Kolster's Paralegal Services team gains an experienced, enthusiastic and hands-on team leader in Service Team Manager Nina Laurila. Laurila, who is returning from an industrial group to work in Kolster's Global Paralegal Services unit, is happy to question old practices and enjoys developing new, more efficient practices.
I am an authorised Trademark and Design Attorney in Finland and a European Trademark and Design Attorney. I have experience in large international projects, both as a project leader and as a member. An example of this is the latest project in which around 30,000 patents were transferred together with Kolster to ABB Schweiz AG in 65 different countries. For the last year, I worked as IP Counsel for Hitachi ABB Power Grids, where I was responsible for the company's trademarks together with my German colleague.
I have worked both in companies that own intellectual property rights and in patent and trademark firms. This provides a good starting point for identifying the needs of different companies and for being able to provide them with the right types of services. In addition, I have increased my knowledge of current IPR issues and the Finnish IPR legislation as a member of the IPR Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, and in the Trademark Contact Committee of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office Register (PRH).
My professionalism is definitely an advantage, but my passion for process development also brings an added element to this. I always try to find the most effective way of working for both us and our customers! It is also important to have the courage to express views that the customer is not able to receive from other sources. Instead of vague responses, customers deserve concrete advice and alternative operating models. Our task is to act as an expert for the customer and provide answers when the customer needs them, or to even identify the customer's needs before the customer.
Our task is to see in our customers what they may not be able to tell us about themselves. I hope our team will succeed in conveying our customers the feeling that nothing is impossible for us. I want to take continuous steps to get closer to our customers. The closer we are, the more confidential, meaningful and motivating our work together will be.
Other IP firms also talk about customer-driven operations, but I have not yet seen similar paralegal service operations elsewhere in Finland. I am sure our operations are followed with great interest. That's why I want to combine the expertise and best practices of different IPR areas in our team – and create something completely novel. Only the sky is the limit!
Kolster has always been important to me. My first contact with the company was during a summer job in Kolster's trademark unit. It was also where I landed my first permanent job after graduating with a Vocational qualification in Business and Administration at Svenska Handelsläroverket in 1989. In a family business, the staff are well looked after, and the workplace felt like home. Eleven years passed by so quickly.
Even though I ended up in the sector by accident, the IP world simply carried me away. I like the fact that there is progress in this area, for example, in the form of new legislation, which means we really need to keep our finger on the pulse and ensure our own continued development. During my career, I have worked in several different agencies and in the industrial sector with different employers. I started with trademarks, but over the years, I have also acquainted myself with patents and designs. While working, I was inspired to also study at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree ( jurisprudence) in 2018. Kolster, however, has always been present in some way in my career: either as an employer, as an IP partner or as a competitor.
I am inspired by challenges, development of new and more efficient processes and services, as well as truly listening to the customers. My job is to question and hence develop our team's operations, our paralegal services and our customers' business.
Nina Laurila
Service Team Manager, Global Paralegal Services, European Trademark and Design Attorney
nina.laurila@kolster.com
+358 50 332 4707
READ MORE
Kolster service team supports you in all administrative IPR work