Borenius successfully advised Tomtom against Nokia

We successfully defended TomTom International B.V. (“TomTom”) before the Finnish Market Court on a case brought by Nokia Technologies Oy (“Nokia”). The Market Court handed down a ruling in the case on 22 April 2024 (MAO:240/2024) deciding to dismiss the action without considering its merits in accordance with the request from TomTom.

Nokia had filed the declaratory action against TomTom and another defendant requesting the Market Court to confirm its entitlement to claim priority. However, the Market Court agreed with the arguments presented by the respondents and dismissed the action without considering its merits on two grounds.

First, the Market Court ruled that the declaratory request by Nokia cannot be examined in Finland. The Market Court referred to the provision under Brussels I Regulation (1215/2012) pursuant to which an action must be brought in the courts of the country where the respondent is domiciled, and thereafter assessed that there were no grounds to deviate from this rule in the case at hand.

Second, the Market Court considered that Nokia did not have a declaratory interest (legal interest) to bring the proceedings. The Market Court reached this conclusion after a comprehensive assessment of the facts regarding the case and various grounds referred to as support for its declaratory interest by Nokia.

The case illustrates well the need for the plaintiff to assess the international jurisdiction of courts. The ruling confirms that parties cannot create jurisdiction in one country by arbitrarily referencing an intellectual property registered at that country. The case further sheds light on the requirement to have a legal interest. The Market Court’s ruling gives an up-to-date guidance on how to assess whether one party has a valid legal interest against another party under Finnish law. The decision is not final.