Elisa Oyj – Taking IP Management to the Next Level with Greip® 10

Elisa is a Finnish market leader in telecommunications and digital services. Their mission is to bring solutions through digitalization that are important to people and for sustainable development. Elisa’s enthusiasm for leveraging new technologies and working methods has been with the company throughout its 140-year history. Today. Elisa serves over 2.8 million customers in Finland and Estonia, and more than 100 countries internationally.

Strong partnership

Elisa and Greip have enjoyed a strong and collaborative business relationship over the years. This collaboration has helped Greip to develop and evolve, allowing Elisa to benefit from continuous improvements.

To provide more insight into Elisa’s collaboration with Greip, Kari Lång, Elisa’s Head of Patents, shares his experience. Lång is responsible for Elisa’s processes related to inventions and patenting, as well as managing the patent portfolio and patent strategy. His main task is to ensure that Elisa identifies and protects its most important inventions and secures international growth as effectively as possible. Lång has been working for Elisa for about three years.

How Greip® enhances Elisa’s IP management

Lång mentions that Elisa benefits from Greip in numerous ways. “We rely on Greip for receiving invention disclosures, decision-making processes, and portfolio management. Our communication with external agents is also handled through Greip. Greip enables us to have all essential information related to our inventions and patents in one place, ensuring that we always have a real-time and reliable view of our IP/IPR. This is crucial for managing our portfolio, workload and budgeting”, Lång emphasizes.

“By handling our external communication and technical comments from inventors through Greip, we significantly reduce email usage. This makes it easier to find useful information later and enables the smooth transfer of responsibilities within the company, as all information is consolidated in one place”, sums up Lång. The same efficiency applies to tracking deadlines and generating reports”, Lång adds.

Optimizing IP Processes with Customizable Tools and Efficient Reporting

Creating intellectual property requires the support of the entire IP organization. Therefore, it is important that the tool serves a variety of different needs. “Inventors appreciate having a functional and simple system for submitting inventions”, Lång tells and adds that: “For interim decisions, inventors can provide comments through Greip instead of email, it is possible to set a due date for comments and receive automatic reminders three days in advance”. Lång also values that customized reports can be created for different business units without the need to circulate emails if, for example, the leadership team requests certain information.

“The customizability of Greip to our needs has also proven to be extremely beneficial. We can add or remove fields as needed, ensuring efficient operations in our daily work”, Lång mentions. Lång gives concrete examples of the fields that are not actively used and can be removed, making it easier to find relevant information. Custom fields enhance portfolio management by ensuring relevant information is readily accessible”. Lång highlights that they can create users and modify user rights by themselves, which happens without delay. Mandatory information can be set on invention disclosures, such as organizational information. “Reward payment instructions can also be handled semi-automatically through Greip, which eases the workload”, Lång adds.

Kari Lång - Head of Patents, Elisa Oyj
Kari Lång – Head of Patents, Elisa Oyj

Maximizing Efficiency: Saving Time with Greip®

Lång highlights that Greip significantly enhances efficiency, making processes up to three times more effective by consolidating various tasks into a single tool. Unlike many companies that need three different tools for receiving inventions, portfolio management, and agent communication, Lång finds that Greip seamlessly streamlines all these functions into one.

With Greip, communication is always up-to-date and easily accessible. Lång also emphasizes the importance of security. By minimizing email usage, Greip ensures that critical information is never lost, even when case ownership changes. Whether it’s a vacation substitute or a new responsible person, communication within Greip remains intact. This continuity eliminates the risks associated with email discontinuities, as the latest information is always available.

Outstanding Support and Effective Communication

At Greip, our primary goal is to ensure that our clients gain an IPR perspective and a comprehensive understanding of how to leverage our platform effectively. Lång has particularly appreciated the prompt responses from Greip support team when dealing with technical issues. Whether the fault lies with the user or the platform, Greip team has consistently provided quick and effective solutions, ensuring minimal disruption to Lång’s workflow.

Lång also values the opportunity to influence and communicate with Greip. He has found Greip communication channels to be highly effective, offering a level of engagement and responsiveness that surpasses their previous experiences with other service providers. Greip wants to cherish this open communication, ensuring a strong and collaborative relationship continues.