It all comes down to innovation - Dittmar & Indrenius

Service areas

Written by

Jukka Lång

Partner

jukka.lang@dittmar.fi +358 40 719 4317

Through this Quarterly, we at Dittmar & Indrenius’ Innovation Powerhouse invite you to a backstage tour into the various, exceptional and exciting ways that regulation and innovation meet in our work as attorneys. The way we see it, a revolution is underway, and no one can escape its reach.

Finland and other western economies face exceptional challenges. The ever-increasing intensity of global competition, the data and information-based shifts of power, our aging population, climate change and other ecological threats have and will continue to alter the reality we live in. The ability to reinvent oneself and face these challenges through technological innovation will determine who will sink, who will float and who will swim. It all comes down to innovation.

Novel issues attract and require new regulation – both on a national and EU level. Despite their early stages, many highly ambitious regulatory initiatives currently underway in the EU will clearly affect all aspects of business. It is evident that new laws on artificial intelligence and digitalisation, just to name two, will both spur and hinder the way companies do business. As a result, innovation projects seem to be developing into a battlefield of business efficiency and the rights of individuals. The key to victory lies with the ability to simultaneously harness the possibilities of technological development and handle the ever-growing volume of regulation.

We at Dittmar & Indrenius want to be in the vanguard of this movement. As pioneers, we see this battlefield of rights and interests as a positive challenge, and firmly believe that our clients are able to use this opportunity to increase their competitiveness and create exceptional value for their customers. In practice, this requires the readiness to create completely new processes and interpretations in situations where regulation and authority interpretations fall short in providing answers. We see ourselves as enablers working alongside our clients to find solutions in a setup where the operational environment seems laden with obstacles.

We see ourselves as enablers working alongside our clients to find solutions in a setup where the operational environment seems laden with obstacles.

Jukka Lång

Facing these challenges call for courage and insight. At the same time, a diligent and sufficiently ‘lawyerly’ approach is required to ensure that the planned solutions take into account the existing regulatory requirements in a sustainable manner.

Based on our experience of the turbocharged transactional market of 2020 and 2021, we can say with certainty that well planned legal solutions are more vital than ever – especially when looking at their impact on company valuation. Moreover, it is evident that the risks and liabilities underlying a company’s shortcomings in the area of cyber security and critical compliance obligations can be crushing. At worst, if the foundations of the business are not built on compliant and legally sustainable choices, the entire transactional house of cards may come tumbling down.

However, our Innovation Powerhouse does so much more than just transactions. One area of business that we feel particularly passionate about is supporting the development of new business activities and solutions. IPRs and data are issues at the centre of these innovation projects and cannot be overlooked.

In this special Innovation Powerhouse number of our Quarterly publication, we dive into these diverse aspects of innovation and law. I am particularly proud of the versatile viewpoints our team has to offer in the following articles. These viewpoints, may I add, are based on our solid track record in a variety of development projects and technology-intensive transactions.

As our articles demonstrate, the legal aspects in this area of business are multi-fold, and we feel highly passionate about all the legal twists and turns it has to offer. At the end of the day, however, it is worth remembering that everything we do is based on the innovations created by our clients.

As a historian, I cannot help but quote the old Roman law maxim sincerely adopted in the Nordics: “the nation shall be built upon law.” Having said that, in our modern world, the law is no longer enough. A more fitting maxim for 2022 would be to say: “the nation shall be built upon innovation” – bearing in mind that innovation should always go hand-in-hand with the laws that govern it.