The Design from Finland mark’s rules

Qualifications and conditions of the Association for Finnish Work’s Design from Finland mark

1. The purpose of these rules together with the terms of use (”Terms of Use”) is to promote the use the Design from Finland mark as a reliable indicator of Finnish design. The Design from Finland mark demonstrates that design is of special importance in generating the value of the organisation’s products and services.

2. The Design from Finland mark is a registered association mark owned by the Association for Finnish Work (”Association”). The following rules shall apply to the use of Design from Finland mark.

3. The right to use the Design from Finland mark can be awarded by the Design from Finland Committee, named by the Association’s Executive Committee, upon application to products, product groups, individually named services or combinations thereof owned by a member organisation of the Association, provided that the said products or services comply with the requirements set forth in these rules.

4. The Design from Finland Committee, which has the necessary expertise for the task, processes the applications for the right to use the Design from Finland mark and grants the right to use the Design from Finland mark and addresses disputes. The members of the Design from Finland Committee are experts of the Finnish design industry and represent institutes of higher education providing education and training in the field, key ministries, the industry and consumers. The Committee shall have quorum if at least half of its members are present, including the Chairman or the Vice-chairman.

5. The Design from Finland Committee shall require that the applicant organisation comply with Finnish law, any applicable official regulations, the code of good practice as well as the Terms of Use.

6. Eligibility

  • The applicant organisation must be a member of the Association.
  • The applicant organisation must have a business ID.
  • The applicant organisation’s head office must be in Finland.

7. Applicants applying for the right to use the Design from Finland mark shall meet the following primary qualification criteria:

  • Investment in design: the organisation’s own design excellence or outsourced design services and/or time used.
  • Benefits arising from the design investment for the competitiveness, differentiation, business of the product/service and responsibility.
  • User-inspired design.
  • Transparency and responsibility in the entire production chain: The company communicates publicly about the structure of its production chain and its domesticity to its stakeholders incl. production country. Additionally, the company is aware of risks pertaining to its suppliers and endeavours to minimise these risks.

The Committee shall also consider the following secondary criteria at its discretion:

  • Role of design in the organisation’s access to international markets.
  • Integration of design in the organisation’s activities.
  • External acknowledgement/intellectual property rights.

An exception to these criteria can only be made on special grounds.

8. The licensed organisation can use the Design from Finland mark in its corporate image communications, such as image or brand advertising, when over 75 percent of the organisation’s turnover is generated by the Design from Finland products or services.

9. The right to use the Design from Finland mark shall be valid for three full calendar years, provided that the organisation is a member of the Association. The Design from Finland Committee can at its discretion award the right to use the mark for a period shorter than three years.

The right to use the Design from Finland mark shall be renewed every three years. The Association shall notify the licence holder of the expiry in advance.

10. All information related to the application shall be treated in confidence and kept secret. Information on which of the organisation’s products and services have been awarded the right to use the Design from Finland mark shall remain public and the Association shall maintain public register of such information. Information on the application and award process shall also be public.

11. An administration fee shall be charged for the right to use the mark and its renewal in accordance with the grounds set out by the Association’s Executive Committee.

12. The provisions of the Finnish Trademarks Act (26.4.2019/544) on association marks shall apply to the Design from Finland mark.

13. The Association’s Executive Committee shall decide on any amendments to these Terms and Conditions.

11 March 2020

Read also the marks´ Terms of Use »