Samuel Brusila

Associate, Member of the Finnish Bar

Services

  1. Employment

I advise our clients in assignments related to employment law.

Giving legal advice accurately within the context of the client’s business is my top priority, and the most rewarding part of my job is creating added value for the client through my work.

Prior to joining Castrén & Snellman’s employment practice, I worked as a trainee, e.g. for the largest asset manager in the Nordics, another leading Finnish law firm and a smaller Finnish law firm that specialises in dispute resolution.

I have a Master of Laws degree from the University of Turku. In addition, I studied law at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom.

I’m on secondment at a client company until August 2025.

Latest references

We advised Danfoss Drives Oy, part of the Danish Danfoss Group, in its acquisition of the 1500 VDC converter technology from Ampner Oy. In connection with the acquisition, Ampner’s product team developing the 1500 VDC converter technology transferred to Danfoss Drives. Danfoss Drives is a global frontrunner in the growing field of electrification with solutions in key applications such as Power-to-X, smart grids and energy storage, fast charging, and electrification of ports and vessels.
Case published 11.1.2024
We served as the legal advisor to Newil and Bau Oy in its acquisition of the business of Auratum Asunnot, which is part of the Rausanne Group and specialises in the construction of new high-quality homes. With the equity investment that was carried out in connection with the transaction, Rausanne Oy, the parent company of the Rausanne Group, became a 15% shareholder in Newil&Bau. ‘This milestone paves the way for our growth going forward and allows us to scale our Design Home and Services concept, Customer Platform technology solution and other centralised processes into a new geographical region. This sets a solid foundation for our future international expansion. We are also pleased to have Rausanne support our growth as a shareholder and project financing partner,’ says Petri Ylivuori, CEO of Newil&Bau. Auratum Asunnot has constructed high-quality homes in Turku and Helsinki for 20 years. The projects of Auratum Asunnot focus on top quality, location and personalised customer service. Auratum Asunnot is part of the Rausanne Group. Established in 2020, Newil&Bau is a next-generation housing product company that provides beautiful and sustainable living experiences for urban dwellers. The company’s operations are based on strong customer focus, continuous product development and a genuine desire to understand how people really want to live.
Case published 10.1.2024
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.
Case published 3.10.2023
We advised the sellers on the sale of Speechly, a Helsinki-based AI voice technology startup, to Roblox Corporation. Speechly, founded in 2016, provides accurate real-time automatic speech recognition and natural language understanding tools and APIs. In 2021, the Finnish news media Talouselämä selected the company as one of the ten most promising Finnish startups. Speechly was admitted to Y Combinator in 2022 and its investors include Cherry Ventures, SNÖ Ventures, TQ Ventures, Seedcamp, Quantum Angels, Joyance Partners, Social Starts and Tiny.vc.
Case published 21.9.2023
We advised Inventure, Tesi (i.e. Finnish Industry Investment) and Presidio Ventures on the EUR 13.7 million series A funding round of Algorithmiq, a Helsinki-based growth company developing quantum computing algorithms and solutions for drug development and discovery. The round was led by Inventure, with participation from Tesi, Presidio Ventures, Thames Trust and existing investors. This latest round of investment will enable Algorithmiq to pursue its proof-of-concept work with pharmaceutical companies globally, dramatically reducing the time and cost of drug discovery and development, a process that typically takes around a decade and a billion dollars for a new drug to reach the market.  We advised the investors alongside Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Case published 24.8.2023
We assisted eQ Community Properties Fund in the sale of two healthcare properties to a fund managed by Northern Horizon. The properties have a total floor area of approximately 3,500 square meters. The two properties are located in Espoo and Lahti. The Espoo asset was completed in 2018 and the Lahti asset was completed in 2023. Both assets are operated by Attendo, the leading care provider in the Nordic region.
Case published 9.5.2025
We successfully represented BMW in an exceptionally long dispute over whether the spare rims sold by the defendant and the hub caps included in them infringed BMW’s trademark and design rights. The Market Court found that the sign used by the defendant caused a likelihood of confusion with BMW’s trademarks. The defendant had used the sign on the hub caps and in the marketing of the hub caps and rims, leading the Market Court to find that the defendant had infringed BMW’s trademark rights. The defendant admitted to infringing BMW’s Community design but denied the related injunction claim. However, the Market Court found that there was no particular reason to refrain from issuing an injunction. The Market Court prohibited the defendant from continuing to infringe BMW’s trademarks and Community design and ordered the defendant to alter or destroy the products and marketing materials that infringed BMW’s rights. Furthermore, the Market Court ordered the defendant to pay BMW EUR 70,000 in reasonable compensation and EUR 80,000 in damages for the trademark infringements, as well as EUR 7,000 in reasonable compensation and EUR 8,000 in damages for the design right infringement. The amounts can be considered exceptionally high in Finland. Additionally, the Market Court ordered the defendant to pay a significant portion of BMW’s legal costs with interest on late payment. In its decision of 11 March 2025, the Supreme Court of Finland did not grant the defendant leave to appeal, and also decided that there was no need to seek a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union. Thus, the Market Court’s judgements (MAO:494/18 ja 517/2023) are final. In addition to the main dispute, BMW demanded in a separate proceeding that one of the defendant’s trademark registrations be revoked. A total of three separate legal proceedings were conducted in the Market Court regarding the revocation. The defendant’s trademark registration was ultimately revoked.
Case published 9.5.2025
We are advising DNA Plc in brand protection and intellectual property enforcement matters globally. Our intellectual property team manages DNA’s global trademark portfolio, including registration, prosecution, opposition and enforcement. We also advise DNA in questions concerning consumer and marketing law, unfair competition, social media, domain names and cybersquatting. DNA Plc is one of Finland’s leading telecommunication companies. DNA offers connections, services and devices for homes and workplaces, contributing to the digitalisation of society. The company has approximately 3.7 million subscriptions in its fixed and mobile communications networks. In 2024, DNA’s total revenue was EUR 1,100 million, and the company employs about 1,600 people around Finland. DNA is part of Telenor Group.
Case published 7.5.2025