Karla Kallela

Associate, Master of Laws

Services

  1. Intellectual Property
  2. Data & Technology
  3. ESG and Corporate Sustainability

Contact details

I advise both our domestic and international clients in various assignments relating to intellectual property law and technology. I also take part in assignments relating to marketing and consumer protection law as well as media law.

I graduated from the University of Helsinki in 2021. I wrote my master’s thesis on CAD files and copyright law, which further reflects my interest in intellectual property law and copyright law in particular.

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.
Case published 11.6.2024
Finnish Industry Investment – Investment in TILT Biotherapeutics
We advised Finnish Industry Investment Ltd (Tesi) in their joint investment with Lifeline Ventures in TILT Biotherapeutics Ltd, a biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies. The financing round was EUR 10 million in total. TILT Biotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. It develops cancer therapeutics based on its proprietary oncolytic adenoviruses armed with molecules including cytokines that can stimulate T cell responses. Finnish Industry Investment Tesi is a state-owned investment company that wants to raise Finland to the front ranks of transformative economic growth by investing in funds and directly in companies. They invest profitably and responsibly, together with co-investors, to create the world’s new success stories. Tesi’s investments under management total EUR 2.4 billion.
Case published 2.12.2022
Ahlström Capital – Merger of Enics and GPV International
Castrén & Snellman and Danish law firm Plesner are advising Ahlström Capital and its portfolio company Enics Group in the contemplated merger between Enics Group and GPV International A/S, wholly owned by the public listed company Schouw & Co A/S.  The transaction values the combined business at more than DKK 4 billion. The merger will create Europe’s second-largest EMS (electronics manufacturing services) company with production facilities across worldwide and with more than 7,500 employees globally. Schouw & Co A/S will hold 80% of the shares in the merged entity and Ahlström Capital will hold the remaining 20% of the shares. The completion of the acquisition is subject to customary approvals, including from competition authorities in certain jurisdictions. Schouw & Co. is a Danish industrial conglomerate listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen. Ahlström Capital is a family-owned investment company.
Case published 23.6.2022
Lifa Air – Listing on First North
We advised Lifa Air Plc in its listing on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland. The company raised gross proceeds of approximately EUR 7.7 million in the initial public offering that consisted of public, institutional and personnel offerings. After the IPO, the company has over 1,100 shareholders. ‘The listing and the funds raised through the IPO will support us in implementing our growth strategy. Many things create demand for Lifa Air’s products, ranging from the pandemic with no foreseeable end, new airborne diseases and pathogens, the increase of air pollutants and an increasingly poor quality of indoor air as well as geopolitical threats’, says Vesa Mäkipää , CEO of Lifa Air. Trading in Lifa Air’s shares began on First North on 20 April 2022. Lifa Air is a Finnish technology company established in 1988 and headquartered in Helsinki. It offers solutions for clean breathing air. Lifa Air’s business is divided into three business segments: air purifiers, respirators and medical face masks, and ventilation hygiene products.
Case published 21.4.2022
F-Secure – Proposed separation of F-Secure’s Consumer Security business through a partial demerger
We act as legal advisor to F-Secure Corporation in the proposed separation of F-Secure’s Consumer Security business through a partial demerger. It is planned that the Consumer Security business will be transferred into a new independent company, to be named F-Secure Corporation and established in connection with the demerger, and which will be listed on the official list of Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.   The demerger is expected to become effective as of 30 June 2022. In connection with the demerger, F-Secure Corporation will retain its Corporate Security business, which is planned to be renamed as WithSecure Corporation. F-Secure Corporation (listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki) is a global cyber security and privacy company with over 30 offices around the world and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.
Case published 17.2.2022
Clear Capital (US) – Acquisition of a Finland-based Proptech Company CubiCasa
We advised Clear Capital, a US national real estate valuation technology company in the acquisition of CubiCasa, a Finland-based proptech growth company. Through this acquisition, Clear Capital will empower CubiCasa to expand its mobile technology that automates floor plan sketch creation and digitises property data collection. CubiCasa will continue to operate with autonomy and service a wide variety of customers and verticals. Clear Capital is a national real estate valuation technology company aspiring to build confidence in real estate decisions to strengthen communities and improve lives. Their goal is to provide customers with a complete understanding of every US property through their field valuation services and analytics tools, and improve their workflows with platform technologies. Clear Capital operates since 2001 and they have over 1,300 team members across four brands -Clear Capital, Clario, CubiCasa and REO Network. CubiCasa is the front-runner in mobile indoor scanning and known for its fast and easy-to-use floor plan app on the App Store and Google Play Store. CubiCasa’s technology is used in 125 different countries and has helped create over 1 million floor plans to date. CubiCasa provides technology for the real estate, appraisal, and mortgage industries and is on a mission to digitise real estate.
Case published 21.9.2021
WithSecure – Sale of open source data collection product and business
We advised WithSecure Oyj in the sale of its open source data collection product and business to Patria Oyj. The divested business combining software and services falls outside WithSecure’s current strategy. Through the sale, WithSecure sharpens its focus on the Elements portfolio. WithSecure is a global cyber security company (listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki) with more than 35 years of industry experience. WithSecure offers partners flexible commercial models, ensuring mutual success across the dynamic cyber security landscape. Patria is an international company in the defence and security industry offering defence, security and aviation life cycle support services and technology solutions. As a result of the transaction, Patria will open a new office in Oulu and 10 WithSecure experts currently working in the business area will join Patria. 
Case published 30.9.2024
A. Ahlström – ESG advisory and corporate sustainability due diligence process planning
We advised A. Ahlström in establishing a corporate sustainability due diligence process plan which incorporates best practices and tailored solutions based on our expertise within relevant business sectors. Our comprehensive ESG offering also included tailored training for members of the investment team and management team and the board of directors of several portfolio companies. ‘The ESG team at Castrén & Snellman provided us with legal and practical advice around the ESG regulatory tsunami that we need to incorporate in our ESG work,’ comments Camilla Sågbom, Director, Sustainability and Communications, at A. Ahlström Oy. A. Ahlström is a family-owned industrial company, developing leading global specialist positions in Forest & Fiber and Environmental technology sectors.
Case published 5.9.2024

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