II applies Triton’s proven investment strategy to lower mid-market companies in the same core sectors of Services, Healthcare, Industrial Tech and Consumer, using Triton’s in-house operational capabilities and resources to help management teams to sustainably expand their companies’ market position and to implement their growth strategies. Topfoods companies have an annual turnover of approximately 30 million EUR and employ a total of 15 employees.

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