HH Partners contributed to the Franchise Laws and Regulations 2026 guide. The guide is published by Global Legal Group and compiles essential information on franchise regulation from 19 different countries. HH Partners authored the chapter dedicated to Finland.
Some useful takeaways from the guide for franchise companies and entrepreneurs:
- The rights and obligations of the parties are largely left to the mutual agreement between the parties. Carefully drafted agreements are therefore key to a successful franchise cooperation.
- In Finland, there is no actual sector-specific franchise law, but several different laws regulate franchise operations. These include, for example, legislation related to trademarks, competition, sales of goods, lease of property, marketing, and contracts.
- A franchise company’s brand, trademarks, and domains should be protected carefully before starting the business activities. In addition, it is important to pay attention to protecting other intellectual property rights, such as trade secrets, know-how, and copyrighted material.
- In Finland, there are no actual pre-sale disclosure obligations like in certain other countries, but the information given to the franchise entrepreneur before starting the franchise cooperation must be sufficient and correct and should not be misleading.
- Today, marketing is regulated by several different instruments, with the latest addition being, regulation concerning environmental and sustainability claims, and it is important to ensure that the company’s marketing practices meet the requirements of the regulation. If the franchise entrepreneur is given the opportunity to draft marketing materials themselves, it is important to ensure that the entrepreneur also complies with the regulation, because in certain situations the franchise company (franchisor) can also be liable for the materials drafted by the entrepreneur (franchisee).
Our attorneys Pamela Lönnqvist, Miika Erkkilä, Esa Korkeamäki, and Sonja Laamanen participated in writing the guide.
You can read the chapter concerning Finland here: https://iclg.com/practice-areas/franchise-laws-and-regulations/
Our experts assist franchise companies and entrepreneurs in all legal aspects related to franchising, for example, in drafting agreements, protecting the brand, marketing law, corporate governance, employment law matters, and dispute matters.
