Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen

Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen helps Kolster’s clients identify and protect their inventions. His expertise brings clarity to the patenting process, patent strategy, and the management of disputes.

Veli-Matti has worked as a European Patent and European Trademark Attorney since 2001. His expertise covers the entire patenting process from drafting patent applications to opposition and appeal proceedings. He evaluates inventions, conducts technology analyses, and provides expert opinions on patent matters. He also has extensive experience in assessing patent and design infringements, handling patent disputes and litigation, negotiating licenses, and consulting on IPR strategy.

Before joining Kolster, Veli-Matti worked for over a decade in IPR roles at electrical and telecommunications companies in Finland and the Netherlands.

Since 2018, he has served as a part-time technical judge in patent matters at the Finnish Market Court. He is also the Chair of the Finnish Association of Patent Attorneys for the 2023–2025 term.

For Veli-Matti, the core of his work is supporting the client’s business. Protection is not an end in itself. It is a means to build competitive advantage.

IP expertise

• Managing the patenting process from drafting applications to granted patents, including oppositions and appeals
• Evaluation of inventions
• Technology assessments and surveys in the IPR field
• Expert opinions related to patents
• Assessment of patent and design infringements
• Patent disputes, litigation, and licensing negotiations
• IPR strategy workshops and consulting

Technical expertise

• Electrical engineering
• Telecommunications engineering
• Automation technology
• Engineering physics
• Electronics and nanotechnology
• Medical technology
• Mechanical engineering

Client industries

• Telecommunications
• Automation technology
• Consumer goods
• Industrial machinery and equipment
• Measuring instruments and technology
• Electrical industry
• Electronics and nanotechnology applications
• Mechanical engineering
• Medical technology

IPR sector memberships

• epi – Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office
• SPAY – The Association of Finnish Patent Attorneys
• Finnish Association for Corporate Patent Agents
• Finnish Association of Industrial Property Rights
• FICPI – International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys